To start off the remix and mashup weeks, we had to review two references and three examples of what remix is. This was one of the first things I did for the remix and mashup weeks’ checklist. I did this first because I needed a clearer understanding of what “remix” is. The first thing that came to my mind when I heard remix was the remixed songs you hear on the radio.

The two references I reviewed:

• I watched the A Fair(y) Use Tale because on the description it said that it dealt with copyright. Since my fiasco last week with the copyright, I thought I should watch this. This clip was wonderfully created. It took clips from the Disney movies and used the characters’ words to make a sentence. Different characters from different movies could have help contribute to a sentence. I bet this took a serious amount of time because the creator had to take the clips of the characters saying the words and piece them together. First of all, finding all of the right words that he/she needed must have been a challenge in itself. This reference showed me that remixing could mean using different clips to make one coherent clip.
• I also watched Everything is a Remix. I got the most out of part one of this clip, especially where Kirby Ferguson said that remix was “to combine or edit existing materials to produce something new.” He also said that in a way, everything could be a remix of something. You don’t need fancy tools or be a fancy person to remix something. He made a good point that I did not know. He said that song covers are even remixes that are legal. I really never thought about that before.

The three examples I reviewed:

• First of all, this video is just too cool. I am super jealous of whoever created this. I WANT TO MAKE A MASTERPIECE LIKE THIS. In this “Star Wars Call Me Maybe” video, the characters on Star Wars‘ speech was taken apart and put back together to form the song Call Me Maybe. I’m not a big Star Wars fan but I do think Call Me Maybe is a funny and catchy tune so I chose to watch this example. Once I watched it, I just couldn’t get enough. I showed this video to everyone! Even the mystery person that I explained remix to {which you will hear at the end of this post. So don’t skip to there now…that’s rude.}
• I also watched this Buffy vs. Edward video. This is a mashup of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twilight. This is a brilliant remix because both storylines have vampires in them and they both hide it from people. I thought this video was clever in the way that clips from the show and the movie were put together. The best thing about this video is that the audio overlapped. Sometimes being too choppy can interfere with the story that one is trying to tell because the viewer KNOWS it is a remix. Having the song that plays in Twilight overlap with the clip of Buffy works very well and it is my favorite part about this remix.
• The last example that I viewed was The Shining Recut video. This video was of The Shining trailer, which is originally a horror movie. But in this trailer, the creator made it into a love movie where a dad and a boy find one another and it is just what both of them needed. If I hadn’t already seen this movie before, I would have believed this trailer and I would have rented the movie to watch it! And boy, would I have been in for a surprise haha! The creator of this masterpiece voiced over the clips to change the storyline and added up-beat music to help in changing the storyline.

Now that I have reviewed these references and examples, I can honestly say that I. am. intimidated. WOW – how will I ever compare with these?? Challenge….accepted?

I explained what remix is to Allison, one of my best friends. Here is the SoundCloud clip of how the conversation went.

Before I recorded this, I showed Allison the Star Wars – Call Me Maybe video. And she loved it! It made explaining what remix was easier because they had already watched a great example.

I can’t wait to get remixing!

Blog post title: Call Me Maybe {REMIX} – Carly Rae Jepson