Beginner's Guide: Making Creative Work A Success
Remixes: they adapt, they copy, they reference, sometimes they fail and sometimes they're incredibly successful. In recent years we have seen many remixes of movies, songs, tv shows, books, comics etc. In fact, 74% of box office hits from the past 10 years were a remake in one way or another. Therefore, the question whether a remix can enhance the original is persistently becoming more and more important which is what I will try to tackle today.
How a Remix Can Enhance the Original
Have you ever not watched a movie because you considered it to be too old and were simply not entertained by the lack of effects or modern camera angles? That's where remixes come in. In the past few decades we have seen such a vast improvement in technology that comparing old and new movies is almost impossible. There are far more effects, ways of editing or even just FX makeup that can add an immense factor of entertainment to a movie which is why we have often seen movies such as Alice in Wonderland getting remade with improved effects and technology as seen in Tim Burton's version of the 1865 story written by Lewis Carroll.
Additionally, a remix can actually make the original far more popular and expand its reach to a wider audience. Most people have a genre of music, movies, books or art they prefer and tend to focus on. Often we then don't pay much attention to other genres and I think sometimes it makes us miss great pieces. When authors remix and share ideas from other genres, adapting them, making them their own and for example turning an R&B song into a deep house song, similarly to what Robin Schulz did with Mr. Probz' song Waves. The German DJ Robin Schulz made the original far more famous and was the reason why the remix was played all over the world, landing at the top of the charts in various different countries.
Waves - Robin Schulz Remix Waves - Mr Probz
A Series of Remixes That Have Enhanced the Original
You might think that you can't come up with that many remixes that have enhanced the original, especially when it comes to films or tv shows. Isn't a film based on a book or a comic a remake though? Most movies we watch today are based on other pieces or have taken ideas from different works. Look at any of the Marvel Movies for example, which have become incredibly popular lately. Every single one is simply a remake of a comic, having taken ideas from someone else, increasing their reach and making them far more famous.
To what extent is every creative work a remix of other works?
Personally, I think in a way everything is a remix of something else. Just because a movie or a tv show isn't based on a book or another creative piece, doesn't mean it's fully original. Whether it is in music, in film or in art in a way we are simple taking fragments from someone else's works, mixing them up and adapting them until they make something new. What do you think? Can we really create original pieces of work or are we simply assembling experiences, previous works in a different way?
If you're interested in finding out more about this topic, watch this.
References:
Eisenberg, E. (2015, August 17). Alice In Wonderland 2 Gets A 2016 Release Date, Johnny Depp And Mia Waskiowka To Return. Retrieved March 15, 2017, from http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Alice-Wonderland-2-Gets-2016- Release-Date-Johnny-Depp- Mia-Waskiowka-Return-40422.html
Ferguson, K. (2011, February 02). Retrieved March 15, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-HuenDPZw0