Take hands that have bananas for fingers, a boy who doesn't like chili and a pirate who really likes milk. Use the picturesque city of Helena for a backdrop. Throw the whole combination into the black-and-white video medium and you've got one of the most popular short films on youtube.com.

Capital High School senior Nick Andrews, creator of the video, "My Hands are Bananas," said he was inspired by the old recurring "Saturday Night Live" skit "Sprockets," created by actor and writer Mike Meyers.

Andrews wrote the music and the script, and with a handful of friends created the video, which has been viewed by more than 420,000 people on the popular online video bulletin board.

Andrews said he was surprised by the response. "It's insane -- incredible," he said.

He recalls the video having only about 1,000 viewings the first month it was posted earlier this summer. But after it was selected as one of youtube's featured videos, the hit parade began.

He said that within an hour of being featured, 10,000 visitors to the Web site had viewed his film, which brought in 352 e-mails on his account.

"I thought I had a virus -- I thought there was no way," he said.

Andrews' video has earned him national exposure with a clip on the "Today Show" and an article published this week in the Chicago Tribune.

"My Hands are Bananas" is one of about a dozen films Andrews has uploaded to the site, where amateur cinematographers can post their own creations.

The medium is considered one of the fastest growing trends in Internet socializing today. Youtube, which went live in early 2005, entered into a deal this week to be purchased by Internet giant Google for $1.65 billion.

Andrews made his short film last summer with several friends, some of whom were getting ready to leave Helena for college. He said the group wanted to do something fun together before everyone went their separate ways.

Andrews thinks some people are reading too much into what the "meaning" of the video may be. He said all the elements just came to him like "bubbles" in his head.

"Don't think too hard about it," he said. "Don't look past the surface."

The only "true" thing he said in the video is that his friend, Chance, really doesn't like chili -- he won't even try it.

Incorporating the German accent was a random idea. Andrews doesn't speak German; he says he's never even left the United States. He decided to present the film in black and white, "to give it more of a darker feel." A significant portion of the video was shot in downtown Helena, although other segments were shot at Spring Meadow Lake, Hill Park and Andrews' yard in the valley.

Heidi Hill, Bruin Vision video broadcast teacher, says Andrews had a passion for video production even before she had him in class for the first time last year.

"I'd love to say I taught him everything he knows, but I'd rather say I supplied him with some of the tools for his creativity," said Hill, adding she is thrilled about the national attention Andrews' video has received.

"It's exciting," she said. "The cool part is that someone is recognizing that we have lot of good talent in small town Helena."

Hill describes Andrews as a "natural" when it comes to filmmaking. He shot the video on a Cannon ZR 40, a modest hand-held video recorder.

"I'm trying to get into deeper things, but my technology is holding me back," he said.

Andrews has plans to attend film school in Los Angeles or Bozeman. He says he'd like to make comedies, but not "slapstick, stupid, no point" comedies.