So it was a good week below are the links to my Daily Creates and my video letter home. So I used an Anchorman theme with some clips of my work from this week which can be found on my youtube channel 4kevinmurphy or on this blog so take a look.
Links to My Daily Creates
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevin_murphy4/7626393084/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevin_murphy4/7626405414/
So for this assignment we had to find a sequence of movies and mash scenes from each movie to make into one trailer. It was easy for me to figure out which movies I wanted to do…..Twilight! Because like I have mentioned before I do love Twilight, yes I realize it is very corny. Anyways, I went on Youtube to find different scenes from each of the films. Once I did so I uploaded each Youtube clip onto MPEG Streamclip where I edited them down to size. Once that was accomplished I uploaded each edited clip onto Windows Movie Maker and edited it down to size a little more so that the movie would flow better. I then added a credits slide and uploaded it to Youtube and I was done!
I really like this topic and was happy to see that we were covering it for a second straight week. First off if I was going to describe a remix I would say that it is a creation of work that uses previous works in its actual composition or the previous work has a strong influence on it. In my opinion the diffidence between a remix and copying is that a remix give artistic credit to the predecessor but also changes it in some way.
The first video I watched was a remix called “Cant Tase This” it uses the song “Cant Touch This” by MC Hammer and actual footage of a college student getting tasered. This video is a good example of a mash up because it meshes them together so you the two videos are completely different but with editing the “Don’t Tase Me” parts do not mess with the flow of the MC Hammer song so it makes the video watchable and extremely entertaing in my opinion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzkd_m4ivmc
The next video I looked at was “Star Wars Call Me Maybe”, first off I just have to wonder at the amount of time this must have take to put together. This is a a great example of a remix because it is using the music to “Call Me Maybe” and even the lyrics but instead of Carly Rae Jepson singing it the creator took a ton of little clips from star wars and arranged them to sound like the characters were singing the song. I Think that this is an example of how creative even a remix can be, I mean I cant think of many people who would have been creative enough to think of this idea never mind take the time to create it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBM7i84BThE
The final movie I looked at is possibly my favorite because I am a huge Monty Python fan. The video “Star Trek Meets Monty Python” is a classic example of redubing where they take the video from one scene and use the audio from another and they are usually very different types which is often what makes them entertaining. The creative part is choosing the scenes from Star Trek that in some way fit the audio from “Monty Pythons The Holy Grail” which could not have been easy considering the two could not be farther apart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luVjkTEIoJc
In conclusion I think that remixes can some times be as creative as originals, key word in some cases. For example in the videos above they used nothing that the created themselves but what they chose to combine and how they combined it was in its own right original and creative. Now in the video it seemed that Led Zeplin remixed old song but did not stray far from the original which in my opinion was very original or creative but yet still a fan. So finally its not that you re use other peoples work but what you do once you have it that makes the difference in my opinion of course.
So from what I understand a remix and a mashup are the same thing. It is basically taking bites and pieces of different media, art, music, or ideas and creating something different with it. You could add in some of your own ideas to put a spin on a project that has aspects of other people’s work in it. I think there are different levels of sophistication to remixing as you will soon see. So I know this sounds kind of vague so look at some of the following examples. Don’t worry I learn best through examples too….like Kirby Ferguson said ” Nobody starts out original…copying is how we learn.”
So I am sure many people have seen this, especially if you are in DS106.
But I had to use this as an example of a remix, because yes as much as I would hate to admit I am a Twilight fanatic and I found this HILARIOUS! But yes this is a really good, and professionally done, example of what a remix is. The author is combing two different story lines, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Twilight, to create a new storyline. One in which Edward is stalking Buffy because he is infatuated with her and then she kills him because she isn’t interested. I most definitely think this is creative! It takes a level of skill to be able to combine two completely different pieces of media into a single storyline. Not to mention the end result is a comedy which anyone who has ever heard of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Twilight would enjoy.
My next example is news footage remixed into a MC Hammer music video to create, well a new music video.
Once again this is creative and funny. I also find it slightly ironic since MC Hammer went into serious debt over legal issues with copyright and “stealing” other people’s ideas. In regards to copyright I feel that out laws are too strict. But regardless if you give credit where credit is due for the inspiration of your remixed idea, there should be no legal issues. I also think that if anybody tries to copyright their remixed piece of work, they should not be allowed to do remixed work to begin with! I mean if you can get creative based on other peoples ideas, why can’t people get inspired off yours?
And you can’t talk about Remixing without mentioning Weird Al
This man has made his career out of remixing and I think he is one of the best examples. He takes the beats from famous songs and then adds his own lyrics to actually make fun of the real song. He is a creative genius!
My next contribution to the ds106 Assignment Repository is Visual Assignment 615: A-Z Photo Collage. The instructions read:
Make an alphabetically themed collage. Compile images to represent each letter of the alphabet within a chosen subject area or theme. Create a collage.
The potential themes are endless: items around the house, items in nature, food, flowers, even possibly things that simply make you smile. For the example, used food.
Food A-Z
After collecting photos of food that represented each letter of the alphabet, I simply opened the folder in Picasa…
…and from the “create” menu, selected “create collage”
…to start the photo compilation.
Then, I adjusted the settings–style, page format, background options–and rearranged the photos to be in A, B, C order to get the final collage I wanted. Pressing the button to “create collage”, I had my A-Z Photography composition created!
I can’t wait to see others’ interpretation of the assignment, as well as the individual themes or topics that will be used for the collages. Good luck and have fun!
One of the requirements for ds106 was to create a new assignment for the DS106 Assignment Repository. I’ve been thinking about the possibilities for the past 9 weeks, keeping in mind that I don’t want to closely duplicate an already existing assignment AND I must be able to do it myself. That was the real challenge…my mind envisions things that my talents fall short on bringing to fruition.
This morning, inspiration struck! Zombie mania is spreading like crazy. With shows like The Walking Dead gaining popularity and news stories of people attacking others in a zombie-like fashion, I thought “what would I look like as a zombie?”
My Photoshop skills are greatly lacking so I started looking for other ways to alter an image of myself and zombify it. After some quick internet researching I found there were many online options available for FREE! Halleluiah! I played around with a few finding the Zombify Yourself online app on the Zombieland website is my favorite. Here’s one possibility of what I might look like as a zombie:
Zombie Me
I was having so much fun I did another of Dave & I
Zombie Couple
See the assignment and other examples in the DS106 Design Assignment Repository: Zombify Yourself
I hope other ds106 participants have as much doing this as I did!
Hey all I found this being spread around facebook and I wanted to share it through my blog as well. All I ask is that you copy this onto your own blog sites as well.
Please consider doing this!
Hey facebook, I had an idea…..All those kids in the hospital recovering from gunshot wounds at the Batman massacre could use a visit from their hero. I propose we (as in all of facebook) should make enough noise asking Christian Bale to visit these kids in the hospital dressed in the real Batman outfit. They need to know Heroes can be real too, not just the bad guys.
Not asking anything fancy from you, if you read this, share it on your wall. If you wanna go the extra mile, post it in other sites as well. Show the kids there really are heroes.
Dear Christian Bale, Please visit the injured children from the movie massacre as Batman, you have the power to be a Hero right now, not a movie Hero, a real life flesh and blood one.
Thank you,
Everyone
The remix assignment this week was to use the remix generator to produce a remix card paired with another assignment from the ds106 assignment repository. The task was to then interpret this as a new assignment and do it. We were instructed to look at the examples that were done for the original assignment, and use media from one of these as the starting point.
The remix generator made for some interesting browsing this week. I’ve randomly been flipping through to computer-generated combinations, looking for something that (a) had examples, (b) was feasible with my limited skills, and (c) was interesting. After a few start and stop trial and errors, I got Remixed Assignments 454 (5 stars), which basically meant I needed to take a time-lapse pic from another ds106er and “Dr. Seuss” it. There was only one example available to use: kimchipizza’s soccer composite.
I then conducted a quick Google search to find a quote or saying from a Dr. Seuss book that included anything about a ball. And I found this one:
“Oh the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all.”
Since this quote is from “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”, I did Google image search for the book, looking for an appropriate image to incorporate into the image, settling on this one of the main character, from Dr. Seuss Wiki:
After accumulating the pieces and parts that I needed, I used Aviary Image Editor to create my remix.
Dr. Seuss Time Lapse
After watching all four Everything is a Remix videos created by Kirby Ferguson and his blog, I think one of the most profound things he said that really drove home the reasons for remixes was “Nobody starts out original. We need copying to build a foundation of knowledge and understanding. And after that, things can get interesting.”
Mr. Ferguson articulates the basic elements of creativity as: copy, transform, and combine. And when you think about it learning takes the same cycle. Singers learn their voice capabilities and practice on already recorded songs. Musicians learn their instruments by playing their favorite tunes or songs over and over. Artists likely start by imitating famous paintings or the concepts. Actors learn to act by watch movies and reenacting the scenes. Once an individual has been copying awhile, they start to put their own “twist” on the works, varying them slightly to add their individual flavor or personality into the mix, transforming the subject piece.
Watching, listening, doing…it’s how humans learn new things. Add in our desire for free will, to make our mark, add our own personal flare…and there you have it, we are all remixing all the time. Consciously or subconsciously, over time we have noted things we liked, or didn’t like, things we might have done differently and use these ideas later. Remix is a creative way to learn and grow and experiment with our own individuality…and stretch our imaginations!
I have to wonder, if now, in the 21st century, there is such a thing as “original”? It seems to up for debate nearly constantly. Amateurs and professionals alike are constantly recycling ideas, changing them, morphing them into different, new products of art. But introduce copyright into the conversation and things get really dicey. Should it be a copyright violation to remix? In my opinion: No! Unless of course you are misrepresenting a work as yours. Give credit where credit is due. Making a profit, monetary or otherwise, off someone’s else hard work is wrong, but recycling, reusing, and reinterpreting ideas and concepts is a great way to show how much you like the original (or not).
One of the best remixes I reviewed this week was this one:
The Shining was a damned scary movie the first time I watched it. I’ve seen it many times since and enjoy it. This remix of scenes from the movie completely changes the premise of the plot, leading the viewer of THIS video remix to believe that this is a sentimental story of love, a drama…instead of a horror flick. The scenes weren’t altered. They were just cut and arranged differently to create a different mood. Very creative!
30 Classic Music Albums Recreated With Lego was really fascinating to scroll through. I wish my Lego-maniac kids had so expertly imitated something like this. No, it’s not original design, but very creative interpretations of famous album art. Remember when album cover art was truly an art? I used to love to flip through my parents album collection simply admiring the different types of cover art. I have a few of my favorites framed and hanging in my home now. I don’t think the Lego creations of these art covers are rip offs…more of a different form of art. I bet the original artists or designers couldn’t do it with Legos!
I’m surprised that “Weird Al” Yankovic has not entered into he remixing conversations of ds106. This guy has made a very lucrative career remixing songs and videos! He uses satire and comedy to reinterpret other musicians work and poke fun at the musician themselves in some cases, like in this hilarious video remix of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way!
And here’s Lady Gaga’s original video of this song, if you’re interested.
In ds106, much of what we do is remixing for the purposes of learning through experimentation and sharing of products and processes. Many find trying to recreate or improve upon any already existing piece of work a convenient and intensely educational. I know I do! I have learned so much through trial and error and feedback during the ds106 process. It was a lot more fun than sitting through a lecture being talked AT about all the concepts we’ve studied here.
I want to conclude by saying that imitation is indeed the highest form of flattery. This is one of the reason my most original works and products for ds106 and this blog are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0. Go ahead…remix my work. I’m cool with that…as long as you give credit to me for what is mine and don’t make money off me (without sharing anyway)! 
Mashup Assignment 135 (4 stars) called for making a movie trailer by taking a trilogy, or any series of movies, and combining scenes from all the trailers to make one trailer. This was an easier assignment, and considering all my problem with video editing, I figured I could probably handle this one with a minimum of frustration. For the subject of this assignment, I decided to make a trailer montage for one of my favorite movie series, Lethal Weapon.
Turns out I was right. After downloading the four individual HD trailers for the Lethal Weapon movies from YouTube, I imported them all into VideoPad to splice them together. Starting with the first movie, Lethal Weapon, I cropped off extra material at the end of the trailer that I didn’t want to keep. Then I added the next trailer for Lethal Weapon 2, to the video track immediately after the first one. Again, some trimming to make the resulting “uni-trailer” a little shorter and transitions less obvious, I added the third and fourth videos trailers for Lethal Weapon 3 and Lethal Weapon 4. Admittedly, the transitions between segments are not as smooth and more obvious as would have liked, but the damned video editing software is making my crazy, so I did my best and settled for that.
And if you haven’t seen the Lethal Weapon movies yet…I hope this teases you into it! Working on this task has reignited my love for these movies so I see a movie marathon coming in the near future!
Sorry, but camp is over! Head over to ds106
The Campfires have all been put out.
Camp is now over (see the final story. If you are craving an experience like this, head over to ds106 and see how to participate. For more on the Summer of Magic Macguffin, see.....
