Comments on: Genius video mashups

By: Fruppi

Fruppi — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:50:40 +0000

I thought the last one was excellent! I haven’t watched them all yet (because I’m at work and I don’t want anyone else to hear me listening to “Closer” :D), but it was well-timed and cut well to look like it could all be part of the original Hard Day’s Night trailer.

Nobody claimed it was perfect, did they? And who cares what remake the footage is from…the entire point was to have zombies running just like the girls in Hard Day’s Night. Don’t be so hard on other people’s trivial amusements!

By: Luis M

Luis M — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 21:41:20 +0000

“the world’s first mashup-based artform was hip-hop music, which combined pieces of pre-existing music with an MC’s rap”

What about collage? Hip hop is nothing but a musical approach to collage, which existed a lot earlier in painting!

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 14:19:42 +0000

Dear Storm,

Why does the song not work? Is it because “The Body as a Cage” metaphor could stand for something like rage and revenge? Could him not being able to dance with the one he loves, be because of that revenge? Maybe no one will remember it in 30 years, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable or beautiful.

By: Katrina

Katrina — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 00:46:19 +0000

The last one hardly counts; it’s got Shaun of the Dead clips, and the zombie footage is from an inferior remake.

Still, kudos to the creators of Star Trek/Closer. That pairing is the granddaddy of all fandom slash, and it’s cool to see people still having fun with it after all these years.

By: Ransom

Ransom — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 15:19:53 +0000

Storm, no fair criticizing the lot when you only watched half of the first one! And to say that art is only someone “making something themselves” definitely opens up a huge can of worms — so much of our modern art is recycling, from Andy Warhol to any number of hip-hop artists.

Anyway, this stuff is just for fun. I’m sure people who make video mashups aren’t expecting fame and fortune; they’re just having fun in their spare time. So why shouldn’t we enjoy it if we can?

And in a way, isn’t that a purer form of artistic expression than a movie studio recycling formulaic plots because that’s what they think people will pay to see?

By: Storm

Storm — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 13:36:06 +0000

Well, I only managed to force myself to watch part of the first one and I was left very unimpressed. All it does is to make the brilliant music and editing of the Leone movie not work anymore. The new music/message doesn’t add anything new because it doesn’t work. It’s just not very good editing.

As pixites say… something someone has actually made themselves would be real proof of talent. People think that everything old is just stock. I don’t think they even understand that someone actually made those earlier artwork without digital aid. Someone a lot more talented than them. Who will remember these mashups in 30 years? Who will remember them in 30 days?

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 18:20:02 +0000

EBN did this much better many years ago.

Google: Emergency Broadcast Network

By: justin case

justin case — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 18:07:07 +0000

Wouldn’t Burroughs cut-up work be the first mash-up art?

By: pixites

pixites — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 16:45:50 +0000

nice, but…
who’ll come up with some real new stuff…
or is everything that’s retrospective holy?
Geniuses usually come up with new theories, new movies, new music.
They build it upon the old stuff and build it on what we usually refer to as tradition…

By: Stew

Stew — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 15:27:05 +0000

I never saw anything like these. They are great! Velvet Welk is phenomenal (I had a great uncle that made us watch Lawrence Welk in the mid 60s). I also thought My Body is a Cage, 8 1/2 Mile, and the Beatles one where great.

It takes some real talent to think of the idea (linking some specific video to a song) and then actually making it work on a video. The tempo of the people on Lawrence Welk playing the music and dancing were perfect for the Lou Reed song.