Over the past few years a few different projects have done something similar. They will take a movie, divide it into parts and then have different groups of people each film one part. They will then take all the parts and cut them into the original movie. I hope I’ve explained it in a clear fashion for those not familiar with these types of projects. You get to watch a familiar movie played out by bunch of different actors. They’re usually entertaining and fun to watch. That being said you may want to read the whole post before hitting play. Depending on your sensibilities you could very easily be offended.
The most recent project to do this is the footloose remake. From their website they explain the reason behind doing so:
“We are a collection of amateur filmmakers and video-making enthusiasts, recreating the Kevin Bacon classic and releasing it this summer. Different filmmakers from “around the world” have divided the original 1984 Footloose into 54 different scenes. 54 different filmmakers. 54 different Ren McCormack’s.
In October 2008 it was announced that Paramount Pictures and Dylan Sellers Productions would be remaking the classic Footloose, starring Zac Efron. We were fed up. The Hollywood remake machine was going to take another solid movie, put it through the ringer, and make a buck from a younger generation.
We decided “Let’s beat them to the punch. Let’s do this remake our way.”
Originally slated to release in June 2010, director complications have pushed the release of “The New Studio Remake Footloose” back to 2011. Hollywood can’t make it by 2010? We can.
Our fifty-four filmmaker “The Footloose Remake” will hit Los Angeles in June, taking the place of Paramount’s release. Let’s undermine the Hollywood remake machine. World Premiere: Thursday July 1st 2010 at The Downtown Independent.”
So a bunch of filmmakers got together and made a remake of “Footloose” as a message to Hollywood. Video collaborations like these had been done before but never with the intent to “send a message” to Hollywood.
The opening credits were amusing enough to entice me to watch more of the film. The first scene despite being crude had me laughing hardily. Interesting choice considering the message is meant to be for Hollywood. I blurted out laughing like you only can when something makes your sense of humour go “POP!”. The dance pills, the ski balling, the slapping, the “chicken” tractor throwdown, the puppets, the dildos. The list just goes on.
It’s amazing to see how the different artist have handled their scenes. There’s a scene were Kevin Bacon seems to be having a very bad drug experience. It’s funny if you can relate and that probably says much more about me than i’d care to admit. I thought the scene at 25:10 was priceless. This is the tractor ‘chicken’ scene. The actors, props, editing, location and music are near perfect.
I started writing down all the scenes I thought were worth mentioning. I wasn’t half way through the movie before I realized that I was picking out most of the scene for their own merits in one way or another. I think it says a lot for the creativity that’s on display here. With that being said there are many many more great scenes in this remake of footloose. The complete list of the filmmakers and which scene they are responsible for can be found here.
There are cool little gems hidden in various scenes as well:
- Video running backwards
- Several different animation techniques
- sound dubbing, some voice overs and some use of the original movie soundtrack and voice tracks.
- Various special effects
There’s a lot for your senses to take in and you’ll be rewarded for paying close attention.
Great work from all involved as far as I’m concerned. It never ceases to amaze me what groups of people working collaboratively can accomplish. I’ve been of the opinion Hollywood’s creative machine isn’t what it used to be for years. Seeing projects like these come together with the intent of sending a message to Hollywood is interesting. I can understand Hollywood’s mentality: Why invest in a project that might not make money when you can remake a film for a ‘new generation’. A film which did well financially during it’s original release is like a financial safety net.
On the other hand, it’s still a remake and few of them stand up well to the originals. This remake video was released to the online world just a few days ago, for free. Your move Hollywood ;-)
mtl-dokkaebi
it’s always nice to SEE and UNDERSTAND your perspective. :)
Hey,
No doubt you’ve been busy. Where are you, what are you doing? Do you have any secrets ;-)
Hope your well!
mtl_dokkaebi