The Remake Industry: The Practice of Remaking Films from the Perspective of Industrial Actors (original) (raw)
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Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research, 2019
The practice of Dutch-Flemish film remaking that came into existence in the new millennium quickly appeared to be of great importance in the film industries of Flanders and The Netherlands – and consequently of Europe. Inspired by methods used in television (format) studies, this article conducts a systematic comparative film analysis of nine Dutch-Flemish remakes together with their nine source films. Considering the remake as a prism that aids in dissecting different formal, transtextual, and cultural codes, and subsequently embedding the practice in its specific socio-cultural and industrial context, we found several similarities and differences between the Dutch and Flemish film versions and showed how these can be made sense of. More generally, we distilled two encompassing principles that administer the remake practice: even though a great deal of the remake process can be explained through the concept of localization – or, more precisely, through the concepts of ‘manufacturing proximity’ and ‘banal aboutness’ – we found that it should certainly not be limited to these processes – as both (trans)textual, such as the mechanism of ‘filling in the gaps’, and contextual elements were found.
Towards an Integrative Methodological Approach of Film Remake Studies
Adaptation, 2020
This article argues that, after decades of pointing towards the importance of including production and reception research into the study of film remakes, we should actually start addressing production and reception methodologies and investigate why this is necessary for the sustainability and future development of the field. I argue that a lot can be learned from the insights coming from the existing methodologies that are being used in, that is, format studies, (critical) media industry studies, (audiovisual) translation studies, and more recently the study of cultural transduction. The first section of the article mainly deals with the importance of investigating the different cultural mediators that take part in the production lifecycle of the film remake. It is contended that the analysis of film remakes should start examining the different individuals or institutions that mediate or intervene between the production of cultural artefacts and the generation of consumer preferences. The second part of the article points towards the importance of investigating the reception, experience, and interpretation of film remakes. It is shown that crucial questions like ‘(why) do audiences prefer the domestic remake over the foreign film?’, ‘how do audiences experience, interpret, and explain differences and similarities between source films and remakes?’, but also ‘how do audiences define and assess film remakes?’ remain yet to be asked. The article concludes that if the field of remake studies wishes to break out of its disciplinary boundaries, adopting a multi-methodological approach will help to further brush off its dusty character of textual analysis.
Communications. The European Journal of Communication Research 44(3), 2019
This article analyzes the industrial and cultural dynamics of transna-tional film remakes, focusing on the recent rise of remake rights representatives and the production of comedy remakes for local-language markets. Through the use of in-depth interviews with remake rights representatives and the analysis of primary and secondary sources, we scrutinize the strategies of these players in mediating the production processes of remaking foreign popular films into local-language hits. The article takes on two tasks: First, it dissects the work of the different agents at play in buying and selling remake rights and examines their business models and tactics; second, it looks at the generic contents that these agents are circulating through selected catalogs. In this context, comedy becomes a privileged interface to link diverse national markets and manufacture an ideal of proximity, whereby foreign popular comedies-unknown to local audiences-are remade with a local flavor and presented as 'new' national hits.
Originality versus proximity: An explorative study of audience reactions to monolingual film remakes
International Journal of Cultural Studies, 2020
Striving for a more holistic approach of the field that studies film remakes, this article analyses the reception context of the monolingual film remake practice in the Low Countries. Instead of assuming how audiences define, perceive, experience, and evaluate Dutch-Flemish film remakes, this article explores these aspects empirically by analysing data from four focus groups. Given the cultural proximity between the Netherlands and Flanders, the study equally inquires if (and why) Dutch and Flemish audiences prefer their local film versions. It is found that participants do not share a common definition of the artefact and understand the label differently from scholars or people working in the industry. Participants were highly critical of film remakes and generally preferred the local version. However, it appeared that the latter depended on whether they knew which version was the ‘original’.
The Art of Adaptation: Political and Social Reflections in Film Remakes
Film remakes, akin to palimpsests, are layered texts that bear the imprint of their creation, influenced by the dynamic interplay of political, ideological, and social contexts. They represent a complex convergence of artistic vision, commercial interests, and cultural currents, serving as both reflections and reframings of the original source material. As such, they occupy a unique space within the cinematic landscape, offering insights into the evolving nature of storytelling, audience reception, and the zeitgeist of their respective eras. At their core, remakes embody a tension between tradition and innovation, fidelity to the past and the impulse to reinvent. They navigate a delicate balance between honoring the legacy of the original film and forging new paths of creative expression. This tension is particularly pronounced in the realm of cultural relevance, where remakes serve as barometers of shifting tastes, values, and technological advancements. By revisiting familiar narratives through a contemporary lens, filmmakers aim to strike a chord with audiences of the present moment, infusing classic tales with fresh perspectives and contemporaneous themes.
FREEDOM IN INDONESIAN FILM INDUSTRY: THE STUDY OF REMAKE-FILM PRODUCTIONS
The objective of this study is to reveal how the market plays in the massively produced remake-films by the Indonesian film industry after 1998 reformation. This freedom era caused the quality of Indonesian films to decrease. Amidst the growth of short films made by social communities that bring out issues in the society in early 2000, some Indonesian film industry even produced low-quality, semi-pornographic, and violent films. This resulted in increasingly tight regulation of cinema. Many films were censored for violating cultural and religious norms. The massively produced remake-films are presumed to offer big profit in the market. Even these recycled films are not only considered capable of reaping potential market profits but are also considered safe from movie censorship agencies. This study uses the literature review method to see how the market plays in the film industry. Structural and economic based approaches are widely used in viewing movies as the media. There are many forces, both from within and outside the media determining the film production process. Dennis McQuail describes mass communicators working under pressure from various roles of outside forces, including clients (e.g. advertisers), competitors (other media as a whole), authorities (especially law and politics), experts, other institutions, and audiences. Vincent Mosco sees the political economy as concerned with media ownership, production, consumption and distribution of media, power-control, relations with authorities, entrepreneurs, critical views of the media and its relation to the reconstruction of human civilization. Nevertheless, there is still hope that the media (film) can give birth to quality cultural products despite the pressures from inside and outside. Although remake-films are still massively produced by Indonesian film industry up to now, Anthony Giddens in structuration theory says that the social actors reproduce or change a condition by re-establishing what has been in the continuity of praxis.