Branding, Culture, Politics, and Everything in Between

Now this is interesting. Apparently, an 8 minute Mortal Kombat short film has been made just to convince Warner Brothers (the studio who holds the franchise’s rights) to make a reboot of it.

The previous Mortal Kombat movies were for the most part true to the games and a bit on the light side. But this short movie is nothing if dark. See, for example, their version of the character “Reptile”:

The idea of shooting test and sample footage of a potential movie project for studio heads is of course not new (personal favorite, Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones). But including consumers in this decision making process definitely is. As you may have guessed, the clip was posted on YouTube and other video sharing sites. The clip has already gone viral and is serving as a great way for the producers to get some immediate fan reactions from the video comments to throw at the studio brass. I’ve skimmed through some of the comments, and the response seems for the most part very positive. There are also a lot of great observations, reactions and other utterances that should prove invaluable if the movie moves to production. I personally hope the movie gets made.

But the bigger question is, of course, will we be seeing more of these short movie “probes” for movie ideas? It’s something that definitely has potential and is very “co-creative”. But also could spell disaster if used the wrong way. Nobody likes cultural works made by committee, for one. You need to find a balance between consumer engagement and artistic authorship.

Here’s the whole short film:

Via /Film:

Though the shortfilm is funny, it also plays on pretty contemporary social norms that are being reshaped currently.

When is it okay to talk, for example, the latest episode of Lost?

After how many years is a film considered common knowledge? (the Usual Suspects)

How big a faux pas IS spoiling, actually?

My good friend and T-shirt enthusiast Jani tipped me off on a pretty cool t-shirt shop called Last Exit to Nowhere. Their idea is simple: create t-shirts that borrow from classic movies, but in very obscure and clever ways. For example:

• Kobayashi porcelain, the company manufacturing the coffee mug the detective was drinking from in The Usual Suspects
• Louis’ Italian-American restaurant refers to the restaurant where Michael Corleone famously shot Sollozzo and McCLusky in The Godfather
• Baltimore State Hospital was the hospital where they kept Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs.

The list goes on and on, each shirt more inventive than the next. The designs are also top notch, making them beautiful to watch even if you don’t get the cultural reference.

The “logo” for Tony Montana’s company from Scarface

Coolness and aesthetics aside, what I really like about Last Exit to Nowhere is that it basically encapsulates perfectly two hallmarks of contemporary culture into one great case study.

First, it’s a great example of pop culture becoming smarter and increasingly self-referential. For example, in my recent guest lecture I featured a Simpsons episode that had 13 references to other pop culture works that were vital to the jokes and plot. In the same lecture, I also showed two ads that heavily borrowed from pop culture, from Pepsi and Jordan Brand. Pop culture stereotypes or archetypes work as excellent shorthands in storytelling and often they make for better and more engaging storytelling.

Increased use of pop culture refernces also requires higher cultural literacy and sophistication levels from consumers, as you have to “get” at least some of the references to fully understand the story (for lack of a better word). However, Henry Jenkins has argued that some brands and cultural franchises are also using cultural references to offer fans that little something extra, where as the “basic story” can be made sense with just a basic cultural knowledge. This is I think key for Last Exit To Nowhere: their t-shirts work as “normal” shirts just fine, but they also offer a tremendous reward for those who get it, because the references are so obscure.

For more on pop culture becoming smarter and more self-referential, Grant McCracken (again, I know) has written about this extensively, especially in his latest book Transformations, which I highly recommend.

The second aspect of Last Exit To Nowhere relates to copyright. Copyright holders and especially movie studios are guarding their intellectual property very strictly. Jenkins’ book has some pretty eye-opening stories on movie studios going after fan pages, of all things, who use their copyrighted material without permission. But what’s so ingenious about Last Exit To Nowhere, it’s that they’ve discovered a clever way to basically go around the movie studios. The things they are referencing from the movies are so obscure that they don’t usually have any graphic materials, so they have been free to create them themselves. They’re just swiping the name or idea from the movie, and creating something original from it.

Of course, even if they were allowed to borrow from the movies, these t-shirt designs would be pretty cool and worthy of printing. But I think because they have to go about this way, it adds an extra level of meaning to the shirts.

All in all Last Exit to Nowhere has a fantastic business idea that is as contemporary as they get. I think this blurb from Playboy magazine summed it up best:

Last Exit understands both the urge to represent and the need for discretion.

And oh, to my friends reading this, I ordered the design below, so don’t even think about ordering a similar one and ruining my illusion of individuality!

I watched My Blueberry Nights by Wong Kar Wai the other day. Had high expectations for the film, because I had just seen Ashes of Time and I thought it was outstanding in its cinematography. And in truth, in that aspect My Blueberry Nights didn’t disappoint: it was beautifully shot and lit. Wong Kar Wai really knows how to work a camera. But the movie itself left me a bit disappointed.

The problem with the movie is that it’s culturally very empty. It deals in traditional American settings: the open road, the corner diner and its locals, Las Vegas gamblers etc. But the thing is, the director treats these themes with an outsider’s eye, kind of like a tourist showing his holiday photos. I feel that the lack of gripping storytelling was missing, and I think it was because the storyteller had nothing new to say to me about what I was seeing. And I guess it bled over to the acting, because none of the actors really made an impression with me. It felt like an ode to Americana, but from a person who was not too familiar with the subject.

A much weaker American director would have been able to squeeze more cultural relevance out of this movie, probably with ease. But a weaker American director wouldn’t have been able to provide us with such delightful images.

An interesting predicament, I though.