This past week's class delved back into remix culture in a way that transcended the origins of Hip Hop and ventured into many other areas of popular culture. In particular, we looked at the many ways in which pop cultural phenomenons are hijacked, subverted and or remade to create social statements or simply for the sake of creation. These remixes can be reverent, irreverent or completely antithetical to the original inspiration. The video above takes the grim and wildly popular Walking Dead TV series and uses a happy, pop song to turn the zombie-themed show into an opening sequence for a sappy, '70s style sitcom. What's especially ironic about the remix is that the song is actually used in the series but as a means of psychological torture for one of the main characters who is being held captive.
What I find interesting about remix culture is the way it can take well-known tropes and narratives and turn them completely around. In a way, this is very similar to culture jamming or the type of fan activism that we looked at earlier. As a media instructor I find it fascinating that amateur editors and creators can make such impressive and thoughtful works using relatively simple tools and often without formal training. Of course, these tools and techniques are not available to everyone, but the availability of free or inexpensive editing software and the proliferation of powerful personal computers has lowered the barriers for participation.
And just as with fan activism, hijacking popular culture of social justice, or even just for entertainment, can have a massive reach because of the wide popularity of the source material. Whether it is a popular movie being recut to expose colonial themes, or a more experimental re-edit like the video below. Click on the image to take you to a webpage where you can find an extract of The Time Machine in Alphabetical Order. This remix is a complete version of the 1960s film version of H.G. Wells novella, The Time Machine. In this interpretation the entire film is re-edited into alphabetical order in an "attempt to perform a kind of time travel on the movie's original time line through the use of a system of classification.
What I find interesting about remix culture is the way it can take well-known tropes and narratives and turn them completely around. In a way, this is very similar to culture jamming or the type of fan activism that we looked at earlier. As a media instructor I find it fascinating that amateur editors and creators can make such impressive and thoughtful works using relatively simple tools and often without formal training. Of course, these tools and techniques are not available to everyone, but the availability of free or inexpensive editing software and the proliferation of powerful personal computers has lowered the barriers for participation.
And just as with fan activism, hijacking popular culture of social justice, or even just for entertainment, can have a massive reach because of the wide popularity of the source material. Whether it is a popular movie being recut to expose colonial themes, or a more experimental re-edit like the video below. Click on the image to take you to a webpage where you can find an extract of The Time Machine in Alphabetical Order. This remix is a complete version of the 1960s film version of H.G. Wells novella, The Time Machine. In this interpretation the entire film is re-edited into alphabetical order in an "attempt to perform a kind of time travel on the movie's original time line through the use of a system of classification.