Remake - what is it? This is a commercial term that refers to the re-release of existing works - films, games, songs - with innovations or the addition of any details. That is, the finished product is modified, while retaining the basic elements.
Everything new is simply forgotten old!
Most often, this phenomenon can be found in the film industry, music and video games. But do not confuse it with a parody, as the remake complements and actualizes the original version, increasing its popularity. He can repeat some fragments of the original: the names of the heroes, storylines, meaning, but certainly in the new conditions. Often this technique is used to increase the rating or popularity of a work that has lost its relevance in the market due to high competition. That is, in fact, remakes always carry the features of an old work, but with elements of novelty in connection with the prevailing conditions of our time. About such a work, we can say that this is a remake, that this is a new story about eternal values using modern artistic means.
Remake in our country
In Russia, everyone knows that many domestic producers like to take American or European television shows, series, video games, and songs as the basis. They buy original ideas from the creators, customize them to our conditions and call it remakes.
But can such an alteration be called this term? This phenomenon is often called with a touch of irony - "Russian remake." After all, you still need to be able to distinguish an elementary purchase of ideas from the situation when something new, your own original vision is introduced into the object. And thanks to this, the original work becomes even more interesting and spectacular. But still, there are Russian high-quality remakes, however, this mainly concerns the theater. Many troupes create new wonderful performances based on the works of the great Russian classics, adapting them to modern reality and the socio-political environment.
Video Games - Upgrade or Remake?
Game remakes are updating or reissuing a version of an original game with a retained name and improved sound, interface, graphics, or a completely new interpretation of an existing game with significant differences from the original version. Sometimes new characters, missions, storylines are added. But this trend appeared not so long ago, because until recently, hardware resources were limited. Perhaps in games, it is the modernization of the originals that is more developed, or such a phenomenon as the creation of a game for many platforms. Often, creators try to adapt popular games for more modern gadgets, which is especially popular recently. In these cases, only the name remains from the original, and the game itself becomes completely different in style, quality and content. Oddly enough, the reverse trend is now becoming popular, when modern video games have remakes for adapting them to devices that have not been used for a long time.
In cinematography
It is more accessible to answer the question: “Remake - what is it?” - it is possible on the example of world cinema. The term is applied to films based on pictures released on screens much earlier, that is, films shot, so to speak, based on old ones. The director interprets the original film, adding details that are interesting to the viewer, and can reveal storylines that were not in the original. Alteration, fresh interpretation, new vision - all this is a remake. What does this give us as spectators? It also happens that a remake film is an absolute copy of the original film, but only shot using more modern devices and has a large number of special effects. In addition, it stars modern popular actors. There are enough films in the cinema, which are called differently, but when viewing it becomes obvious what happened and where it came from. Let’s present a short list of remakes for films shot earlier: Robocop 2014, The Evil Dead: Black Book, Death at a Funeral, Tourist, City of Angels, Invasion, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Gone in 60 seconds ”,“ Pretend to be my wife ”,“ Remove Carter ”,“ Psychosis ”,“ Casablanca ”and many others.
Remakes in music
These are newly written versions of musical compositions, and they can be made by the same artist or musical group that recorded the original. In music, this phenomenon is usually called a remix. It can be changed words, genre of music, language. Very often, to adapt to the atmosphere of a nightclub, DJs create remixes and remakes of the most popular musical compositions. Also in music remixes, sound quality can improve. Often less well-known performers buy successful tunes in order to rewrite the text to increase their own popularity due to the already known hit. In our country, such examples are enough. Many listeners are already suspicious of such artists, because remakes are, unfortunately, not always an improvement in sound quality or a decent interpretation. It also happens that altering a melody or rewriting a song’s text only spoils the opinion of the original, since the new work is really just a poor-quality copy.
Groundbreaking welcome
In general, we can conclude: a remake is also a kind of work of art, because not all the people who create them only want to increase their popularity or make money on other people's ideas. Of course, having made a quality remake, you can earn credibility in creative circles, be heard by viewers and listeners, but you must also think about the fact that it is better to create something of your own, completely new and original, than to complement the already created and popularized by then a product. However, of course, remakes are successful, because in connection with the development of technical means, classic things can be shown more spectacular and interesting, which again is beneficial to use for commercial purposes.