Media Studies Blog – Rip! A remix manifesto review

Basic film aspects:

Rip! A Remix Manifesto is an outstanding film that was created roughly around 2002, but was officially released in 2008. The initial controversy that the film explores was a result of people calling the creation of mash-ups an illegal act. The film was written, directed and narrated by Brett Gaylor who is a strong believer in the idea that the world’s copyright laws are somewhat holding the progressing artists back from several strains of creativity; including the growing art of creating “mash-ups.” Brett Gaylor’s film orbits around the idea that creativity builds off of earlier works, which leads to the film going in depth on how progressing one’s creativity though former songs goes back many generations. The film is structured in a somewhat chronological order which helps better organize Gaylor’s thoughts in terms of copyright laws. Overall, all aspects of the film are expressed with great strength and one can easily note that Brett Gaylor is extremely passionate about people creating their own remixes.

Documentary aspects:

Rip! A Remix Manifesto is a brilliant example of an expository documentary. Through the use of a narrator to help guide the audience through the information being presented, persuasion methods and essay-like format; one can easily determine the category of documentary this film falls under. Throughout the entirety of the film the perspective of Brett Gaylor presents itself as being the main perspective. However, many other important perspectives are examined such as the perspective of Gregg Gillis (also widely known as Girl Talk.) The conventions that led me to the previous conclusion includes: Gaylor’s narrative explanations and perspective being expressed, several interviews with Gillis and the way in which both perspectives are solidified throughout the film. During the film, many facts are stated that help give an in-depth point of view on Gaylor and Gillis’ perspectives. For example, Gaylor introduces the obscure fact that Warner Chappell owns the copyright laws to “Happy Birthday,” which means that even the most commonly used songs still aren’t in the public domain, meaning we still have an “unhealthy,” public domain.

Strength’s of the film:

One major strength the film demonstrated is how accurate and factual it was. The amount of interesting and significant facts stated throughout the film on a regular basis made the ideas extremely easy for the audience to comprehend. A good example of strong factual statements made during the film is demonstrated in the scene that takes the audience back to the mere creation of copyright and how it encouraged an artist’s creativity, rather than demote it. I found a lot of the editing style quite creative and enjoyable. The use of collage-style images/animations really helped embellish the film’s creativity and passion. The opening scene of the film is a strong example of this collage style of animation. While he’s introducing Gregg Gillis and his drafted manifesto, the film shows several relevant pictures and short clips of Girl Talk. While doing so, Gayler is also able introduce the idea of copyright sampling to the audience. I also found the narrator’s style of speech truly helped portray the emotion and passion he put into this film.

Weaknesses of the film:

Although I found the interviewing styles used in the film quite effective, I would have enjoyed viewing the perspective of some of Gregg Gillis’ fans. As a result, I feel the film would have a greater appeal to the general public. Further more, I would have enjoyed seeing less of the reoccurring “game,” that involves the audience trying to identify specific songs. Though I found that aspect effective at the opening part of the film, I found it was somewhat repetitive when reused a few more times towards the end.

However, overall I found that this film was a well-structured documentary that I would surely encourage anyone to see if they have the time! The film helps promote its theme of encouraging the creation of remixes and the flaws of the copyright system extremely well. Through the strong factuality, creativity and thought-provoking aspects of the film, it is surely a great documentary for anyone to watch.