Posted by Jonathan o n January 5th, 2010
Remix artist Diran Lyons, who’s work we have featured on this site before, has just completed an ambitious remix project critical of President Obama’s foreign policy entitled “Jake Gyllenhaal Challenges the Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize”.
The piece is a remixed narrative that combines two Jake Gyllenhall films (Donnie Darko & Jarhead) with news footage of President Barack Obama. As the President wins the Nobel Peace Prize, Gyllenhaal’s character becomes disillusioned with Obama’s increasingly pro-war rhetoric, escalation of the war in Afghanistan and the failure to withdraw troops from Iraq.
After Diran uploaded this video to YouTube is was instantly removed with the following message:
We think this is a particularly hilarious use of the word “decided” considering YouTube runs a fully automated content ID matching system which does automatic takedowns seconds after a video is uploaded AND the remix is a fair use of any NBC content making it totally legal.
Diran went through YouTube’s online “dispute” process and after a few hours got his video back online. However NBC Universal may still decide to have it removed again via a DMCA takedown notice. We hope this remix stays put, as it is clearly a fair use of any NBC material, but as we all know, just because a video is a fair use does not mean it will stay on the internet. Take a look at Takedown Hall of Shame.
If something similar has happened to your remix video the Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF) has put together a fantastic Guide to YouTube Removals which will tell you everything you need to know about getting your video back online.
Category: short film
Topic Tags: hollywood, obama, peace, presidency, violence, war
Posted by Elisa o n August 28th, 2009
This remix by freeyourpixels is a short yet eloquent critique of the US Marines “Red Stripe” online ad campaign. The remix uses still images and TV commercial clips for source materials and implements additive text and precise match-on-action editing techniques to unite them. The red stripe transitions the viewer from one clip to next and was created using After Effects. It’s a brilliant, yet simple, visual motif which echos the brutal imperialist history of the US Marines. The Scarlet Stripe, said to commemorate the bloodshed by US Marine officers during the 1846 Battle of Chapultepec in Mexico, is more often referred to as the Blood Stripe.
Category: tv commercial
Topic Tags: capitalism, corporations, government, iraq, marines, military, terrorism, violence, war
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face. Forever.”
The above George Orwell quote accompanies this vid by Lila Futuransky which deals with cinematic depictions of oppression and resistance. She weaves together appropriated footage from three sci-fi films set in a near future London; 28 Days Later, Children of Men and V for Vendetta. These are remixes over the song Rabbit in Your Headlights by the band Unkle. The result is a re-constructed vision of a fear-driven future and also a vision of the resistance. She particularly challenges the ways in which gender, race and sexuality play out in those futures.
Lila has carefully re-contextualized many of the characters in these films including erasing the male V character (along with his torturing of Evey “for her own good”) and removes the character of Theo as the white male savor of Kee in shots from Children of Men. The vid also pieces together an inspiring montage of resistance which inserts images of queer relationships in between the shots of street protests and sabotage. For much more detail on the concepts behind the creating of this vid check out lila’s web page for it.
Category: vidding
Topic Tags: activism, gender, government, hollywood, military, race, sexuality, vidding, war
Posted by Elisa o n February 14th, 2009
This is the first in a series of posts highlighting the remix form called vidding. Vids are created by re-cutting television and movie footage with music in order to comment on the source material. The vidding genre is dominated by women who have been creating their transformative works as a self-conscious community of fan/editors for decades. While not all vids are overtly political in nature we will be showcasing some of our favorites that focus on issues of war, race, gender and sexuality. For a much more indepth description of this art form see this interview with vidder Francesca Coppa.
In this remix vidder Charmax uses source footage solely from the 2004 movie Troy based on Homer’s Iliad. Selected scenes of human grief and suffering from the film are re-cut to the song No Bravery sung by James Blunt. The result is a powerful emotional journey exposing our culture’s glorification of warfare. Rearranging the source footage beautifully, Charmax presents a simple and clear message: there are no heroes in war. While the source material chronicles the historical attack on Troy by the Greeks, the vids message calls to mind our modern day media myths that continue to deny the cruel, destructive and inhuman nature of war.
Be sure to check out Charmax’s website for more vids.
Category: vidding
Topic Tags: hollywood, vidding, violence, war
Posted by Jonathan o n February 11th, 2009
This remix, by a group calling themselves “Paul Harvey Oswald”, combines a significant amount of appropriated source material. In addition to news segments, sports footage, commercials, television clips, and additional text, this remix relies heavily on the strategic placement of repetitive sound bites.The result is a blunt critique of American consumerism, mass media and car culture.
Category: short film
Topic Tags: advertising, cars, consumerism, corporations, military, war
Posted by Jonathan o n February 11th, 2009
This is a commercial bumper running on the Al Jazeera English news channel that remixes footage of Israeli defense minister (and winner of the recent Israeli elections) Tzipi Livni speaking about the attack on Gaza with images of the human catastrophe on the ground.
The remix does not exactly fit our definition for PRVs as the source footage is used with permission of the owners; in this case, the news channel. However it’s notable because it successfully implements juxtaposition in an effort to reveal hypocrisy. Additionally, we give a lot of credit to Al Jazeera for running this because we know that not one major western news channel (except perhaps the Daily Show) would run a PRV like this, despite having access to ample material!
We are also excited to hear that Al Jazeera recently announced they have released select broadcast quality footage under Creative Commons license for creators to re-use and remix. The first clips in this new Creative Commons Repository are direct from the war zone in Gaza. It’s especially poignant considering Israel bared journalists from entering the occupied territory during the worst of the bombardment.
Category: tv commercial
Topic Tags: isreal, palestine, tzipi livni, violence, war
Posted by Jonathan o n October 22nd, 2008
My latest Political Remix Video transforms the US presidential debates into a new reality show by combining the PBS/BBC debate broadcasts with the Fox show So You Think You Can Dance. In this re-imagined narrative the judges are far more honest (and tough) on the candidates stances around issues of war, oil drilling, nuclear energy and so called “clean coal” than any mainstream news media today.
So You Think You Can Be President is a new reality television show where candidates compete for American votes! Presidential hopefuls must present their positions on major issues in front of our live studio audience then face hard-hitting critiques from our panel of judges. Viewers at home will delight in the spectacle as candidates are challenged in ways never before seen in mainstream media. In this week’s episode, only two weeks before the election, Senator Obama and Senator McCain have their feet held to the fire over shockingly similar positions on energy and foreign policy. Who will be this season’s champion and take home the grand prize? You’ll have to watch and decide for yourself, then participate in the show by casting a vote* for your favorite performer on November 4th!
*Some restrictions may apply. In certain areas these include, but are not limited to, faulty electronic voting systems, racist voter laws and/or voter roll purges. See your local polling place for details.
APPROPRIATED SOURCE MATERIAL:
So You Think You Can Dance – Season 3 & 4
2008 US Presidential Debates – 1, 2 & 3 PBS, BBC, PBS
Road to the White House – MSNBC
“The Politics of Dancing” - by Re-Flex
Category: televison show
Topic Tags: elections, environment, mccain, obama, presidency, voting, war