For decades, it was assumed that in order to get your foot in the Hollywood door, you would have to satisfy one of the following: 1) Your mother was Grace Kelly; 2) Your acting draws more tears than Robin Williams in “Good Will Hunting”; or 3) You don’t mind ruining your makeup for a casting call.

But now, one little, pimple-faced boy in Germany changed it all.

If you don’t know what I am referring to, it is this lightweight’s rendition of “Aicha,” an obscure pop-jingle resurrected by his androgynous pelvic gyrations in a homemade music video that has splashed its way all over the Internet.

If there is one thing to learn from little Gumpter, or any of the techie hotshots who followed, it’s that a new segue to reach international fame has been opened – the Internet. Soon after “Aicha” gained notoriety, more and more amateur music videos, taking some obscure songs to an even higher level of bizzarness, began flooding the Web – the most prominent being eBaum’s World.

And the recognition began to increase, as well. Last February, MSNBC hunted down Jerseyite Gary Brolsma, the young genius who came up with his odd “Numa Numa Dance” – an interpretive seizure to the Romanian tune “Dragostea din Tei.”

The Flash clip hit it big, with hundreds of thousands of hits every day. It became so popular, in fact, that NBC’s “Today” show featured the video.

As technology advances, so does the ability for people to be noticed, and maybe even get a real contract.

Before the invention of digital video cameras and editing software, like Apple’s Final Cut Pro – which was used to edit Burton’s “The Corpse Bride” – filmmaking was for the elite. Huge cameras, sound stages and rooms with wall-to-wall mixing boards were the reality – and there was no alternative.

Now, however, anyone with a camera could become the next Robert Rodriguez, enlarging the creative pool, and, in some cases, bringing to light a cinematic genius who might otherwise not have had the chance to show his or her stuff.

Yet even with all the brains in the world, it was still hard to get your stuff to the right people. This is where the Internet becomes an invaluable outlet for aspiring filmmakers.

The Internet is truly a bittersweet promotional tool. Especially with forums to display your work, like AtomFilms, where amateur filmmakers can show off their work. It has never been easier to get your product in the mainstream’s line of fire. Even musical legend Maynard James Keenan used forums like AtomFilms to try his hand at the business.

But just as much as it can help, the easy access has opened the flood gates, drowning well-intentioned creators with mindless crap. Even so, this has not stopped the endless campaign by some to get national recognition and even acclaim.

After pudgy little delinquent Andy Milonakis put his video on the net with him singing a song about everything being gay, comic notable Jimmy Kimmel was impressed with his quirkiness, and decided to campaign him for MTV. With his A-List backing, Milonakis was given his own television show and a role in the flick “Waiting.”

Then the Tattered Coat (www.tatteredcoat.com) recently interviewed Robert Ryang, an assistant to a commercial editor in New York, who made a faux “Shining” trailer that makes the horror classic look like a Hugh Grant movie. In the trailer, the few happy moments of the film were ingeniously exploited to the backdrop of a Peter Gabriel song to make its watchers feel all warm inside – and for those who have seen the real film, a little bit queasy.

In the interview, Ryang talked about how, after the premiere of his trailer on the Internet, Hollywood executives began to search him out, asking for any scripts or projects he has been working on.

This way seems a lot easier on the knees.

– Alex Switzer is a junior in journalism in mass communication from Shelburne, Vt.