Total Recut Interview on Buffy vs Edward
A couple weeks ago I was interviewed via skype by video mash-up artist ikat381 for the remixing website Total Recut. We discussed my Buffy vs Edward remix, the importance and influence of fannish vidding and the greater cultural value of remix video. I’m cross posting the full interview below – here is a link to the original post on Total Recut.
Total Recut: What did you want to accomplish with Buffy vs Edward?
Jonathan McIntosh: I wanted to create a remix dealing with the subtleties of gender and romance in mainstream media, not an easy task in mash-up form. I had seen the Twilight movie and I read the first couple of books and I was horrified by the fact that the Twilight series takes all the progress in gender roles and reverts it back at least 200 years. My goal was to show Edward Cullen’s controlling and overprotective behaviour for what it is, and to do that in a sort of funny way, and to have that done by a strong female character from a different series. I thought one of the best ways to do that would be to have Buffy the Vampire Slayer meet him. Juxtaposing these two characters highlights how backwards the Twilight series is in terms of gender, really how anti-feminist it is. That was the goal: to make it funny but also highlight the patriarchal nature and stalkeriness of Edward.
Speaking at the 1st World’s Fair Use Day
I have been invited to speak on a panel about my remix video work at the first annual World’s Fair Use Day (WFUD) in Washington DC on January 12, 2010. It’s an event put together by the public interest group Public Knowledge which works to defend all of our rights in the emerging digital culture. The WFUD is a free, all-day celebration of fair use: the legal right that allows innovators and creators to make particular uses of copyrighted materials. It will be focused on highlighting new and innovative uses of existing content; provide the perspectives of artists, policymakers, academics and business innovators; and teach you how fair use can enrich your creative work. The event is free and open to the public so check out the WFUD site for RSVP info.
Remixing Workshop with Reel Grrls
I’m excited to be leading a workshop on video remixing at Reel Grrls in Seattle Washington on December 9th. Reel Grrls is an after-school media & technology training program that empowers girls to critique media images and to gain media technology skills – in short it’s a very cool organization! We will be screening and discussing a series of remix videos that deal with issues of gender. Plus we’ll also be learning the software tools and technical process involved in creating new remix works in class.
Check out the Reel Grrls YouTube Channel to see some of their fantastic videos!
We Are Creators Too – Video Interview
The organization Public Knowledge recently did a four part interview series entitled “We Are Creators Too” focusing on media artists who push the boundaries of copyright law in their work. I was one of those video interviews which you can see embedded below. Also featured in the project are filmmaker Nina Paley, fan vidder Francesca Coppa and fellow political remixer Elisa Kreisinger.
Costume Portraits – Dragon*Con 2009
Here is my new collection of 188 fan-costume portraits taken this year at Dragon Con 2009. Dragon*Con is the world’s largest fantasy & science fiction convention and is held annually in downtown Atlanta, GA. Also be sure to check out the Gender Bending Fan Costumes group on flickr where I have added a number of my photos. All the images in this set are available to share and use freely under this Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Creative Commons license.
Visiting Artist at Interactive Arts + Media in Chicago
I will be a giving a presentation on pop culture media hacking as a visiting artist at Columbia College’s Interactive Arts and Media program (IAM) in Chicago. I will focus on my recent Buffy vs Edward remix as an example of transformative story telling, political remix video and the potential for Open Video as a form of creative critical media literacy. My talk will be on November 19th at 5pm.
FAQs on Buffy vs Edward
Here are a handful answers to frequently asked questions about my “Buffy vs Edward” remix video. I’ll add more as I see them. Also see my original post for this remix with downloads, links, subtitles and reviews. Please feel free to comment if your question is not addressed below.
Buffy vs Edward (Twilight Remixed)
Over 2.5 million views since 06/19/09 & subtitled into 28 languages!
Read why I made the remix on Women In Media and News - See my FAQ post
Description:
In this remixed narrative Edward Cullen from the Twilight Series meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer at Sunnydale High. It’s an example of transformative storytelling serving as a pro-feminist visual critique of Edward’s character and generally creepy behavior. Seen through Buffy’s eyes, some of the more sexist gender roles and patriarchal Hollywood themes embedded in the Twilight saga are exposed in hilarious ways. Ultimately this remix is about more than a decisive showdown between the slayer and the sparkly vampire. It also doubles as a metaphor for the ongoing battle between two opposing visions of gender roles in the 21ist century.
Press:
• LA Times – Meet the man who staked ‘Twilight’s’ leading vamp
• Jezebel – Buffy Shuts Down Edward Cullen In The Best Clip Ever
• Entertainment Weekly – Twilight and Buffy: Together at last!
• Perez Hilton – Edward Cullen meets Buffy Summers
• After Ellen – Buffy vs Edward: Place your bets now
• Washington City Paper – Buffy Vs. Edward Cullen: A Feminist Mash-Up
• Slate – Jung, Buffy, Twilight, Virginia Woolf—and Happiness
• Change.org – Buffy vs Edward Cullen
• Vanity Fair – Buffy Could Kick Edward Cullen’s Precious Sparkly Ass
• New York Post – Edward Cullen, Dusted by Buffy
• Technology Review Magazine – Open Video in Practice
In Depth:
• Bitch Magazine – What Would Buffy Do? Notes on Dusting Edward Cullen
• Compare the original stalking scenes from Buffy and Twilight on Critical Commons
• Check out my answers to frequently asked questions about the remix
Other Video Formats: (right click and save)
• large downloadable quicktime 93mb
• iphone/ipod version 40mb
• 3gp cell phone version 5mb
• web streaming on blip.tv
Subtitles & Translations:
• Closed caption option available on the youtube version for those that find it useful
• Link to the full english transcript from “Buffy vs Edward”
• Subtitled in – Russian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Swedish, Hebrew, Ukrainian, Slovak, Lithuanian, Chinese, Malay, Dutch, Danish, Romanian, Tagalog, Slovenian, Arabic, Japanese, Turkish, German, Italian, French, Hungarian, Portuguese (Brazil & Portugal), Indonesian, Finnish & Spanish via DotSub.com
• You can help by adding, editing or fixing the translations here
Fair-use Notice & License:
This is a transformative work and constitutes a fair-use of any copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US copyright law. “Buffy vs Edward (Twilight Remixed)” by Jonathan McIntosh is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-3.0 License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution. Find out more about fair use at the Center for Social Media and more about fan based transformative works at the Organization for Transformative Works.
Discussion & Reviews:
A quick list of some of my favorite reactions and debates on the remix: jezebel.com, pandagon.net, smartbitchestrashybooks.com, pixiepalace.com, whedonesque.com and this Twilight fan blog. I’m sure there are many more out there – feel free to comment with links.
“It’s really good, I liked the girl power it showed. I’ve watched it like 10 times and showed it to my friends. It’s the best thing I have ever seen on the internet!”
— Dawi Zarni, age 10 Twilight fan on Buffy vs Edward
Special Thanks:
Thanks to Ryanne Hodson for all her help with the video encoding. Also to Anita Sarkeesian for consulting throughout the project, as well as to Francesca Coppa and Martin Leduc for help beta testing the narrative. Although this work is not a “vid“, it was influenced by vidding and vidders like Laura Shaprio. Thanks to bell hooks for her inspirational writing on pop culture, feminism, racism and love. And lastly, of course, to Joss Whedon for writing Buffy as a strong complex female character on television.
“..it’s true that Edward hasn’t come up against a kick-ass woman like Buffy. I’m really glad that she didn’t end up doing the smoochies with him.”
— Marti Noxon, executive producer of Buffy on the remix
What Would Buffy Do? Notes on Dusting Edward Cullen
I was honored to have been invited to write this guest post on Women In Media & News. It was first published there on July 1st 2009. When linking please use the WIMN post URL.
I usually try to stay away from forces of darkness, but last week I killed a famous vampire – and let me tell you, it was fun! Actually, I didn’t stake him myself — I used new media tools to allow one of the strongest female television characters of our generation to do it. OK, let me back up a minute. Last week, at the Open Video Conference at NYU Law School, I debuted my feminist mash-up video, Buffy v. Edward. It’s an example of transformative storytelling which reinterprets the movie Twilight by re-cutting and combining it with the TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Five months in the making, Buffy vs Edward is essentially an answer to the question “What Would Buffy Do?” My re-imagined story was specifically constructed as a response to Edward, and what his behavior represents in our larger social context for both men and women. More than just a showdown between The Slayer and the Sparkly Vampire, it’s also a humorous visualization of the metaphorical battle between two opposing visions of gender roles in the 21ist century.
Speaking at the Open Video Conference
I’m excited to be participating in the Open Video Conference at NYU later this month (June 19th and 20th). During the event I will be giving a short presentation detailing my creative and technical process in hacking pop culture. Basically it will be a quick tour highlighting some of the tricks and tools I use to transform mass media and create political remix videos. I will also be moderating a panel called “Who Owns Popular Culture? Remix and Fair-Use in the Age of Corporate Mass Media” which promises to be a fascinating discussion.
A little more about the event: “Open Video is more than just open codecs. It’s the growing movement for transparency, interoperability, and further decentralization in online video. These qualities provide more fertile ground for independent producers, bottom-up innovation, and greater protection for free speech online. The conference will showcase awesome cultural works, inspiring talks, and cool tech demos from around the world.”
