Quotation: “Perhaps the audience just prefers the familiar. Most box-office hits rely heavily on existing material. Of the 10 highest-grossing films per year from the past 10 years, 74 out of 100 are either sequels or remakes of earlier films or adaptations of comic books, video games, books and so on. Transforming the old into the new, is Hollywood’s greatest talent” (Ferguson 6:23).
Comment: Within the video titled, Everything is a Remix, I gathered the above quote from part II of the video called, Remix Inc. This quote addresses the idea of what a remix is. Remix is defined as a different and or altered version of something already created. Some may believe that remixing is simply copying or plagiarizing. However, pieces of this video from Ferguson and aspects of Lessig’s article from last week would suggest otherwise. Lessig stated, “the freedom to take and use freely is built into our assumptions about how we create what we write” (Lessig 157). Lessig feels with the arrival of the digital age, the new technologies have made way for more amateurs to become creators. As time continues, more of the youth use what they see on the internet to create new forms of media. Lessig through this quote is expressing how people assume what they see on the internet can be molded and or used to create something new. This quote suggests that there shouldn’t be consequences to using what we see to further create, but rather embrace copywriting as a form of paying tribute to the amazing things already created. The idea of using what we already know to create something new, is what Ferguson is addressing in part II of his video. Ferguson stated, “Perhaps the audience just prefers the familiar. Most box-office hits rely heavily on existing material. Of the 10 highest-grossing films per year from the past 10 years, 74 out of 100 are either sequels or remakes of earlier films or adaptations of comic books, video games, books and so on. Transforming the old into the new, is Hollywood’s greatest talent”. Transforming already successful material into more creations, is a recipe for success. Why fail creating something new, when the audience is invested in exploring the further creation of an already existing material? Remixing shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing. Remixing is a form of creation that allows for anyone to further explore or express an idea people are already familiar with.
Question: Where have you seen an example of remixing in your life (ex. Movie, book, music, etc.)?
