Everything+is+a+Remix+-+Review

__Everything is a Remix__
For my documentary review, I have chosen the first part of Kirby Ferguson's everything is a remix. Before I start my review, here is some general information about the documentary.

//__Everything is a Remix - Info__//
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//__Everything is a Remix - Review__//
When I was choosing my documentary for this project, I was drawn to "Everything is a Remix" by it's originality and the way it presented itself - just simple black and white text instead of a picture or flashy presentation. I found it ironic how I was drawn to something original like this, when the documentary is focused on how nothing is original. Good!

Now for the review. When I first sat down with this video, I wasn't quite sure what to expect: DJing, photoshop, or other things involving splicing or mixing. I wasn't really prepared for the overall message covered in this section of a total of 4 documentaries. In this section, the maker covered music and how it started the art of remixing, or taking another's work and transforming it slightly into your own. It showed how famous artists and musicians occasionally borrow bass lines or guitar riffs from other musicians, then play other instruments or a different melody over top of it, and re - release it as their own. The documentary first demonstrated how the first Hip-Hop artists of the eighty's would borrow/steal melodies or riffs from a song and release it as their own, like I mentioned above. This popular music started the age of remixing, and over the years the art of remixing has evolved to Youtube, radio stations (take Eminem's "No Love" for example), and even modern day art.

Then the documentary described the legendary rock band Led Zeppelin, detailing how they copied blues riffs and other melodies from famous bands just enough to call them their own and re-released them. They were only sued a couple times, but only because they completly copied another song or a part from it. The spotlight in this part is how remixing can't be prosecuted if legal, legal being taking another's material with permission or tweaking it just enough to call it your own or original. This part showed how remixing still thrives today, and why people aren't suing people left and right, because believe me, our lawyers would be very busy if that was the case.

The point of the documentary, to the simplest terms, is that nothing in our modern world is original anymore and how it got that way. For example, look at laptops and our computers. They are all technically ripoffs of the computers that came before them, copying the original creator's idea and tweaking it just enough to make it your own. The same can be said for lots of things in our society, from cars to bikes or paintings to architecture. To create something as your own, you almost always have to take another person's or thing's idea, or an exisisting material, even if it's something from nature like a plant or photosynthesis. This documentary made me look at the world around myself and consider the possibility that nothing, in our modern world is original, our music, our houses, our luxeries, nothing is really new, nothing is very innovative anymore. When someone creates something it can almost always be credited to something or someone else's work, idea or existence.

I am happy to say that Kirby Ferguson's "Everything is a Remix" scores high on my personal scale. It masterfully shows the evolution of originality and our creativity over the years. The only problem with the documentary is that I wish they could have had a broader expanse of examples of non-originality or copying. I can't wait for the next three installments to come out and I hope they will be as good as the one I am reviewing right now! And with that I am glad to give "Everything is a Remix" an... 9.5 out of 10. Excellent Job Ryley! WEll written with plenty of personal support and examples. One of the best written reviews I have read! 24/24