Victoria Nemeth: First Blog Post
I found the video we watched in class to be very interesting. “Everything is a Remix” was about how many times creative works are a product of past works recreated in some form. I think that there is a common idea among artists, students, writers, etc that their work must be purely original and come completely from their imagination. This notion, at least for me, makes the process of sitting down to write something very daunting. I think that many people, myself included, have the common misconception that everything in the movie industry is purely original. What the video made me realize is that there are a crazy amount of films, for example, that pull ideas from many previous films to use. I think that this video brought to light just how much this occurs. For example, I thought it was crazy when the video mentioned that around 74/100 films from the past decade were remade from previous films, books, or plays. I think that this could be due to the nostalgia of certain television/movies that are recreated for a new generation. This video also made me realize that even the greatest works aren’t pure imagination, and that we have to find some comfort in that. This is something that was comforting for me because writing isn’t one of my strengths, so it was good to hear that other writers/filmmakers have trouble looking at the blank page. What I took away from the video is that we should be comfortable using inspiration with the world around us and our experiences to create. The video mentioned that creativity is a process of “copy, transform, combine.” I think that this speaks a lot to the evolution of creative works through time. I was surprised to find out from the video that Star Wars had a lot of elements that were combined from older films.
To connect the video to the process of writing, I took away that writing is a process of going from a draft to a final piece (that may never truly be final), and continuing to change, mold, and transform it while taking inspiration from our experiences and our world around us. I think that it is important to take this message away from the video so that we can understand that writing is more of a transformation than just sitting down and cranking out a paper. Writing takes time and sometimes we need to use inspiration and are influenced by those around us. I also think that this video connects to the reading, “All Writing Is Autobiography” because the reading talks about how all writing is somewhat a culmination of our experiences and what we see around us. I think this goes hand in hand with the video in describing how even the greats of filmmaking take examples from around them, that goes for writing as well. For me, I always have my peers read my writing and that helps me to incorporate advice from others into my writing.
To connect the video to the process of writing, I took away that writing is a process of going from a draft to a final piece (that may never truly be final), and continuing to change, mold, and transform it while taking inspiration from our experiences and our world around us. I think that it is important to take this message away from the video so that we can understand that writing is more of a transformation than just sitting down and cranking out a paper. Writing takes time and sometimes we need to use inspiration and are influenced by those around us. I also think that this video connects to the reading, “All Writing Is Autobiography” because the reading talks about how all writing is somewhat a culmination of our experiences and what we see around us. I think this goes hand in hand with the video in describing how even the greats of filmmaking take examples from around them, that goes for writing as well. For me, I always have my peers read my writing and that helps me to incorporate advice from others into my writing.
I know we touched on the idea of how this idea of originality is a lot like evolution. I mean at some point we are living in a society in which everything we know is from someone or something else. There is a term in psychology called the ‘false consensus effect’ which means that individuals tend to give themselves more credit for what they think they are original for rather than what the actual truth may be that being probably taken from somewhere else. I think this idea idea of everyone wanting to be original is true but I think the only way you can actually fully be original is through your DNA. For example, opinions, thoughts, and ideas were and are probably at least relevant in someone else as well so it makes one question whether you are fully original/ one-of-a-kind. And while someone may actually be original here and there, it is hard to actually know if someone is fully and completely original. However that question is even bigger than me so I shouldn’t be the one to answer it, but it truly does make one wonder about the truth.
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