meanwhile in remix art, video and the radio star hi-five

July 6, 2016 10:20 PM

[Soda_Jerk vs The Avalanches] Jerry Seinfeld, Daria, Jay and Silent Bob and many more rub on-screen shoulders in The Was, an eye-and-ear-catching 14 minute collage short. The visual remix splices together scenes and characters from 129 different films and TV shows, and is made by NYC-via-Sydney art collective, Soda_Jerk. Fittingly, the short appears to be soundtracked by audio sampling maestros, The Avalanches, using tracks from The Avalanches' recently-released album Wildflower and alternative mixes.

"...[W]hilst billed as “Soda_Jerk vs The Avalanches”, the short is less a competition between visual and aural collage than it is a beautifully surprising coalescing of sensibilities." Australian film website 4:3 has more on the video's origins and composition, with a nod to The Avalanches' past visual accompaniments.

Previously on MeFi: The Avalanches' Wildflower

posted by Collaterly Sisters (19 comments total)

Hey, thanks for sharing my piece on The Was from 4:3.

If you dug this short I would also really recommend checking out Soda_Jerk's medium-length feature (and anti-copyright epic) Hollywood Burn, which I wrote about here. Also their short-form stuff is really amusing, though harder to track down in full. Their Vimeo account is worth a look through, too.
posted by filmvisuality at 11:35 PM on July 6, 2016 [6 favorites]

It's going to get pulled for copyright reasons, yeah?
posted by panaceanot at 2:59 AM on July 7, 2016

This is exceptional.
posted by From Bklyn at 3:11 AM on July 7, 2016

That was amazing. It made me feel like movies had died and this was the tribute reel. And then I thought, gee, what if that's true?
posted by Ursula Hitler at 3:38 AM on July 7, 2016

@panaceanot: I wouldn't be surprised if copyright was claimed in a knee-jerk way--copyright law often struggles with remixes--but given the fact that it's quite clearly an artistic work with no commercial purpose, respectful of the original works, only reproduces very little of the originals in length, and doesn't really make a dent in the hip pockets of original creators, it's probably fair use, I'd imagine? Plus Soda_Jerk are professional artists who've released similar other visual collages on Vimeo that haven't been pulled. I suspect, in terms of raising copyright red flags, it's not all that far from Christian Marclay's The Clock, which didn't involve any copyright clearances either and wasn't hurt by that.
posted by Collaterly Sisters at 4:03 AM on July 7, 2016

I'M SO HIGH

YOU'RE SO HIGH
posted by iffthen at 4:04 AM on July 7, 2016

I loved this
posted by iffthen at 4:04 AM on July 7, 2016

Delightfully hallucinatory...
posted by jim in austin at 5:28 AM on July 7, 2016

I have to be a little indelicate here but if this isn't fair use what the fuck is?
posted by Catblack at 5:52 AM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]

It's a dream made into a video.
posted by EinAtlanta at 12:08 PM on July 7, 2016

"Vimeo has removed or disabled access to the video The Was as a result of a third-party notification by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) that claims this material is infringing on their copyright."
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 12:27 PM on July 7, 2016

I had a comment here saying I had it up on Google Drive, but you can just get it from their site.
posted by Valued Customer at 1:03 PM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]

I wonder if the fact that they set up a domain for the download means they knew this would happen, too.
posted by Valued Customer at 1:07 PM on July 7, 2016

The sample of "You walk on the subway" is from Chandra, Subways. Chandra was about 14 or 15 when she recorded that.
posted by jonp72 at 5:15 PM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]

So great! The pop culture knowledge and technical skill to put that together is really impressive. I saved off a copy for repeated viewings. Thanks for this and for alerting me to the new Avalanches album!
posted by jwest at 5:27 PM on July 7, 2016

Taken down. Thanks, DMCA! :(
posted by ardgedee at 2:18 AM on July 8, 2016

ardgedee: http://thewas.xyz

You literally can't take this down... it's perfect.
posted by panaceanot at 6:53 AM on July 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

fuck
posted by pjmoy at 9:15 PM on July 9, 2016

ty, panaceanot.
posted by pjmoy at 9:51 PM on July 9, 2016