charlesfstewart

[charlesfstewart]

Today on The C-Show (Wrestling) Podcast, we launched the first episode of our "storytime" series, which explores the various intersections of the wrestling world with history, politics, and mainstream culture. Verne's story was interesting to me because it shows both sides of the American Dream, and the incident at the end of his life shapes his legacy in a unique way. This was an exciting project to work on, connecting dots, closing loops. I've got some more stuff in the queue, so please make sure to subscribe, where ever you get your favorite shows!

[charlesfstewart]

'No Reason Needed' - Heineken 0.0 | Ad Review

Like more and more Americans, I consume a lot of soccer. It's pretty natural to see Heineken ads while watching Champions League football, as they are a major sponsor. As a legacy brand in the beer space, Heineken has enjoyed success around the world as an imported lager, often positioned above other similar beers in their domestic markets. They’ve often had clever ads, but I think the "When Working" ad, from the recent campaign of “No Reason Needed” really highlights clever production and provides a funny universal message for the product, which only helps to emphasize the product and create a memorable ad for a legacy brand in the increasingly crowded space of Non-Alcoholic beer.

As more and more folks drink Non-alcoholic beer, especially with popular movements like “Dry January” or “Sober October,” Heineken has expanded their offerings to include a NA (0.0% ABV) beer. They’ve been pretty clever with the roll out of this product in various ads, including one where multiple-time Formula One (another sport with heavy Heineken presence) champion Max Verstappen is sacked with being the designated driver, only to turn it on his friends:

The message of the ad is simple: you can have your cake and eat it too, you don’t miss out on the “refreshing” taste of Heineken, and you can still drive your friends home safely at the end of the night (although not in that Mustang). 

All Screenshots (unless noted) Courtesy of Heineken

This new ad, titled “No Reason Needed”, I think is brilliant, not because of its innate humor and juxtaposition of images, but also because production-wise, it’s small, clever, and can be adapted for multiple markets and formats. Let’s break it down:

1 - Slow Zoom on 3-shot

The scene is simple - three coworkers huddle around a glowing laptop screen during a company party. Again, Heineken makes the event vague, as the ad started releasing in January 2025, but it’s clear that everyone else is socializing away from their computers and work obligations - or are they?

2 - Reverse: Boss Grabbing Keys

Suddenly, the boss man comes around to get his keys. Why were they on a random desk in the open office? Don’t worry about this, suspend your disbelief. He notices the trio, seemingly still working…

3 - Closeup on Product

This is straight out of the textbook, you can see the brand markings and the iconic green bottles, clearly showing the “0.0%” on the label. There’s even condensation on the bottle.

4 - Medium shot: Boss gets their attention

5 - Close up on the 3-shot: The Gang Looks Up

Hoping that their ruse will play out, the three “hard workers” look up from the laptop monitor.

6 - Reverse: Boss Throwing the Gauntlet Down

The boss man (he looks scary, this is how we can tell!) asks what our friends are up to…

7 - The Gang Ponders Their Response

Sometimes silence is the best answer.

8 - Reverse: Back to the Boss

The three greatest words to hear at work.

9 - Cheers!

Our friends make a quick toast, the brand message appears on-screen,

10 - Working Hard, or Hardly Working?

We finally get the reveal of what was on the screen! In fact, it’s a soccer match (it looks to be Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid), with the “Heineken 0.0” branding on the sideline boards wrapping around the corner of the pitch.

11 - Hero Shot

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Benjamin Franklin (did he really say that??)

12 - The Boss Returns

Catching our friends off guard, the boss was so impressed by their dedication, he actually forgot to grab his keys!

13 - Reverse: Group Tension

I wouldn’t want to get caught either. Notice the green beer bottle standing next to our friend on the left.

14 - A Sense of Relief

Resolving the arc of the story here. Go ahead, pump that fist, boss man.

15 - Product & Tagline

To close out the ad, the product is shown, alongside the branding and “Now you can” campaign tagline. Which is pretty clever - you can adapt that to all sorts of situations.

Why It’s Smart

There’s several reasons why this ad is so smart, and let’s start from the logistics of it all: it takes place in one room, with the same talent. In fact, when you really break it down, there’s only about four set-ups that they needed to do:

Shots of boss walking in

Shots of coworkers in front of laptop

Laptop closeup

The “hero shot”

I’m sure there is more footage for longer versions, or different cuts, but it’s really simple. The set is a basic office, which you could easily find with a location manager, or do what I’ve done in past lives and just take over an office. The wardrobe and set design both utilize neutral tones that we typically see in an office, but that allows for the green Heineken bottle to be noticeable and stand out. 

The most clever bit is that this ad can feasibly be manipulated digitally in order to conform it to different markets. Heineken themselves claim that their products are available in over 190 countries around the world, so it’s pretty feasible that the creative team at Heineken would want to be able to adapt this ad in different languages, perhaps in Spanish:

Yeah, that’s right, it’s the same exact ad, just with a Spanish voiceover artist for the boss man. Heck, it could have been originally filmed in Spanish with an English dub! Making this easy to reach millions in both languages.

In fact, with some more manipulation, you could easily replace the Football match with a different sport easily, just by using a key effect, and perhaps putting in an American Football game:

Quick Artist Rendition. Go Birds.

This is all done in pre-production. Making sure you think ahead of time about what your messaging is, how the action plays out, and to complete the story arc; can’t be done on-set or in the editing bay. I’m a big fan of storyboards and scripts, and working with your production team to lay out the set up and confirm all the setups you’ll be doing.

It only goes to show what a universal message, clever production, and preparation can do for your messaging. The more memorable your ad is, the more people are going to remember it. My friends and I still quote the Budweiser “wassup” ads all the time. Let’s see if these campaigns similarly permeate the culture as well. 

Want to craft an awesome video with me? Contact me today!

[charlesfstewart]

Ranking the Original Cast Star Trek Films

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Last Thanksgiving, I nearly got into a physical altercation with my father in a wal-mart in rural Virginia. Now you may wonder what would cause my father and I to come to blows, and I will tell you, he got an attitude about Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. He had some crackpot opinion about how “it sucked” and it should not be included in the National Film Registry. 

While I was a very determined Star Wars fan, I got sucked into the world of Trek in high school after JJ Abrams made his first Star Trek film. I had never actually seen all of the original cast films, and so after rewatching Wrath of Khan, and returning to my home, I set out to go where many have gone before, and recap the six films the “Original Series” cast made…

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979, Robert Wise)

Image courtesy of Memory Alpha

When I first saw that Alan Dean Foster, legendary science-fiction and fantasy author, developed the story for this, I kinda got excited. I had read and heard that this was a “slow” movie, more 2001 than Star Wars. However, to paraphrase ReviewoftheWeek, my disappointment was immeasurable and my day was certainly ruined.

You can go read the wikipedia entry and read the plot summary, I’m not here to do that. What really bothers me about this film, is that ostensibly, it’s a Star Trek movie right, the Enterprise should be moving and grooving, right? NO! The audience spends a good 30 minutes waiting for the ship to leave the spacedock and for the movie to start - and then you have another 100 minutes to go!

Watching this film now is wild, because one of the main characters, Willard Decker, is played by none other than noted sex creep Stephen Collins! While no one is at fault for casting this guy in 1977, there’s just this awful pall cast over the film by having Collins in it.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982, Nicholas Meyer)

Image courtesy of Keith Pille

This is the only film that I had seen in its entirety before embarking on this series, and on rewatch, it ages like a fine wine. There are times where production and scheduling issues actually make a film better - this is a great example. Ricardo Montalbán, who returns to play Khan Noonien Singh, was tied to filming Fantasy Island during the day, which required the production to shoot his scenes during his free time. As a consequence of this, Kirk and Khan never meet face-to-face, only enhancing the dramatic tension between both characters.

Despite its age, the special effects do hold up, especially with the Ceti Eels and the ship exteriors, especially when Khan and Kirk finally face off as commanders. It’s really a satisfying watch, even if you’re unfamiliar with the world of Trek.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984, Leonard Nimoy)

Image courtesy of The Guardian

The Search for Spock is the first Trek film to be directed by a cast member - since in the story, Spock is sort of occupied (spoiler - being dead), it freed up time behind the camera for Nimoy. What starts to happen here though, is a move away from the cinematic elements of the silver screen, and these films start to feel more like extended episodes of The Original Series.

In my Letterboxd review, I even mention how even Christopher Lloyd can’t save the film, they’re just stretching out the script for this. The concept of the story almost seems mandatory after the end of the previous film - unfortunately back then, you couldn’t just go “somehow, Palpatine returned,” you had to actually come up with a story reason for why a character returns from the dead, especially after what Spock does at the end of Wrath of Khan.

I feel like early fan backlash to Spock’s death forced Paramount and the Trek crew to figure out how to bring Spock back, and have it do justice. Huh. Interesting. Didn’t know you had to do that.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986, Leonard Nimoy)

Image courtesy of Alternate Ending

Everyone else calls this film “The One With The Whales,” which is pretty accurate. The whales are kind of critical to the plot, however it’s become a punchline since its release. Again, I repeat my concerns about how this film again feels like an extended TV episode. The comedy beats of “Starfleet-Crew-in-20th-Century-earth” feel tired after watching the Deep Space Nine episode like “Little Green Men” (s4e8) where the Ferengi Quark and Nog are transported to 20th-century Earth, and the dramatic elements aren’t there like in the Deep Space Nine episodes “Past Tense (Part 1 & 2)” (s3e11-12) where Captain Ben Sisko and Dr. Bashir accidentally kick off an important moment in history. 

While it’s the most successful Original series film at the box office (making $133 million worldwide on a $21 million budget is pretty impressive), it really leaves a lot to be desired.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989, William Shatner)

Man this sucks. Image courtesy of CBR

The most pompous, arrogant, self-important, sanctimonious thing I’ve seen. Oh, Spock has a half-brother? Ok, somewhat interesting. Oh, he knows about this mysterious entity at the center of the universe? Yeah, it doesn't seem half-baked at all. 

Spoilers for a 36-year old movie, but Spock’s brother Sybock takes the Enterprise crew to basically meet God. Seriously. They meet “God” and then kill it. While that’s pretty rad, it doesn't feel very “Star Trek” and raises all sorts of questions about who and what the entity was, and what Sybock’s motivations were the entire time.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991, Nicholas Meyer)

Image courtesy of American Cinematographer

Shocked by the critical and financial response to the previous film, Paramount made the safe choice by hiring Nicholas Meyer, director of The Wrath of Khan. What’s clever about this film is that it leans into the analogue created by The Original Series, in which Starfleet represents the US and its NATO allies, and the Klingons represent the USSR and its allies. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet state, it made perfect sense to port this over to the Star Trek universe.

The conflict is only enhanced and aggravated by Kirk and his dislike of Klingons, leading to a fantastic scene on-board the Enterprise between the representatives of Starfleet and the Klingon Empire. Christopher Plummer provides an excellent antagonist for the film, however, it’s really undermined by the exclusion of one shot where Spock realizes what’s happened, and unravels the conspiracy at play. It’s a frustrating snag in an otherwise incredible film, and a wonderful send-off for the Original Series cast.

Final Thoughts

How I feel reading the news. Image courtesy of ScreenRant

The six films that feature the Star Trek Original Series cast is an enjoyable, but frustrating watch. You can tell that some folks didn’t want to be there, or see where corners are cut. Nicholas Meyer’s films really do a great job of highlighting the strengths of the cast and creating some incredible stories. Unfortunately, the other films get in the way of this, and things like “The One With the Whales” and “The One All About Reviving Spock” distract from what could be a pretty great run of films.

[charlesfstewart]

Internal IBM document, 1979 (via Fabricio Teixeira)

[charlesfstewart]

Franchising with Purpose | Griswold

I still remember the first podcast I listened to. It was probably 2007, and Harry Potter was all the rage. I can still recall listening to the Pottermore podcast, in an external window, on the family computer. In college, as I transitioned from my trusty iPod nano to using a smartphone full time, I became a rabid podcast listener. I probably listen to 10 or so different podcasts throughout the week, and so when the opportunity came at Griswold to produce a podcast, I jumped at the opportunity. 

In 2019, I was tasked with beginning the development of a franchising podcast. The idea at the time was to create a podcast about starting a franchise with a service mindset, giving your franchise a purpose. Our goal was to use this podcast as a piece in our content marketing strategy to help educate potential Griswold owners about the process and owning a franchise. This was called “Phase 1” and lasted that year. Unfortunately, COVID changed our plans for marketing the franchise opportunity, and we ended the show, sort of on a cliffhanger. Unfortunately, only a few pieces remain:

This episode (technically episode 19), was with Eleanor Vaida Gerhards, an attorney with Fox Rothschild, who focuses specifically on legal matters involving franchises. We spoke with other guests, like a financial advisor, along with Griswold owners and Home Office staff, to help paint the full picture for our audience.

Throughout Phase 1, I felt like there were many opportunities that we missed, which I wanted to rectify with Phase 2. Beginning in late 2022, we had many obstacles that made production difficult in Phase 1 removed. We used a platform called Riverside to help schedule, record, and manage interview recordings, which I found to be super easy to use. There’s even some basic editing tools in the platform!

Phase 2 of Franchising with Purpose was more focused on Griswold as a company - why choose Home Care, getting your license, launching and marketing the business, etc. This time, the mandate was to only interview internal talent, which made scheduling a breeze.

During this time, I also made a concerted effort to create social media content for the Franchising vertical, which had been struggling:

These videos were produced specifically for Instagram and TikTok, with the hopes of reaching younger audiences interested in franchising. Using the branding information provided to me, along with best practices at the time, I created the clips above. At the time in late 2022-early 2023, the process in Adobe Premiere was still very custom. I developed the “frame” and using Premiere’s built-in tools, edited the captions to appear like that. Looking back, I should have made the font bigger.

Podcasting is an easy way to share what you know, expand on current topics with guests, and help grow your brand! Want to learn more about podcasting? Contact me today!

[charlesfstewart]

Dr. Jean Griswold Memorial Highway - 2023 | Griswold

All photos courtesy of Griswold & Todd Zimmerman

As a part of the push to celebrate Griswold’s 40th anniversary back in 2022, one initiative that we undertook was working with our PR firm at the time to lobby the Pennsylvania Legislature in order to have a stretch of road to be named after Dr. Jean Griswold, the founder of Griswold.

I was assigned to work with our contact and track the progress of the bill sponsoring the dedication of a strip of Township Line Road in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, where funnily enough, the corporate office of Griswold is located. After a few months of silence, we figured the motion had died somewhere in the halls in Harrisburg, but to our delight, we learned that the bill had passed in late 2022, and we began planning.

In preparation for the unveiling of the signage at Township Line Road and Walton Road in Blue Bell at the end of April 2023, I began to plan an unveiling ceremony and luncheon at the Griswold office to celebrate this moment in the company’s history. Notable guests included the representatives from the area; Sen. Maria Collett, Rep. Greg Scott, and Rep. Mary Jo Daley (the sponsor of the legislation), as well as Dr. Griswold’s son Kent, and his wife, Lori, who continues to be involved with the company. 

As you can see in the video above, the unveiling of the roadside ceremony was certainly a busy day, with all of the traffic and strong gusts of wind that made production challenging. I had a camcorder running in the back, and then had an output feed from the speaker into a recorder. Simply syncing the video together, we got fabulous results for the video, and for following social media posts:

Representative Scott’s words were very moving to me, as I always saw my work at Griswold as serving others. I greatly enjoyed sharing that clip across Griswold’s social media, as I felt it only echoed our values in providing care to those who need it the most. 

The luncheon itself was a basic affair, I delegated many tasks to my teammates, who assisted in picking up and delivering the catered menu I designed (which included desert), decorating the office (admittedly, my boss handled this, interior design is not my forte), and handling special guests at the office. 

After the event, it was time to take all of these photos and video and put them together. We made several posts on social media, including several Instagram Reels. You can view the full ceremony linked above, and you can also check out this news article detailing the day. 

I’m not in Blue Bell often any more, but when I am, I do try to go swing by the sign, just to say hi.

Want to work with me? Contact me today.

[charlesfstewart]

Some various photos I took over the years at Griswold - it's really crucial to capture moments like these day-to-day, not only because it's easy social media content, but it shows off your brand's values in action.

A picture is worth a thousand words - what are your photos saying?

[charlesfstewart]

Care with Us | Griswold Home Care

The Care with Us project is one of my favorites completed at Griswold. It was the first major video campaign the company had undertaken in a long time, and it was to feature actual caregivers from various offices in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. 

Throughout this campaign, I assisted with developing the concept, managed production with our partner John Sterling Ruth, oversaw rollout of the campaign to our franchise system, and worked with JSR and another firm to create different edits from existing footage to help extend the life of the campaign.

Additionally, I created and managed the process that led us to receiving First Place, Multimedia Campaign at the 2022 Aspect Awards, a senior care industry award. 

The concept of “Care with Us” is simple - we wanted to highlight the people that care for Griswold clients around the country; why they are caregivers, how they became caregivers, and what keeps them going. Managing talent across three states was a bit more difficult. However, the caregivers that were selected were thrilled at the opportunity to share their story, and help humanize caregivers more.

On the day of production, I worked with JSR’s crew and our talent to make sure they were comfortable on-camera, and oversaw the interviews being collected, directed b-roll shots, and shot behind-the-scenes content.

After production completed, we rolled out the assets package to the entire Griswold system. This included assets both digital and traditional, including; digital ads, brochures, posters, social media posts (graphics and videos), and more. On top of that, there was even a small OTT/CTV ad campaign that ran in the states Griswold operated in at the time.

One of the social graphics - I took the pictures of each caregiver in front of the white background. (Photo courtesy Griswold International LLC, Charles F. Stewart)

The video package included full frame 16x9 videos, as well as 1:1 square videos that were designed specifically for social media. In the social media tool available to Griswold franchisees, I created a library for owners and their staff to access and publish content to various social media pages.

In 2022 and 2023, we decided that the assets needed a refresh, and worked with JSR and Liam Nielsenshutlz, a local Director of Photography, to create new versions based on existing footage. You can see Liam’s work below:

In the beginning of 2022, we put together our package for the Aspect Awards, which I led the charge for putting together our presentation and collecting the necessary info. Receiving an award for a project like this was so gratifying, especially since the main focus of the campaign was on caregivers and why they continue to do what they do.

The Care with Us campaign let me do many things - getting back into production and on set, working with talent, creating a campaign package, overseeing the re-editing process, and rolling out the entire campaign to the Griswold system. Learn more about the entire campaign at the Aspect Awards.

Want to know more about working with me? Contact me today.

[charlesfstewart]

Fairy Tales and Hanna

Image courtesy of In Their Own League

Author’s note - this essay was initially written in 2012. While I have not made major changes to the content of the article, I have linked the films and articles, essays, or books referenced. In some cases, I am unable to find the original sources. These sections have been italicized at this time. Additionally, some grammatical changes have been made.

Fantasy is an integral part of cinema. From Georges Méliès' earliest shorts (The Kingdom of the Fairies comes to mind first) to the upcoming Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, cinema is filled with wonders inspired by classic "fairy tales" such as those written by the Brothers Grimm. Even if the "princess" in Joe Wright's Hanna is actually a genetically modified super-assassin, who is being hunted by the Central Intelligence Agency all while trying to discover her own self. 

The main plot of Hanna revolves around the eponymous character, a young girl who lives near the arctic circle. Of course Wright places Hanna and her (adoptive) father, Erik in a home with no electricity. Erik, a former CIA operative, trains Hanna, who does not know about her hidden genetic coding, in the ways of being an assassin. When Hanna sets off an alarm, Erik leaves for Berlin, and Hanna is left alone to get to Berlin and meet Erik.

Wright's use of "fairy tale" imagery is pretty potent; the log cabin in the woods, no electricity, limited knowledge, it's freezing cold, and Erik and Hanna trade off hunting duties. Erik's place in the film as a mentor is solidified, but in this case, his role is almost like a fairy godmother, providing Cinderella her gown for the ball. Granted, in this case, the "gown" is an array of fighting techniques and knowledge about the CIA's inner workings, but the idea of providing the main character with the ability to go out and conquer her antagonists is the same.

Once Hanna reaches Berlin, she is told to visit a man by the name of Knepfler, who is an eccentric old magician, and lives in a fun house in an abandoned amusement park.  Knepfler, who signifies a messenger, passing on Erik's word. Of course, the woman who is in charge of Hanna's case, Marissa Wiegler, finds and kills Erik after he tells Hanna about the circumstances of her birth. Marissa then kills Knepfler, and hunts down Hanna in the decrepit amusement park.

Marissa's character is sort of bland, mostly because she embodies evil. Always wearing pantsuits (another sign of a woman in power) in neutral colors, especially blacks and grey. In Hanna and Marissa's showdown, it is the climatic battle between good and evil. Of course Hanna represents good, while Marissa is the evil stepmother, the witch, the hag. In the confrontation, Hanna is wounded, but of course, kills Marissa, and leaves. Hanna has been freed from the impending doom that would be brought upon her if she be captured, or worse, killed. The arc that Hanna goes on only has one real ending, a trope that has endured millennia: the hero (or heroin) always defeats the villain.

The treatment of the traditional action film tropes are typical in Hanna. There's a hero, a villain, the villain's sidekick, and of course, a mentor/fairy godmother figure. As tired as these archetypes are, director Joe Wright manages to shoot new life into them by creating a classical fairy tale atmosphere in which these characters thrive.

[charlesfstewart]

The Mes-en-Scene of Jean-Pierre Melville's "Le Samourai"

Screenshot courtesy of BAMF Style

Author’s note - this essay was initially written in 2012. While I have not made major changes to the content of the article, I have linked the films and articles, essays, or books referenced. In some cases, I am unable to find the original sources. These sections have been italicized at this time. Additionally, some grammatical changes have been made.

Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samouraï is not only a staggeringly beautiful film from a visual perspective, but also a great character study. Alan Deloin, in a tour-de-force performance plays Jef Costello, a professional hitman whose methodical mannerisms allow him to be a top-notch assassin. Melville's use of set design, along with lighting, and lack of dialogue create not only a crime drama, but a meditation on the violence plagued by modern society.

The scene is simple. Show Jef Costello in his room, preparing for a job. Not for any job, mind you, but an assassination. Jean-Pierre Melville starts the film with a basic shot of Jef laying in his bed, smoking a cigarette. His room is spartan, to be polite. Bare is more correct. A birdcage sits in the middle of the room, the bird chirping at a regular interval. In this first shot, the room seems small, but after a quote from the Bushido; (actually written by Melville) "There is no greater solitude than that of the samurai unless it is that of the tiger in the jungle... Perhaps…" rolls, Melville initiates a Dolly Zoon (also known as a "Hitchcock shot" from Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 film Vertigo) which makes the whole room look a lot larger. Melville's purpose in juxtaposing Jef in these two different shots is that it shows the two sides of the character. In Jef's small world, the only thing that matters is his own codes; whether they be ethical or moral. In the larger world, where Jef is just a small part, his or any other presence makes no difference. 

Melville also uses a large amount of natural lighting, making Jef's apartment seem very dark. Not only obviously a look into Jef's own attitudes, but also his soul. Outside of killing, he does very little, except for having sexual intercourse with a woman (Nathalie Delon, Alain’s wife during production) who is probably engaged to be married. Jef does eventually get up, already dressed, and checks a wad of cash. The bird, his only company, tweets regularly, as he gets up and places the cash in a hiding place in his apartment. While not only a sign that Jef is careful, this shows his distrust of others. By eliminating personal contact, Jef is able to focus more on his work, which he seems to do be good at.

Aside from a tweeting bird and light street noise, there is no other sounds in Jef's apartment. Melville uses this to again show Jef's separation from humanity, both emotionally and professionally. The soundtrack, written by François de Roubaix, is subdued and almost funereal, possibly foreshadowing Jef's own end. While it has some jazz influence, the soundtrack is of a mostly traditional cinematic tone. Possibly due to the meta-ness of the idea of a French samurai, but also a nod to traditional noir stylings. Melville puts a lot in front of the audience without dialogue, including a scene where Jef and a woman exchange glances at a stoplight. Without dialogue, we know Jef is lonely, and misses a normal life, but he has exchanged it for this one. Melville's lack of diegetic spoken language provides a cold atmosphere perpetuated by violence.

The formal elements that compose Le Samouraï are impressive on their own, considering how much thought is placed in each area. Melville's use of stark set design and natural lighting provide an eire setting for the film to take place. Also, the successful lack of diegetic dialogue reflects the atmosphere of the film, and the soundtrack pairs well with the action in the film. Le Samouraï is not only a homage to the noir genre, it is an excellent study of a world with strict work ethics and lacking moral ethics.

[charlesfstewart]

Impact of Remakes on Film's Future

Author’s note - this essay was initially written in 2012. While I have not made major changes to the content of the article, I have linked the films and articles, essays, or books referenced. In some cases, I am unable to find the original sources. These sections have been italicized at this time. Additionally, some grammatical changes have been made.

In recent years, there has been a high amount of film remakes. While this is not a new phenomenon, the idea of a remake unnerves critics and filmmakers alike. Films such as Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961) was remade into A Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone, 1964) Kurosawa was reportedly so angry at Leone's film, he sued Leone for a cut of the film's profits. Most recently, the Swedish film Män Som Hatar Kvinnor (Niels Arden Oplev, 2009), based on Stieg Larson's novel of the same name, was remade into the American The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher, 2011). While Hollywood and the studio system continue to remake older and foreign films, this presents problems for film's future as a medium. The diminished quality of all films are affected when another film is remade.

The argument at hand is that of remakes, simply, films that are based upon a previous film. The basis for which is either a new idea or based upon another work. Thomas M. Leitch, in his essay “Twice-Told Tales: Rhetoric of the Remake”, brings up a valuable point about remaking films, by comparing to another form of art. "How could a lyric poem be remade by another poet? Either the effect of particular words and images would have to be sacrificed, in which case the remake would be so loose as to be unrecognizable, or the new poem would have to follow its model so closely as to be actionable". Leitch's reasoning is that a film is created by an author, according to the auteur theory, and that another director could not recreate a film like the original.

Many modern remakes are simply remade for purely showing off new technological advances in special effects. According to Melissa Lenos' doctoral dissertation Deja View: Cultural Functions of Hollywood Remakes, she describes RKO's King Kong (1932) and Peter Jackson's 2005 remake, in which the titular character was completely computer generated. Lenos accuses Jackson of using computer generated imagery in order to “eliminate [sic] the need for imagination or reflection by the audience” (Lenos 11) Lenos goes on to say that Cecil B. DeMille's remake of his own film, The Ten Commandments allowed DeMille to use 70mm film. While Lenos condemns one filmmaker for remaking a film, she then goes on to embrace other filmmakers who revisit their work with new technology in the world of film.

The stance that an original piece of art's value is diminished if it is reproduced is still being debated upon by scholars, especially those from the Frankfurt School. Minds such as Walter Benjamin, who in his 1936 essay “The Work of Art in the age of Mechanical Reproduction”, Benjamin describes every piece of art having an “aura”. Benjamin generalizes this by saying “the technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition. By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence.” By reproducing a piece of original art, its aura is reduced, and cannot be authentic. Therefore, by reproducing a film, both the remake and the original suffer.

Many critics point to Hollywood's greed when talking about remakes. Hollywood does this because audiences are familiar to the story, and are more likely to go out and pay money to see a remade film. In Constantine Verevis' essay “Remaking Film” he discusses film genre  and goes on to say “A fundamental problem for film remaking has arisen from 'the ever-present desire for a stable and easily identifiable set of objects for analysis', and a related attempt to reduce film remaking to a 'corpus of texts' or set of 'textual structures'". Audiences desire a predictable film, in Verevis' opinion, while every film is boiled down to its basic structure and only a few stories remain.

Hollywood counteracts Verevis' point by remaking foreign films, claiming that the remake will steer more audiences to the original. However, many of these audiences are turned to a dubbed version of a foreign film, especially in the United States. In Terry Pristin's article, “Will Dubbing Fly in the U.S.? Read My Lips”, Daniel Toscan du Plantier, the president of Unifrance International, when discussing the film Les Visituers (Jean-Marie Poiré, 1993) states; “I think it's a pity... For once we had a very strong commercial movie, and it was made for an extremely young audience, the kind of audience that will never accept subtitles." Fast-forward to 2009, and foreign films are still being dubbed. British audiences had the choice of either seeing Niels Arden Oplev's adaptation of the popular novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Män Som Hatar Kvinnor, with subtitles, or dubbed. After viewing statistics, a larger number of people went to see the dubbed film. Even Park Chan-wook’s popular thriller Oldboy (2003) was dubbed when it was uploaded to Netflix's online library of streaming titles.  

In conclusion, the rising trend of remaking films not only diminishes the quality of the film, but also the films around it. Changing any particular piece of a film, whether by rewriting, re-editing, or dubbing, completely transforms the film into something else. Whether a film is remade in order to show off new technological achievements or in order to open it to new audiences, the intent of the director is lost, and the film's meaning is misinterpreted.