Author’s Statement- Mashup Assignment

So, this mashup assignment was quite difficult for me to put together for a number of reasons: 1. I went through so much sport videos trying to find footage that I could cut and use for a more, I guess, ‘fluid’ look at sports touching, but it ultimately was far easier and perhaps a bit more direct to just take still images that highlighted the more obvious touching within sports and 2. I am not good, by any stretch of the word, at editing and slicing video and all that stuff. With all that said, the only thing I think that was compromised from my original idea to the end product was the level of obvious funniness and how many images I was using. I think my message was quite direct, perhaps even more direct than I wanted it to be. The text screens at the beginning and end were a last minute decision that I was happy I made. It guided the viewer very directly, but I think without them the message would have become “o look at all this gay shit going on in sports”, instead of this touching that happens within the realm of competition taken out of context for a time becomes something else. I do agree with you Brett when you said it could have perhaps been better organized. I was very close to reorganizing so that the most obvious homoerotic images would be at the end so there was a gradual increase in “touch-levels” so the audience could see how a chest bump or high five could soon turn into a celebration between two young men on the basketball court. I ultimately settled on the mix, because I wanted to give the video a little more I guess spontaneity. I think I now understand the draw of this remix culture; it allows for (nearly) all people to be able to voice an opinion without this blatant thesis statement in your face. The value of some of the videos we watched in class like titanic II or the romantic The Shining are not some political message or truly vastly important to our society, but just the fact that people put time and effort in creating these works makes them valuable to society. If nothing else, what we remake and how we remake is a statement that is quite powerful. My video has no conclusion or ultimate message, of course it does have a guiding purpose, but that in no way means that it is exclusively my message that you have to get or believe in.  The cool thing about mashup/ remix culture is that it is always (copyright aside) for reinterpretation and recreation (ex. “Listomania” brat pack videos).