Awesome, infringing music video made from 80s brat pack flicks is band's "best video"
Tavie sez, "My friend Sarah WINS at the internet. I've known her online (and eventually offline) for 15 years and her creativity never ceases to astound me. Now it's astounding Rolling Stone, who've picked up on the fact that her recent YouTube mashup of the band Phoenix's song "Lisztomania" meshes perfectly with clips from 80's brat pack movies. I'd never heard of this band before (I live under a rock), but this song makes me want to dance. Phoenix even added it to their official myspace page and have said it's their "best video yet". Her tribute is so good that it spawned a tribute-to-the-tribute. Dude. I'm so glad fans are still creating brilliant, beautiful things on the internet. Fandom rules."
Scenes from The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink and Footloose match up so perfectly with the Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix track, it's hard to believe the band didn't attempt to soundtrack John Hughes flicks in the studio a la Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz. AvoidantConsumer did such a good job, the band even posted on their official MySpace page and, according to Swide, Phoenix have gone on record saying the unofficial Brat Pack version is "our best video."Flashback: Phoenix's "Lisztomania" Makes Ringwald And Cryer Feel Like Dancing (Thanks, Tavie!)
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Worth it just to See Ducky get the girl.
No one mentioned "Mannequin" which supplied some of the clips. Another example of 80's greatness.
Dont' forget scenes from Mannequin.
I can't believe I recognized Mannequin. I need to get out more.
I really liked the tribute to the tribute, particularly because of its beautiful, charming, and very real cast. They nailed it, and maybe they even produced something that could be legally used.
It's my first time posting here, I'm more of a lurker and don't have an account yet. I don't take part in online discussions so much, but there is one thing about this post that made me question one thing:
How exactly is this infringing?
Come on Cory, don't help the MAFIAA spread their propaganda. You working with the EFF and all. I realize that the intended reaction from the readers might have been to create a feeling that something that great should not be infringing, and that regarding such a creative remix as breaking the law is absurd, but is it really illegal use of copyrighted work(s)? From my point of view it's fair use.
A quick look at "Fair Use" at Wikipedia:
"(...)use by reproduction (...) for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:
1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. "
@1: The purpose is non-comercial. The work is transformative, not derivative.
@2: Not really clear to me..
@3: Short clips from multiple movies were used. However, I'm not sure if the rules related to samples apply or not. Short "unrecognizable" samples are fair use, but longer "recognizable" ones have to be licensed. Movies from which the clips come are recognizable. On the other hand this is a video that's being mixed, not audio. Also, full song was used. Is this the "infringing" part of the work?
@4: Value of 20yr old movies - low. Value of a song by a band that I have not ever heard about - low. These are of course subjective, but bear with me for a moment. Value of mixing these movie clips with a song, going viral and at the same time promoting a sentiment towards those movies seen by many in their teenage years as well as promoting a song (and consequently, a band that recorded it) to a wide audience that otherwise wuld have probably not heard about it in the first place (again - subjective): high to priceless.
As for #4, this is more of a personal perspective - I haven't heard that song (or of that band) ever before, and now am inclined to check out their myspace, or maybe get their mp3s or go to a concert.
If someone could explain it to me, I'd be grateful.
Thanks,
M.
I'm really happy right now.
man I love phoenix. this was awesome.
@Joe I second the motion for this to be the band's official video.
Deja vu struck me. Near the end, is that the same hotel that Walken dances in in the 'Weapon of Choice' video?
Not all that surprising that the mashed 80's movies and Phoenix track match up so well. That New New Wave sound that has been popular since The Strokes hit was, of course, inspired by the music of the early and mid 80's. It wouldn't surprise me if the beats per minute of the songs from those John Hughes movies were withing 10% of the Phoenix track.
This is fun to watch, and I'm not saying it should be "illegal" to do video and/or audio mashups under considered circumstances... but as an artistic observation: It's not hard to make one's "best video ever" when it's made by quilting together the brilliant, expensive hard work of other artists. Making your own art from the ground up is most impressive to me.
/wetblanket
If you guys like that, you will be blown away by waambat's video mashups of 3-6 Mafia / Alice in wonferland...and Peaches f*k the pain away / missy piggy
its worth taking a look, they are insanely good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkIoJZdKIAE
Making your own art from the ground up is most impressive to me.
I think that it's meant to be entertainment, not art. Even Roger Ebert recognizes that a popcorn movie should be held to lower standards than an art film. If it amuses you, it's a success.
@anonymous #6- If I'm not mistaken, the major infringement involves using 4 minutes of unauthorized audio. Of course, it's been sort of retroactively approved but that doesn't always happen.
I have always associated Phoenix with "ironic fetish" (see Neil Diamond or Rod Stewart) because of that song from the film Shallow Hal, but congratulations. This mashup has been the gateway for me.
Had a day where at the end of it I found I had spent six of the hours gathering footage of the spaces between takes instead of the takes... I wasn't feeling good. But I love, love, love this, and it made me feel young and happy and like others, made me want to dance.
Unfortunately it's 12.35 am here, and I don't think the family will appreciate me dancing around at this time of the morning... but you can't have everything.
Whether this is infringing or not, it's sheer genius... and synching visuals and music is not as easy as some posters make it sound. I know, even if I can't switch my camera on appropriately!
I just bought Phoenix's new album because of this mashup.
Suck it, RIAA.
Dear RIAA, MPAA, DMCA, and other acronyms:
See? This is why you all need to relax. A little bit of fair use employed creatively suddenly has me wanting to go out and purchase not only the album for which the video was made, but also all the movies that were sampled to make it.
omg this is the best >w
I didn't know that was the bands whole name, after all this time I've only ever known them as Phoenix
Guess whose breakthrough film was "Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone" - in 3D?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086346/
**AA, I can say that, without a doubt, the ability to mash up and be creative and viral led to the purchase of the Phoenix Album on my part. Would have never occurred without that bit of genius in the post.
Similar but different idea here.
Scottish band Cruiser have an awesome video that features 80s geek fest The Computer Chronicles to great effect.
cruiser - a gentle press
Genius. I've been hooked on this song for a week or so now (it plays on college radio a lot). And those movies (minus "Mannequin") were such an integral part of my life as a teenager in the late 80s. The editing is superb.
This was a wonderful thing, indeed.
I went to YouTube, found another video by Phoenix, realized that I liked that song, too (didn't realize it was Phoenix) and bought the album.
I buy most of my music this way. I hear it, oftentimes illegally on YouTube first.
"...it's hard to believe the band didn't attempt to soundtrack John Hughes flicks in the studio a la Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz."
Somebody already did that. Check out the album "Saturdays=Youth" by M83. It's like the soundtrack to the greatest John Hughes film never made.
Man, Molly Ringwald's dancing on the mezzanine was AWESOME. As it was repeated a few times like a little dance motif, it reminded me of how the cast of Peanuts would dance.
Already been done with a different song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgAaqmqemJQ&fmt=18
Love that Pinback album, but the Phoenix album goes better with the movie.
Interesting that "Mannequin" made the cut (which was pretty marginal, if I recall). 'Sixteen Candles' didn't and 'Weird Science' didn't. Nor 'St. Elmo's Fire.' I wonder if there has been a shift in importance of Brat Pack movies.
It sounds like YouTube has already removed the audio.
Upon viewing this again, i just have to wonder:
where did we go so wrong?