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Fw: Fwd: DIY Reporter: Remixed Movies
detornement for all, not just the situationists! the last paragraph almost
seems a direct quote (!) from lautremont: "Plagarism is necessary, progress
implies it."
anthony
----- Original Message -----
From: asc <satellitecrash-AT-yahoo.com>
To: <aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu>
Sent: Friday, April 05, 2002 5:33 AM
Subject: AUT: Fwd: DIY Reporter: Remixed Movies
>
> >
> > DIY Reporter Article
> > by Bruce Haring
> >
> > Don't like the Hollywood version of the film? Sorry
> > that you paid $9 and were totally bored by the plot
> > or annoyed by certain characters in the latest big
> > release?
> >
> > Don't worry. There's always the remix.
> >
> > Borrowing a page from the music industry, the film
> > business is experiencing a wave of newly-configured
> > films appearing on the Net. Dubbed "fan films" or
> > "remixed films," they take the basic elements of a
> > director's vision and swirl them into an entirely
> > new format.
> >
> > Birthed by "Star Wars" fans during the release of
> > "The Phantom Menace" -- a time when digital formats
> > and editing tools began to become accessible to
> > consumers -- the remixing phenomenon has now
> > expanded to embrace other cult favorites, including
> > the X-Files, Star Trek, The Simpsons and certain
> > music videos.
> >
> > Such remixes are already circulating in the digital
> > film underground, being passed via VHS, DV tapes,
> > CD-Rs, links to FTP sites, and other ways of digital
> > reproduction.
> >
> > "There were two Simpsons episodes that were
> > basically mixed from other Simpsons episodes and you
> > really can't tell," says Scott Beibin, the
> > programming director of the Lost Film Festival,
> > which is featuring a special
> > showing of Remixed Films in its November series of
> > the festival. "It didn't seem like a medley. It
> > seemed like a whole other episode, and they're
> > dubbing over it. I've also gotten ahold of about
> > five different edits of "The Phantom
> > Menace" and a whole bunch of other stuff."
> >
> > Thanks to a reduction in price on digital editing
> > software, plus the bundled editing tools on Apple's
> > Imac Pro, the ability to edit digital film stock by
> > the common computer owner has never been greater.
> >
> > Although remade films have been around in some form
> > for some time -- witness Woody Allen's classic
> > 1960's film, "What's Up Tiger Lily?" which
> > overdubbed dialog-- the winds of the digital
> > revolution are blowing toward Hollywood
> > films in a big way over the last two years, gaining
> > particular momentum this year.
> >
> > A keynote for this new wave of film was "Star Wars:
> > The Phantom Menace,"which featured a new and
> > somewhat annoying character: Jar-Jar Binks, a
> > rabbit-like sidekick straight out of the chitlin
> > circuit.
> >
> > In one of the first digital remixes to make the
> > underground rounds, a Star Wars knockoff dubbed "The
> > Phantom Edit" took out the Jar-Jar character. It was
> > a change heartly endorsed by some rabid Star Wars
> > fans.
> >
> > Now, as digital editing tools are increasing in the
> > mainstream, other offerings are following. Several
> > episodes of "The Simpsons" have been circulating,
> > remixed with footage spliced from several episodes.
> > Also on tap:
> > a take on the Bruce Willis film, "Die Hard,"
> > featuring footage spliced from world economic forum
> > protests into an anti-authority blockbuster.
> >
> > "It's become so easy to actually make your own media
> > using the new technologies that this is going to
> > become an art form,'' says Beiben.
> >
> > Don't bet against it. The music world has already
> > adopted remixes as an art form. Since 1997, the
> > Grammy Awards have recognized non-classical remixes
> > for an award.
> >
> > "It's a lot like hip-hop and I'm completely
> > intrigued by this because the possibilties are
> > endless," adds Beibin.
> >
> > Obviously, not everyone will be happy. Film
> > directors used to the auteur theory reigning supreme
> > will now have to deal with new interpretations of
> > their work. And there's also the thorny issue of
> > copyrght infringement if a remix is sold
> > commercially and proves more popular than the
> > original.
> >
> > So far, that hasn't been a problem. Film remixes
> > have largely flown under the mainstream radar, being
> > passed through the file-trading networks and shared
> > for amusement only.
> >
> > But that's changing. "Technology is so cheap right
> > now, anyone can get a Windows box and drop a DV card
> > in there," says Rob Carlsen, who holds the title of
> > "psychological operations director" for the Lost
> > Film collective.
> > "The new Imacs have IMovie. So the editing programs
> > are pretty easy to come by now. I think it's
> > interesting. It's putting power int othe hands of
> > more people and it's much more accessible."
> >
> > Emily Cutner of the Motion Picture Association of
> > America says she hasn't heard of any film remixes
> > beyond the "Star Wars" Jar-Jar remix. "We're not
> > commenting on something like this at this time," she
> > says.
> >
> > But that doens't mean there aren't issues that will
> > have to be decided. Pamela Koslyn, a Los Angeles
> > attorney who specializes in intellectual property
> > issues, says that the First Amendment would protect
> > a lot of
> > remixers.
> >
> > "If it's got a political motivation, there's
> > probably a great First Amendment argument,
> > especially for the people who are trying to make a
> > comment on globalization issues," says Koslyn. But,
> > "If someone like Bruce Willis is
> > going to be put in a disparaging or false light kind
> > of way, he might have some type of action based on
> > his persona or identity being appropriated for
> > somebody's use."
> >
> > Asking permission from the copyright owner, Koslyn
> > says, is the golden rule. And there are other
> > strategies for remixers: "They could copyright the
> > new work as a derivative work because they're adding
> > new original elements and have some rights to it if
> > they did want to market it," she says.
> >
> > The profit motive is what will largely keep remixed
> > films in the underground for some time. Beibin's
> > Lost Film Festival plans to screen several remixed
> > films in its November edition, but the screenings
> > will be free, Beibin says,
> > basically so no one is sued.
> >
> > "I'm sure you're going to have a lot of artists who
> > are furious that their work is being fiddled with
> > and remixed," he says. "But I think it's the
> > greatest form of compliments, to use cultural
> > references. I mean, the reasons why digital video
> > capture was created was to make filmmaking, to make
> > media-making, to make art a lot more accessible to
> > the everyday people. And I think this is going to be
> > a very, very big thing, and we're just seeing the
> > beginnings of it right now."
> >
> > With one great hope, he adds: that the art of
> > filmmaking is improved: "I think the whole point
> > should be to make a non-interesting movie into
> > something interesting," Beibin says. "And really,
> > most of the stuff comng out of Hollywood is the
> > dregs of art."
----
Message sent by the Situationist list.
To unsubscribe, send blank email to situationist-off-AT-lists.nothingness.org
seems a direct quote (!) from lautremont: "Plagarism is necessary, progress
implies it."
anthony
----- Original Message -----
From: asc <satellitecrash-AT-yahoo.com>
To: <aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu>
Sent: Friday, April 05, 2002 5:33 AM
Subject: AUT: Fwd: DIY Reporter: Remixed Movies
>
> >
> > DIY Reporter Article
> > by Bruce Haring
> >
> > Don't like the Hollywood version of the film? Sorry
> > that you paid $9 and were totally bored by the plot
> > or annoyed by certain characters in the latest big
> > release?
> >
> > Don't worry. There's always the remix.
> >
> > Borrowing a page from the music industry, the film
> > business is experiencing a wave of newly-configured
> > films appearing on the Net. Dubbed "fan films" or
> > "remixed films," they take the basic elements of a
> > director's vision and swirl them into an entirely
> > new format.
> >
> > Birthed by "Star Wars" fans during the release of
> > "The Phantom Menace" -- a time when digital formats
> > and editing tools began to become accessible to
> > consumers -- the remixing phenomenon has now
> > expanded to embrace other cult favorites, including
> > the X-Files, Star Trek, The Simpsons and certain
> > music videos.
> >
> > Such remixes are already circulating in the digital
> > film underground, being passed via VHS, DV tapes,
> > CD-Rs, links to FTP sites, and other ways of digital
> > reproduction.
> >
> > "There were two Simpsons episodes that were
> > basically mixed from other Simpsons episodes and you
> > really can't tell," says Scott Beibin, the
> > programming director of the Lost Film Festival,
> > which is featuring a special
> > showing of Remixed Films in its November series of
> > the festival. "It didn't seem like a medley. It
> > seemed like a whole other episode, and they're
> > dubbing over it. I've also gotten ahold of about
> > five different edits of "The Phantom
> > Menace" and a whole bunch of other stuff."
> >
> > Thanks to a reduction in price on digital editing
> > software, plus the bundled editing tools on Apple's
> > Imac Pro, the ability to edit digital film stock by
> > the common computer owner has never been greater.
> >
> > Although remade films have been around in some form
> > for some time -- witness Woody Allen's classic
> > 1960's film, "What's Up Tiger Lily?" which
> > overdubbed dialog-- the winds of the digital
> > revolution are blowing toward Hollywood
> > films in a big way over the last two years, gaining
> > particular momentum this year.
> >
> > A keynote for this new wave of film was "Star Wars:
> > The Phantom Menace,"which featured a new and
> > somewhat annoying character: Jar-Jar Binks, a
> > rabbit-like sidekick straight out of the chitlin
> > circuit.
> >
> > In one of the first digital remixes to make the
> > underground rounds, a Star Wars knockoff dubbed "The
> > Phantom Edit" took out the Jar-Jar character. It was
> > a change heartly endorsed by some rabid Star Wars
> > fans.
> >
> > Now, as digital editing tools are increasing in the
> > mainstream, other offerings are following. Several
> > episodes of "The Simpsons" have been circulating,
> > remixed with footage spliced from several episodes.
> > Also on tap:
> > a take on the Bruce Willis film, "Die Hard,"
> > featuring footage spliced from world economic forum
> > protests into an anti-authority blockbuster.
> >
> > "It's become so easy to actually make your own media
> > using the new technologies that this is going to
> > become an art form,'' says Beiben.
> >
> > Don't bet against it. The music world has already
> > adopted remixes as an art form. Since 1997, the
> > Grammy Awards have recognized non-classical remixes
> > for an award.
> >
> > "It's a lot like hip-hop and I'm completely
> > intrigued by this because the possibilties are
> > endless," adds Beibin.
> >
> > Obviously, not everyone will be happy. Film
> > directors used to the auteur theory reigning supreme
> > will now have to deal with new interpretations of
> > their work. And there's also the thorny issue of
> > copyrght infringement if a remix is sold
> > commercially and proves more popular than the
> > original.
> >
> > So far, that hasn't been a problem. Film remixes
> > have largely flown under the mainstream radar, being
> > passed through the file-trading networks and shared
> > for amusement only.
> >
> > But that's changing. "Technology is so cheap right
> > now, anyone can get a Windows box and drop a DV card
> > in there," says Rob Carlsen, who holds the title of
> > "psychological operations director" for the Lost
> > Film collective.
> > "The new Imacs have IMovie. So the editing programs
> > are pretty easy to come by now. I think it's
> > interesting. It's putting power int othe hands of
> > more people and it's much more accessible."
> >
> > Emily Cutner of the Motion Picture Association of
> > America says she hasn't heard of any film remixes
> > beyond the "Star Wars" Jar-Jar remix. "We're not
> > commenting on something like this at this time," she
> > says.
> >
> > But that doens't mean there aren't issues that will
> > have to be decided. Pamela Koslyn, a Los Angeles
> > attorney who specializes in intellectual property
> > issues, says that the First Amendment would protect
> > a lot of
> > remixers.
> >
> > "If it's got a political motivation, there's
> > probably a great First Amendment argument,
> > especially for the people who are trying to make a
> > comment on globalization issues," says Koslyn. But,
> > "If someone like Bruce Willis is
> > going to be put in a disparaging or false light kind
> > of way, he might have some type of action based on
> > his persona or identity being appropriated for
> > somebody's use."
> >
> > Asking permission from the copyright owner, Koslyn
> > says, is the golden rule. And there are other
> > strategies for remixers: "They could copyright the
> > new work as a derivative work because they're adding
> > new original elements and have some rights to it if
> > they did want to market it," she says.
> >
> > The profit motive is what will largely keep remixed
> > films in the underground for some time. Beibin's
> > Lost Film Festival plans to screen several remixed
> > films in its November edition, but the screenings
> > will be free, Beibin says,
> > basically so no one is sued.
> >
> > "I'm sure you're going to have a lot of artists who
> > are furious that their work is being fiddled with
> > and remixed," he says. "But I think it's the
> > greatest form of compliments, to use cultural
> > references. I mean, the reasons why digital video
> > capture was created was to make filmmaking, to make
> > media-making, to make art a lot more accessible to
> > the everyday people. And I think this is going to be
> > a very, very big thing, and we're just seeing the
> > beginnings of it right now."
> >
> > With one great hope, he adds: that the art of
> > filmmaking is improved: "I think the whole point
> > should be to make a non-interesting movie into
> > something interesting," Beibin says. "And really,
> > most of the stuff comng out of Hollywood is the
> > dregs of art."
----
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