Imitation and Originality in Youth Media Production

Imitation and Originality
in Youth Media Production
Yonty Friesem
Media Education Lab
Columbia College Chicago
Email: yontyfilm@gmail.com
Twitter: @yonty
Renee Hobbs
Media Education Lab
University of Rhode Island
Email: hobbs@uri.edu
Twitter: @reneehobbs
www.mediaeducationlab.com
#NCTE18
11/18/18
Houston, Texas

2013
Philadelphia
Youth Media
Festival
“Love Language”
2013
Providence
Youth Media
Festival
“Love Language”
2013
Providence
Youth Media
Festival
“Love Language”

ORIGINAL: Jubilee Project
3.7 million views
REMAKE: Bootihole
10 million views

ORIGINAL: Jubilee Project
3.7 million views
REMAKE: Bootihole
10 million views
48,000 results

What is the relationship between creativity, copying
and imitation?
When youth indicate an interest in remaking an
existing popular video, should educators be
enthusiastic or concerned?
When is imitation a form of creative expression and
when is it a shortcut that limits creativity and
learning?

Imitation is not just the
sincerest form of flattery - it's
the sincerest form of learning.
-George Bernard Shaw
Imitation as a Learning Practice

Imitation as a Creative Practice
--Kirby Ferguson

Collective Cultural Production
Remake Videos on YouTube
“Bus Uncle” (2006)
Scary Maze Prank (2010)
Ice Bucket Challenge (2014)
132
2,000+
2.5 million

Research Approach
RQ1: What forms of imitation and originality exist in
“Love Language” remake videos?
Method: Content analysis of 94 “Love Language” remake
videos, using 2 coders for all videos
Search Strategy:
“Love Language” 80,400 videos
+ “short film” 187 videos
- date (2010 – 2017)
- duplicates, blooper reels, or “making of” versions
Sample: 94 videos, with 16 million views

Measuring Content & Form
Character, Content and Setting
• Gender of actors
• Race/ethnicity of actors
• Actors’ change of clothing as a device to indicate the narrative
occurs on sequential days
• Presence of flirting behavior
• Use of post-it notes to exchange information between
characters
• The girl’s use of finger spelling to communicate the message
that she is deaf
• Boy’s final note, “You’re still beautiful”
• Outdoor setting
• Park bench

Format & Cinematography
• Length of video
• Use of music, entitled, “Peaches by New Heights,”
• Credits
• Bloopers (which were not included in the original video),
Acknowledgement of Jubilee Project
• Extreme close-up of foot tapping
• Use of jump cuts to communicate the boy’s waiting
• Over-the-shoulder shot of the post-it notes
• Side-angle shot of the boy looking at the girl
• Extreme close up of sticky notes
• Date slates to indicate the passing of time
• Titles to capture spoken language

Context variables
• URL
• Number of views
• Date of publication
• YouTube user name
• Country of origin
• Made in a school context

Findings
“Love Language” remake videos display a complex mix of
both imitation and originality in content, format and
cinematography.
WHY?
• Universal theme: introducing yourself to a stranger
• Sentimentality: a budding romance
• Surprise ending: an invisible disability
• Short film length
• Simple set
• Limited use of language

“Love Language”
Remake Videos Embody
Global Asian Identity
61% : the boy and girl
were both Asian
12% : one member of
the pair was Asian
27% : characters were
not Asian.
58% come from North America, the Philippines and India. Other remake videos were
from Indonesia, Australia, Bangladesh, Japan, Vietnam, China, Nepal, Russia, Turkey,
Kazakhstan, Egypt

Imitation – Originality
A ratio depicts the relationship between the number of videos that that used close
imitation for particular elements as compared with those which contained original
elements.

66% included acknowledgement
 21% mentioned the original
Jubilee Project in the credits
 29% mentioned source in the
description
 13% mentioned source in
both the video and the
description
34% had no acknowledgement
Diverse Approaches to
Acknowledging the Original

“You’re Still Beautiful”
77 of 93 videos kept the
original ending line.
Some alternatives included:
• “I still like you,”
• “Will you be my
girlfriend?”
• “I certainly didn’t expect
that.”
“You are still perfect.”

Examples of Creative Tweaks
• Reversing gender roles so that the boy is the deaf
individual
• The boy is depicted as a musician, with a guitar, and we
understand him to be the author of the song, with the
effect of transforming the genre from its original
narrative into a music video.
• The boy knows from the beginning that the girl is deaf,
with the romance depicted as a fantasy dream
sequence that includes hyper-stereotypical romantic
marriage proposal, followed by the dramatic wake-up
scene where friends are pouring water on his head to
wake him up.

Film School 101 Assignment
Re-create a Favorite Movie Scene
Students remake a short movie scene of their choosing,
imitating it closely shot-by-shot. Responsibilities should be
divided among students as they collaborate to put
together their own sets/costumes/props, do their own
acting and camera work, using in-camera editing.

Remake Media Literacy Assignment
Re-create a Favorite Movie Scene
Students remake a short movie scene of their choosing,
imitating it closely shot-by-shot. Responsibilities should be
divided among students as they collaborate to put
together their own sets/costumes/props, do their own
acting and camera work, using in-camera editing.
Strategic Alteration
Reproduce a close copy of a short movie scene but make
one key change to the content or form. Discuss: How is the
meaning altered?

Exercising Your
Fair Use Involves
Critical Thinking

When youth indicate an interest in remaking an existing
popular video, should educators be enthusiastic or
concerned?

CAREFUL COPYING is a form of learning
STRATEGIC ALTERATION of copied form and content
may unleash creativity

Imitation and Originality in Youth Media Production

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