Everything is a Remix part II

I realized that since the evolution of man, human beings have been "copying transforming and combining" ideas, but more copying than the others. Over the weeks I have researched and watched a lot of videos read articles about the remix culture. As said in my previous post remix common in the mainstream media, whether it is in movies, music, arts, etc. Most directors are famous and well known for it, but the question can remix come to an end, can we still see originality or is there a limit to remixing. Movie directors J.J Abrams is well known for remixing, another movie director and writer is George Lucas. They both have different techniques for remixing, Abrams copies dialogues, storyline and templates from the past while Lucas copies/remixes scenes. A good example is the movie “Star Wars the force awakens,” J.J Adams incorporated George Lucas' style of remixing, a remix from star wars episode 4 “The new hope.” There were similarities between the two movies storyline, similar idea, and concepts. Star Wars have been known for remixing old ideas and remaking into newer movies plot line (The force Awakens, the original star wars and the return of the Jedi). Although there were some transformation and changes in the storyline, it wasn't as obvious. Most people appreciate stories that appear familiar, that’s the reason why a majority of Hollywood movies are remixed “Familiar vs. novel” which appeals to the audience' desire.

The Force Awakens, and the original Star Wars

Remixing doesn’t require skills knowledge, and it can be easily assessable, anybody can do it. Example of early remix in music started in the year 1961 in Paris, William Burroughs invented “The soft machine” a cut-up technique that involves cutting old and existing lyrics and rearranging to form new lyrics, this is a form of a remix. The famous Led Zeppelin in the late 1970s, he was labeled a rip-off from the tunes of another African American musician like Willie Dixon’s "Bring it on home" and Led Zeppelin “Bring it on home” both had similar melody, titles, and tunes. Another example is “Lemon Song” by Led Zeppelin which was again similar to Howlin Wolf

“ Killin floor,” the music sounds similar even the words were almost the same. This was a trend between songwriters and artist, it wasn’t unusual, although most artists claimed remixing songs as "Cover" from the original version, while others didn’t and were sued. Zeppelin was one of the artists not to claim originality of some of his lyrics/ songs, and he was known to copy without making changes. Covers and kickoff/ripoffs are what differentiates legal and illegal remixing, a trend in entertainment industries.