Everything Is A Remix Video Essay: ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’
In 2010,Kirby Fergusoncreated a video essay calledEverything is a Remix, about how it’s not justQuentin Tarantino, but every single artist (authors, musicians or filmmakers) who borrows something old to make something new. The video essay spawned a series of essays, which was later combined into an almost 40 minute long documentary (which you’re able to watch here).
Ferguson has returned once again with a new Everything is a Remix video essay, this time focusing not just onStar Wars: The Force Awakensbut also the overall storytelling career ofJJ Abrams. The video isn’t just a visualization of all the complaints we’ve heard aboutForce Awakensbeing a rehash ofA New Hope(we’ve already seen that before), but a serious look into the screenwriter, director and producer’s filmography, as well as an examination of how Abrams copies, transforms and combines his stories to create his art. But it also asks: is the remix method growing stale and have we hit the limits of remixing?
Kirby Ferguson certainly makes a good case forJJ Abramsas a remix artist, combining and transforming his influences for many of the films and television projects he has created. AndStar Wars: The Force Awakensis no different, borrowing story elements fromStar Wars: Episode IV: A New Hopeas well as some visual elements from other films. But Ferguson recognizes that this was an intentional choice, which is something Abrams has evenadmittedandexplainedpublicly.
Ferguson explains why blockbusters tend to sway towards the familiar while smaller critical hits tend to side with the novel. The sweet spot directly in the middle is getting harder to hit these days. Christopher Nolan has made a career of aiming for this area of the graph, and the newPlanet of the Apesfilms have also achieved this target.
Oh, and stay around after the credits as Ferguson takes a look throughThe Art of The Force Awakens bookto get a better look at how the team of artists that helped conceive the visuals of the film were drawing from a variety of sources.
