Here are the first two clips from Kirby Ferguson's Everything is a Remix, which is very similar to the book we are going to read, Austin's Kleon's Steal Like an Artist.
As you watch the two clips again, first leave two personal reactions or connections for each episode. Then leave two responses to your peers feedback for per episode. So you'll leave two personal reactions or connections per episode and then two pieces of feedback to the reactions and connections of your peers per episode.
One thing I remember when I talked with my brother (12 years older than me) about the bands I loved was how he always revealed how my favorite bands were actually influence by his favorite bands.
ReplyDeleteI recall playing him Motley Crue's 1983 album "Shout at the Devil." The last song on the first side, Helter Skelter, was one of my favorites. Then he told me that it was actually a Beatles song. I couldn't believe it, but it was true.
Over the years, as I learned more about The Beatles, I became amazed at all of the songs I had loved by other artists that were originally Beatles' songs.
Now these bands were just "covering" Beatles' songs. They weren't actually ripping them off and passing them off as their own, as Led Zeppelin did, so this is an example of how Kleon encourages us to steal things from those that influence us and put our own unique spin on them to create something original, which is what happened with most of the bands who covered Beatles' sons as they tended to create something new and different rather than just imitating the same son that the Beatles made famous.
Music is also a great example of what Kleon talks about in Ch. 2 (Don't Wait Until you Know Who you are to Get Started). Most bands begin by covering the songs of popular bands. After doing this for years, soon the bands that are serious begin to write songs of their own. Of course, their original compositions are still heavily influenced by the bands they covered. Over time, though, bands begin to develop a unique style and sound that is a remix of all the other bands they grew up playing.
ReplyDeleteMovies fascinate me. As a diehard Star Wars fan, it was a bit disheartening to see how much Lucas pilfered from other films, but really it isn't all that surprising. When you look at works of art (fiction or film or music) you can see the influences of others bleed through. I was just watching "Snatch" by Guy Ritchie last weekend (one of my favorite movies), and it owes a deep debt to the gangster films of Quentin Tarantino (namely "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction"). Now, Ritchie wasn't ripping off Tarantino, but the similarities were there and Tarantino's influence was evident. I think this is the natural evolution that all artists go through as they produce new works.
ReplyDeleteI did not realize until today how big remixing actually was in the film industry. So many of the greatest movies have been take from the director's favorite director's or who he was inspired by. Even though the film's they took from were very popular it ended up being a great movie they generated.
DeleteCome to think of it, what movie isn't a remix or even a ripoff of past films? One of the most original films I have ever seen in recent years, Inception, no doubt has been addressed by various other films in the past. In fact, from a quick web search I just found that Inception is very similar to an anime called Paprika. That doesn't surprise me, nor does it diminish how awesome I think Inception is. Again, I think we all build off of ideas that already existed previously. That is what makes movies today so more complex than movies in the past: there are so many new ideas to steal.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think?
I would have to agree that Inception is one of the most original movies that I have seen. The ideas and concepts are so complex that I had to watch it at least three times before I even started to understand what was going on. Still, I am not sure if I know what went on because they kind of leave it open-ended for your own imagination to kick in.
DeleteI remember when the song Right Round came out by Flo Rida. I was listening to it one day at home, and my mom asked who was singing it. I told her it was Flo Rida, and she said it sounded just like the song You Spin Me Round. It turns out that they are very similar songs. You Spin Me Round obviously influenced Flo Rida to put his own twist on the song.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your comment, I realized our stories are very similar which doesn't really surprise me. Imaging how many artists have stolen idea from other artists(probably almost all of them). If everyone knew that almost every song is stolen from another, I can't imagine how many personal reactions there would be similar to ours.
DeleteOne example of a music remix that I was never aware of is Van Halen's "You really got me". It was released in 1978, and when I heard it, I thought it was one of the best songs ever. The guitar intro sounded amazing. How could such a great song be a remix of someone else's work? It turns out that the Kinks had a song titled "You really got me" released in 1964. Not only did Van Halen copy the title, but they also used the same exact lyrics and beat. After learning this I choose to listen to the Kinks version of the song, even though Van Halen's sounds more refined.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't surprise me that this song was remixed. It is a great song and was very popular back in the day. Even though Van Halen was more popular than the Kinks, I would have to say that I have heard the Kinks' version more than the Van Halen version which surprises me.
DeleteOne day I was sitting in math class and Jamcy was singing a song behind me that sounded very similar to song I have listened to, but it wasn't quite the same. I turned around and asked him is that a remix and he said something like "no this is the real song." I didn't believe him at first because it sounded so similar. After watching the remix video about music, it makes more sense now. One of songs was more than likely a spin off to the other.
ReplyDeleteSo typical of Jamcy to be singing during class, but that has forsure happened to me. I sometime find myself on youtube for hours because I keep watching cover of the same song just by different people.
DeleteI can understand why bands do covers of famous songs because they want to pay tribute to the great artists who came up with them. I've heard so many covers of Stairway to Heaven, and when I saw that Led Zepplin might've taken it from someone else, I was kind of surprised. It does make sense though, especially today, that songs can be traced back to other ones previously written. It is pretty hard today to come up with an original beat and original lyrics that haven't been used before.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, it would be hard to come up with something original now days. There are so many songs out there and any song could probably be traced back to another one.
DeleteBack then Led Zeppelin was labeled as rip offs for taking the ideas of previous artists. However, in today's music it is totally acceptable to build off of others' music. I think people realize that it is nearly impossible to be completely original.
DeleteOne example I found by Led Zeppelin again where they remixed a song written by a different person was there song Whole Lotta Love. It sounds extremely close to a song by an african american man Muddy Waters called You Need Love. They ended up later crediting him as a co-writer but take a close look and listen to the similarities.
ReplyDeleteI found that interesting too. I didn't think Whole Lotta Love was a rip off. I never thought Led Zepplin as rip offs stealing other peoples songs.
DeleteIn modern music, remixing is a common occurrence. One original song can have multiple remixes made of it. Some artists even remix their own songs, changing only parts of the original. They even play remixes on the radio. Personally, I would rather listen to the original songs rather than a remix version. However, most songs now a days probably have ideas taken from past music. Thinking of it that way, the majority of popular songs today are a remix of examples from the past to some degree.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to me that people can take things from songs like Led Zeppelin did. I always thought things had to be an original otherwise the artist could sue. When I was watching the video and they showed the songs that Led Zeppelin had used, I was shocked how similar they were to each other. Led Zeppelin basically got the recognition of other people songs and didn't get in trouble. Watching this first episode kind of makes me think that the music industry is like a recycle bin, nothing is ever original.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it was shocking how similar Led Zeppelin's songs were to the other artists. It was literally called the same thing. It's crazy he didn't get sued. I like that you said the music industry is a recycling bin because it's so true. One artist comes up with a good song and a few years down the road another artists takes a piece of that song, turns it into their own, and it becomes another great hit.
DeleteAfter watching the video about movies, I realized how hard it is now days to come up with an original idea that doesn't completely suck. There have been so many people that have come before us and have already thought of great ideas. That's why, today, we have to steal there ideas but tweak them and make them better. If we kept trying to come up with more and more new ideas, there wouldn't be a movie industry cause all of the movies would stink and no one would want to watch movies. Personally, I'd rather watch a really good movie that's stolen and changed a little bit then a crappy movie that was completely original.
ReplyDeleteI agree! Even if someone thought they were making a movie that was completely original, odds are something is going to be similar to another movie because of how many movies have been made. It would be very hard to make a whole movie that was completely original and have the movie turn out a success.
DeleteI love watching movies. It is probably one of my favorite things to do. I don't even know how many times I have seen The Lord of the Rings trilogy because I have lost track. There are so many similarities between them and the Harry Potter series it's kind of funny. I don't blame them for taking their ideas because Lord of the Rings is one of the greatest movie trilogies ever in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteMany people say that the Lord of The Rings copied the Harry Potters with their series of The Hobbit. In all honesty they both probably copied many pieces of work from previous generations.
DeleteAnother great example is how Akon made Don't Matter and R. Kelly's Ignition and how similar to the beats and stuff that they sound. They both talk about being with a woman and how they are drinking and no one wants to seem the together haha. They also start and stop at the same points on time. Take a look and listen also.
ReplyDeleteStealing ideas or remixing is very common in movie production today. A lot of movies or shows will have references to other films in them. There may even be a different movie playing in the background of scene, or the characters in one movie watching an actual movie on TV. This makes people connect to movies better, and I feel that it makes movies more entertaining.
ReplyDeleteI find that it's always fascinating to play spot the reference while watching a movie or show. It's especially exciting to recognize something you really like in another piece of media. Like you said, those references have the ability to form a stronger connection between the viewer and a movie and make them more entertaining.
DeleteWhen Sam Smith's song "Stay With Me" first came out, there were people saying that it sounded exactly like the song "Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. When I heard that the two were being compared, I looked it up on YouTube and it was crazy how similar they are!!
ReplyDeleteWatching the first video, it made me think and actually understand that artists have to be influenced by other songs in order to come up with their own. They aren't going to come up with something completely original because there are already so many songs out in the world, their "original" song is bound to be similar to another song. I just find it surprising how Led Zeppelin, and probably other bands, don't take the time to twist off other artists and make their songs their own but just completely copy off them without getting in a lot of trouble.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I don't see how it is okay to copy that much from another artists work without seeing any consequences or anything. Even if the new version is better they should still try to make it more their own.
DeleteOne of my all time favorite movies, Pacific Rim, is pretty blatantly a remix of so many movies that came before it, though it does have its own spin. It's in the same vein of monster movies as others like Godzilla and Mothra, in which there's a giant monster problem that needs to be taken care of. Typical to these types of movies, the military gets involved to take care of it and builds giant, pilot-able robots called Jaegers to fight them. One of my cousins visited over the summer and mentioned that the Jaegers seemed at least in part similar to transformers, and looking back, I have to agree. There are definitely plenty of influences from typical monster movies, but to me it seems as if it's all portrayed in a way that is meant to induce nostalgia rather than come off as "we're completely ripping off every monster movie ever made."
ReplyDeleteOh, I love that movie! I was very skeptical before watching it because it looked so much like just another Transformers movie, but it was way better in my opinion. I definitely agree that it has a bunch of references to other movies, but I think that they put enough of their own twist on it to make it interesting. It definitely has a nostalgia theme to it I think as well.
DeleteA movie series that comes to mind almost immediately after watching the remix movie video is the Scary Movies. They take famous scenes from all of the famous horror movies and make fun of them by putting their own comedic twist on them. It is hilarious to watch. Scenes are taken from movies like Evil Dead, Chucky, The Ring, and countless others.
ReplyDeleteI love to watch movies that make fun of other movies. It's so easy to make fun of a lot of the scary movies because of how dumb the characters are. Like when they hear a noise and go check it out, like if I heard a noise when I was home alone I would NOT go check it out! My favorite thing is when the actor/actress is running away from the scary thing chasing them and they just trip, like out of no where they fall, it's so fake and hilarious.
DeleteI hate sequels of movies because I think it takes away from the first movie that I liked. When they were talking about Star Wars and how they've taken from other movies but I don't think a lot of the movies are trying to steal from other movies but to give credit or a reference to that movie, kind of like a shout out. Disney has like 10 different movies about princesses and how they meet their prince charming and they live happily ever after.. literally. But it has obviously worked for Disney so I don't know why they would stop making them. If you don't have to reinvent the wheel why would you. I was more shocked about the first episode, about the songs ,not so much about the second episode because it's very obvious that movie directors take from other movies and it works for them so why stop.
ReplyDeleteI don't always like sequels either. There are some movies that could have sequels because the story needs to keep going. But, other movies shouldn't have a sequel because, like you said, it takes away from the first one.
DeleteI understand how so many movies have similarities. It is hard to do anything that is 100% original anymore. There are so many sequels to movies and so many movies that are being made that are based on books! It is good to steal those ideas from books and bringing them to life in a movie! It helps kids to read because they want to read the book based on some pretty good movies.
ReplyDeleteI can remember always getting excited as a child when one of my favorite books was adapted into a movie. I think it definitely helps to envision a setting once a book gets an adaptation, and I know for a face that I did end up reading several books solely because I had seen the movie based on it, or because the movie and book had a loose connection. I ended up reading "A Series of Unfortunate Events" purely because I had appreciated the atmosphere and aesthetic of the movie, and in hindsight, it was a fantastic decision.
DeleteYou know how you listen to an intro of a song on the radio and you think it's going to be this song but it begins to play and it turns out its a completely different song? I think its probably because it was influenced by the song you were thinking of or both those songs were influenced by the same artist. Now that I think of it, that happens a lot to me when I listen to the radio.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree, this exact thing has happened to me countless times. I think sometimes it's because the artist has sampled a piece of music and incorporated it into their own, but there's also quite a few that seem more like they just draw from the same influence.
DeleteI can definitely relate to this. This happens to me all of the time when I'm listening to the radio. I think it's going to be one song and then suddenly it's a totally different one.
DeleteI think songwriters and composers emulate what they saw caught our attention and made that particular song jump to the top of the I-Tunes charts. I think that songs that use older song choruses in them actually tend to be even more popular because they connect classics which draws more of a variety of people to listen.
DeleteA film industry example would be how the Green Hornet and the Green Lantern are very strikingly similar. They both are comic book annotations about super hero's who favor a certain color, in which case this is green. It is also very weird that they both have fifty of the same crew members from the same sets very weird.
ReplyDeleteMusic has always been filled with references to other artists or even samples of tunes, beats, or vocals. It's not at all surprising to learn that remixing is common not only in music, but in other areas as well. I often find myself noticing similarities between some of the music I listen to and what my dad tends to play for himself. Whether it's an actual sample in the music or simply a reference to a lyric or artist, remixing is commonly seen in just about any piece of music.
ReplyDeleteWhen the video was showing how the same baseline of a song has been reused multiple times in many different songs causing them all to sound similar. This reminded me of the newer artist, Fetty Wap. A lot of his songs sound the same because he keeps reusing the same sounds and auto tunes his voice the same way. Although many of his songs sound the same, people still have their favorite one or the one they think is better.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on this!!! I always feel like I have heard the song before, but it is just his style that is so similar and all of his songs sound the same and start the same way!!!
DeleteI never knew that most of the music we have is remixes of previous songs. I always thought artists had to come up with something new. But, thinking about it now, so many songs sound so similar. After watching the video about music, it all makes sense. It's hard to come up with something new, so people take a previous song and put their own spin to it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger I always wondered how people came up with something completely unique, considering how much music there already was out there, but I now realize that people don't really come up with anything that is completely and entirely unique. The take what's already there and draw inspiration from it, using that influence and adding to it to make something else. It's not always purely their idea, and it might sound similar to something else, but there's at least some kind of spin on it.
DeleteOne cool example of remixing in the film industry is the new show "Better call Saul". The whole series is about a corrupt lawyer, Saul Goodman. The funny thing is that this character is from an earlier series, Breaking Bad. One of the episodes in Breaking Bad is actually called Better call Saul. They use the same actor in the new series that they used in Breaking Bad. I believe that Better Call Saul is going to be a popular series, because everyone who watched Breaking Bad is going to make the connection and watch this new series as well.
ReplyDeleteI loved the series Breaking Bad it was a great show, and I have heard Better Call Saul is like Breaking Bad. I will have to watch it. I think that is funny how one episode is called Better call Saul on Breaking Bad. I hope the series isn't the exact same, it wouldn't be good if it was.
DeleteThere are so many original Disney movies that have now been remade and made modern. All the original Disney movies were cartoons and were great for the time. But now, the movies are being revamped and made to entertain kids now. Even being made for different age groups. Such as Snow White and the Huntsman or even the TV series, Once Upon A Time.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on this one. The new versions of Disney movies that are being remade seem to be a little more grown up. They aren't changing the stories they're just adapting to a new audience.
DeleteI like that they are remaking the movies for certain age groups and making them look newer. I watched a lot of disney movies when I was younger, and know I can still watch a spinoff of them.
DeleteI think there wasn't any harm done by Led Zeppelin by remixes songs and making them their own. If something sounds good, you want to be able to do the same with your music. People want the same success as other successful people so they take ideas all of the time. Like the title of the video says, everything is a remix. It's not strange to find music now a days that sounds like older music. In fact, it's almost more strange to find a song that is completely new and original than it is to find a song that sounds remixed.
ReplyDeleteAnother great film example would be the Truman show vs ED TV. Both are about young guys who are being video taped every second of every single day. One knows about it though and the other has no idea. Truman Show was by far more popular but the both had the same concept but Jim Carrey was stuck inside a dome and was trying to get out of this.
ReplyDeleteI remember watching this movie and school, I thought it was a strange show. I have never watched ED TV but I looked it up and it seems to be the same type of movies. Thats interesting.
DeleteLooking back at every movie I've ever watched, I can see plenty of remixing throughout them. Though this is technically a musical that was filmed and adapted as a movie (and then put on Netflix in case anyone ever wants to watch it), "The Devil's Carnival" is filled with references to other materials. For one, it tackles the biblical idea of hell and puts its own twist on it to make something unique, but it also incorporates some of Aesop's fables to drive the storyline. Part of the story involves the fable, "The Scorpion and the Frog," but it's portrayed between two characters that are made to look like extras from "Grease." Scorpion is a typical greaser-type, set with a ridiculous pompadour and leather jacket, while Tamara, our metaphorical frog, is straight out of the 1950's with her poodle skirt and curled bangs. It's fascinating to see how all these influences are incorporated into a story of its own.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this Claire, most Netflix spin offs steal ideas so we can catch familiar themes and decide our favorite genre, so then they can recommend more of it. I think directors generate similar movies through this model because they don't want to stray from what is expected.
DeleteThe Fall Out Boy song "Uma Thurman," which is honestly not one of my favorites, samples theme music from a television show called "The Munsters." I didn't realize this until my mom brought it up one day while we were driving to Grand Forks, quite honestly. After she pointed it out to me, I realized that the entire album was filled with references to other music and notable pop culture icons.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I thought was interesting was how Led Zepplin stole songs from other bands. I was very surprised to hear the Stairway To Heaven was stolen. Then again I also realized how many other songs have remixes. Even if you try to make it original I feel like someone will trace the lyrics back to another song.
ReplyDeleteI feel like almost everyone takes lyrics from other songs because it would be almost impossible to come up with something that was completely original. I was surprised too when I heard that about Stairway to Heaven.
DeleteWhile listening to Pandora radio on my phone sometimes a song will come on and it sounds like another song I have heard before. The only difference in the song may be the lyrics, but the beat is exactly the same. I have had that happen to me many times, especially in rap songs it seems like.
ReplyDeleteOne series that comes to mind when thinking of knock offs is Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead. Fear the Walking Dead is a sequel of The Walking Dead. It seems to be the exact same show just basically a different cast. I haven't watched the new TV series and don't plan too, even though I had watched every season of The Walking Dead, which is a great show, I think the sequel will be not as good.
ReplyDeleteThe Hangover movie series are funny, but the first movie was by far the best one I think. I think sequels just aren't as good as the first, in some cases. I just think the sequels are the same as the first one just a little different. They tend to get worse in the Hangover movies from my perspective.
ReplyDeleteI love to listen to Sam Smith's music. so after watching the video about music I looked up to see if his songs were similar to anyones. His song "Stay With Me" has an identical chorus to the song "I Won't Back Down." After watching this video, I wonder if there are any songs that I listen to that are completely new.
ReplyDeleteWhile watching the video about movies, I was trying to think of any movies I knew that were a remix. I thought of Twilight and Vampires Suck. This movie is a spinoff of Twilight and it makes fun of almost everything they did in the movie. Now, whenever I watch Twilight, I always think about Vampires Suck.
ReplyDeleteI never realized how many movies were spinoffs until after I watched the video. Some of the spinoffs work while others don't. For example, the movie Mean Girls got remade. I use to love watching it, but after someone made Mean Girls 2 I didn't like it as much. Some movies aren't meant to have a spinoff.
ReplyDeleteWatching episode one really opened my eyes to how much things are actually remixed all around us and many of us don't even realize it. We give these people so much credit for work they most likely stole from someone else. People can create so many new things with influenced ideas from others.
ReplyDeleteWhen the video said that 74/100 are sequels or remakes or adaptations of old content, it made me think about all of the movies that I've seen recently. Many of them were "part 2" or a new version of an old movie. Honestly, I think some of them get old when they start making too many in a row. The Hangover movies for example, should've stopped after one. And because I'm not a huge fan of the Twilight movies, I think they made too many of those too.
ReplyDeleteI agree. They sometimes go over board on how many sequels they make now days. Just because the first few movies worked out doesn't mean the rest of them will. Take High School Musical for example. They just announced that they will be making a 4th sequel with all new characters for the "next generation" and I honestly don't think it will turn out that well.
DeleteI find it strange that the Star Wars movies have so many reused scenes and ideas in them. My brother was a huge fan of Star Wars when he was growing up. I used to see bits and pieces and think the things that happened in the movies were so weird and I wondered who could come up with something so random. Now I know that a lot of it wasn't just one person's ideas and it's all just remixes from other movies.
ReplyDeleteI notice remixes whenever I do find the time to watch a You Tube video or some TV. Often the intro to the show or video is the same, a standard catchy song and a funny picture of the cast. I noticed that Pitch Perfect the movie was mainly inspired by Glee and Pentatonix. So, since the first movie was such a hit in Pitch Perfect 2, they incorporated the archetypes of a hero, villain, strong guy (the Packers football player), the original cast, and similar popular remixed music.
ReplyDeleteSeeing in episode two that from what it looks like, a lot of Star Wars was copied, makes we wonder how many actually original movies there are these days if any. It shows how influential earlier ideas were and also that people aren't afraid to spin off other peoples ideas.
ReplyDelete