blog 1; remix_jmg202

For the remix I chose, it’s the rapper Rick Ross adding a verse to Adele’s “Hello.” This is technically a remix in the general sense when someone is typically thinking about when a song is remixed, but it is unusual in the terms of who is remixing what. I would say that it’s creatively reworking the original “Hello” because of the new vocals laid down by Rick Ross on top of the original song’s production. It doesn’t so much transform the source media’s meaning, but it kind of alters the way the listener chooses to view the song. Instead of paying attention to Adele’s lyrics, there’s a whole other artist to pay attention to. Using the source media, Rick Ross took what the original song embodies and puts his own personal spin on it. He even goes with a more introspective verse to go along with the vibe Adele offered up in the original song.

One of the reasons I actually chose this remix is because it really is made for a different audience than the source’s audience. Adele is making pop music with more of a mainstream audience, while Rick Ross is making rap music. But, I think that a remix like this where it cuts through genres is always an interesting thing to listen to. I find it intriguing to look into how a song works with one audience, then see how changes (a remix) made to that song can be tailored to an entirely different audience.

While there’s no change in the original instrumental nor is there a change/removal in any of Adele’s original vocals, I believe that it is still a remix worth listening to it. No elements are brought in from any distinct media objects. While this is not the most complex remix to have ever been made, I really do still enjoy it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OgwFPDDdFQ

While Joss Whedon’s 2012 film Much Ado About Nothing might be considered an adaptation of Shakespeare’s original play, I argue that it is more of a remix than an adaptation. The word ‘adaptation’ suggests that original content is the truer, more meaningful content than the adapted work. On the other hand, the word ‘remix’ suggests that the “creative reworking” of previously made content provides for a brand new product, which may stand on its own. Whedon’s film remixes the original content of Shakespeare to create an entirely new product with changed meaning. The original content for Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing is the text of Shakespeare’s play; however, it should be noted that Shakespeare’s text was always meant to be a visual experience on stage. In a way, a staging of Shakespeare’s plays may also be considered a remix of Shakespeare’s text. Film is a different visual format than plays because editing, soundtrack, and realistic setting are tools that provide a different kind of viewing experience.

The remixing that Whedon does is through his use of modern day setting on film, rather than the stage. The setting of a vacation home changes the meaning of Shakespeare’s play. The home provides a physical enclosure for the characters that provides a sense of claustrophobia through the whole film. The drama that ensues throughout the entire film is justified by the fact that all of characters are in such close quarters of one another. The modern day time period also transforms what might be considered an “antiquated” text into a story that could be easily placed in today’s world. Whedon’s choice to not change the text into modern day speech shows that the exact plot and themes are mutable to present day times. Whedon’s remixed product uses the exact original content to show that Shakespeare itself is not historical, but that Shakespeare’s themes remain relevant today.

As for Much Ado’s audience, one could say that Whedon makes Shakespeare “more accessible” to modern day audiences or that through his use of original text, Whedon shows that Shakespeare has always been accessible to any audience and was intended to be “remixed” as a changing visual experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzuWf66R2HY

An interesting example of a remix is Emoji Dick, which is a translation of the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville completely into popular IPhone emoji characters, thus creating a whole different story experience.

Original Moby Dick and Emoji Dick

The source media for my chosen remix is literature, as the entire story of Moby Dick is what is being remixed. Fred Benenson, the editor, along with over eight hundred human intelligence task workers from Amazon Mechanical Turk, was able to translate the complicated text of Moby Dick into the much simpler form of mini picture icons that we know as emoji. This brings in a lot of criticism.

Example of text-to-emoji translation of Moby Dick

Some people look at this remix and think of it as garbage and a telling example of how language is no longer appreciated in a society that utilizes abbreviations, slang, and emoji as staples in their conversations. Others see the value of this remix, and comment on how it can introduce a new generation to the past, thus preserving the story of Moby Dick. Sure, the outcome is somewhat comical, but that just adds to the charm. In the end, Emoji Dick is it’s own art project and comparisons between it and the original shouldn’t be used as a way to devalue its worth.

It’s hard to say whether or not this remix is inherently ridiculous or oddly beneficial to the literary world, but it definitely transforms the meaning of Moby Dick from being a boring, overwritten, bland book into something new, entertaining, and (surprisingly or not) much more likely to be read by the newer generations. While the story obviously has lost a lot—there are no perfect translations from text to emoji, especially considering that there is a limited amount of emoji character, so the plot has obviously lost depth (not that it had much depth to begin with though)—a lot has been gained. Besides, Emoji Dick includes the emoji translations next to the original text so that if the emoji aren’t clear enough to explain what’s happening the reader still can understand what’s going on. Moby Dick was desperately in need for a fresh face to market to a new kind of audience, and remixing it into something like Emoji Dick was a great way (it started as a kickstarter project and has reached much success) to keep an old piece of literature alive by bringing it up to the new communication standards of this generation.

Page out of Emoji Dick

http://www.emojidick.com/

My video is a remix of speeches that Barrack Obama has given throughout his years as president. The clips are all pieced together to make it so Obama is “singing” the lyrics to the original Pokemon Theme song. The person who made it went through a large number of speeches and looked for the individual words that make up the lyrics of the song. He then cut out those words and put them together over an instrumental version of the theme song.

This media remix is interesting because it has two different sources. One source is a beloved and memorable TV show’s theme; the other is speeches given by Obama. All of the lyrics from the original song are included in the remix, even surprisingly the word “Pokemon” which was achieved by stringing parts of other words together. However most parts of the speeches were not included because there was only a couple words from each speech needed. Despite how easy it would have been, the author did not use the same clips over and over for the same words. He even made the word “Pokemon” a couple different ways.

When deciding if this remix is intended for a different audience than the original, there’s a couple things you need to consider. The first, and most important, being that this theme was only used on the show in its first season, which was a little less than 20 years ago. The audience for the original theme was children who are interested in the Pokemon games, but all of the kids who loved to watch this show are young adults now. Obama’s speeches are generally intended for the entirety of the country, but mostly for adults. The target audience of this remix would seem to be young adults, as those are the people who would be aware of Obama’s speeches and also familiar with the Pokemon theme song, so the target audience has changed significantly.