I’m a huge fan of Beast Wars. That 3D animated Transformers series from the mid 90s where everyone is an animal was more than just a fresh take on the concept. Never mind that even back then it looked kind of cheesy, but the writing was superb, it had strong characters, substantial storylines, all of which made the series a prime example that a reboot or sequel can equal or surpass the original.
In this trailer (people these days make such a huge fuss about the difference between teasers and trailers, this is a trailer being headlined by a truck) you see both Optimus Prime and Optimus Primal meet for the first time and eventually work together to fight a common enemy. Primal’s Maximals get introduced and we get a glimpse of the Predacons.
Best part, we get to see G1 Prime again as the Freightliner truck instead of the newer Peterbilt one.
Why have I been sharing mashup videos this morning? We’re about to close the decade (either in a few hours of in 12 months depending on how you calculate stuff) and the rise of digital media along with the widening of creative outputs have placed copyright issues and content protection as one of the major elements of the decade. I figured the way today’s minds process creative output is by taking existing works and combining them to produce something that while not entirely new, appeals to a large audience and evokes particular emotions.
The skills that are required to create such mashups are not simplistic. The artists (yes, I’m calling them mashup artists) have to understand the audience, the material, and how to not only put them together but make them seamless as to remove the doubt on the subject of the parody or the reference. Mashups are not simple copy and paste. You need to have the ability to spot similar or identical elements to combine the content and make them look or feel professional. Anyone can create a good movie but it takes skills and experience to create a really good movie. he same principles apply here. See the video below to understand was put into creating the Magnum P.I + Star Wars mashup.
Copyrights? Of course, there are copyright issues but most mashups were made with no commercial intent. These works were created because they have a high appreciation of the original contents that they use. They want to create something that is cool for them and their peers. While the contents may not be new, the end result is often something fresh. In fact, mashups promote original content because without which, there would be no mashups to create. Those who watch mashup videos or listen to mashup songs become exposed to the original works that are used.
AuliaSays 