PLAGIARISM
Copying someone else's movie is wrong.
Copying someone else's script and storyboard is wrong.
HOW CAN WE STOP IT ?
Copying someone else's script and storyboard is wrong.
HOW CAN WE STOP IT ?
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Let us set aside clearly marked parody or tribute films, which acknowledge their sources. Let us ignore the many Hollywood sequels, prequels, re-boots and re-makes - where there is no secret about the source and usually contractual payments have been made.
In our world of non-commercial cinema, why does anyone make an almost exact copy of another film? And what can we do about it? Most federations have stories of films which are almost shot-for-shot identical, yet the author presented the movie as his or her own original work.
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Directed and Produced by Kirby Ferguson and Robert Grigsby Wilson.
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We all make mistakes
Some people suffer mental confusion and truly believe their work is original. How often are you sure about some remembered event, only to find proof that you were wrong? The technical term is Cryptomnesia. You may remember a judge in the USA deciding that George Harrison had suffered from that when writing the melody for My Sweet Lord which echoed the Chiffons' He's So Fine.
It's just an exercise
A British film group used the published script of a popular television comedy and deliberately shot it to look as similar as possible to the original. It was a fascinating exercise in the techniques of film making. They were forced to recognise each separate angle, close-up and camera movement. They had to find ways to record dialogue well in difficult circumstances. When they entered it in a competition, they made no secret that their version was a copy of a much-loved original.
But some film makers do the same thing ... without admitting that all the planning was someone else's work.
But some film makers do the same thing ... without admitting that all the planning was someone else's work.
It lets us play with our expensive toys
Vladimir Murtin (NLD) points out:
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"The technical development of motion pictures is continuing at an ever-increasing speed. We move from SD to HD to 4K… a tsunami of pixels. The charm of recording what we see is irresistible. Push a button and reality is captured. Suddenly, a heavy burden descends on your shoulders: what do I want to capture with my camera?
"This is not a new phenomenon. In the era of chemical film – rooted deep in the previous century – the English journalist and prominent author on amateur filmmaking, Ivan Watson wrote an inspiring book for amateurs What shall I film? with the aim of pulling the amateur out of this deadlock. "So we skip the most difficult part of the film making process - brainstorming, planning, revising and scripting ... and we perform an easy leap forward. We decide to make a one-minute film. There are thousands of them online. The best are inspired, thought-through, well edited, and have clever dialogue. We decide to imitate one of them. That way we get a film made fast, a real film. |
"A film which is almost identical: a long shot for a long shot, a close up for a close
up, only the actors have different faces.
"There is a big difference between inspiration and plagiarism. The best professional film makers acknowledge that other masters of the craft inspire them – they will even admit that they are “stealing”. This is quite normal and it can be positive and lead to renewal. They are in fact not stealing; they use the insights and ideas of their examples in order to develop and enrich their own vision. "If we make that leap forward that skips content creation and take from somebody else all the material that precedes the actual filming, then we are dealing with plagiarism. "Some amateurs do this and hope that it won’t get noticed. Others, and this is arguably even worse, plagiarize shamelessly and couldn’t care less. "Filmmakers who do this are cheating jury members as well as their audience." |
Mimi and Eunice cartoon - “copyleft Nina Paley.”
At UNICA 2013
" ... a film maker admitted, that a large part of his film had been copied in vision, sound and commentary from the German version of the 2004 international television production entitled Genesis II and Man created nature. We refer to the movie Meru lebt by the Swiss film maker, Bernhard Girsberger ...
" ... the person concerned has returned his awards and the film has been removed from the official list. Prizes previously won in Switzerland by this movie have now been returned. The Swiss Federation for its part has also taken drastic measures. The film was removed from all Internet platforms." - Letter from M. Fondeur, December 2013. |
How can we stop it?
How can we prevent such plagiarism - deliberate or unknowing - in competitions?
Friends may be suspicious if the work is much better than the author’s usual standard. Apart from that we depend on someone, who has seen the original and remembered it in detail, to report their suspicions. The UNICA Committee's first response has been to insist on having a signature by the author saying "The author is in possession of all rights and agrees with the regulations of the competition" and that in turn is signed by the president of his or her federation. A sensible step? Or a wasted effort? - Dave Watterson |
