I've been very inspired by everybody's capstone short stories and felt like writing one of my own. I was particularly inspired by Sophie's since it hit kind of close to home so this is my homage to her. I was in an abusive relationship as was my mother and what I found really interesting about us was how we were kind of frightened to break free. We weren't frightened because of what the other would do to us but frightened because it was all we knew, and we did have an emotional attachment even though we were mistreated. For my mom, the catholic faith frowns upon divorce so she was locked in by catholic doctrine; I was locked in by the need for affection and the fear of being lonely. I title this piece "Bound".
It's 8:27 p.m., dinner is finished, the dishes are clean, and I am finally alone and in peace soaking in the bathtub watching the water swirl around me in a rainbow of reds and purples tickling my skin with the foamy, white, bubbles that remind me of the foam in the ocean I love so much. This is the only serenity I get anymore since I work two jobs now. It seems I'll do anything to avoid coming home these days, even on my days off I'll go on excursions in the woods or to obscure roadside attractions with my work friends, Tina and Lisa. I look down at my wedding ring on my finger like it's an anchor, a ball and chain, an inconvenience. I feel the pressure rise to my face as tears want to break their way through my eyes.
How can something I once was so happy to wear and look at bring me such agony? As I do every night in this tub, I make sure the door is locked, glance around in irrational paranoia, and go to remove the damned thing. It's a pretty ring, 14 carat gold band that twists and turns around the 8 carat diamond, carefully polished so it glistens and gleams like a shimmering star on my finger. I remember when he opened the box on one knee that evening on the beach and I swore it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I laughed, cried, danced around, and threw my arms around his neck frantically repeating: "I do, I do," over and over. Now I look at the ring in disdain. I reached down and took the ring between my middle finger and thumb and slid it to the tip of my finger. Once I slid it off I unplugged the drain and allowed the water to slowly drain revealing first my knees, then my calves, thighs, breasts, stomach, until all that was left was me naked in the empty tub frozen staring at the ring. I carefully got up and knelt over the drain danging the ring over the drain trying to build up the courage.
Every night I do this, and every night I begin thinking back to the engagement, the wedding, the honey moon, and how wonderful everything once was. It's as if all of those past events make up for the bruises on my shoulders, the finger marks on my neck, the agonizing pain in my back, and the welts all over my body. Once upon a time that whip we bought was used for fun, I would wear the marks on my body with pride. I hear the words in my head playing like a skipping record: "Let's try something new, you like it rough right? It'll be like we were first dating again." I shake my head in desperation trying to shake the sentence dripping with deceit from my brain. I leap up from my knees jump out of the tub and go to the bathroom mirror still holding the ring in my hand. I place it on the bathroom counter and look in the mirror carefully. I've aged quite a bit since we got married, I touch my hair and realize I'm losing more and more each day. My eyes look droopy and glazed, my face a constant frightened, depressed, frown. I've lost about 30 pounds too. Everyone says I look like I'm giving up and giving in. I'm only 35. I feel like I'm 300.
It could be so easy, I could just never come back home one day. I don't need to be torn from my bed every night and manipulated into the activity I once engaged in with joy. Then afterwards be coerced into an unnecessary discussion about how I keep the house, how much money I make, how much I go out, or how I don't perform as well as I used to. I don't need to then watch him drink out of the bottle he keeps on the nightstand and see the monster in his eyes come out of his skin, take over his body, and lash out at me. Sometimes it's not even preceded by sex, sometimes he just comes home already in the monster form. He's unpredictable these days but one thing I do know for sure, I will feel pain, and then I will feel guilt, and then I will still be there in the morning with his kiss and a cup of coffee as I have since I was 20. I open the mirror to the cabinet and look at the bottles of Xanax, Percoset, and Prozac. These are the spoils from the abuse, the opiate being from when he pushed me down the stairs one night and I herniated a disc in my back; but I tripped in heels that day. I take them out of the cabinet and pour out 20 mg of the Xanax, 30 mg of the Percoset, and put the Prozac back. I search around the cabinet and find his old prescription for Adderal. If there's one thing I do remember is that I can easily end this all with this cocktail. I take out two of the Adderal and look at the power in my hands. In my hands I have freedom, peace, quiet, no pain, death, suicide. I look in the mirror holding the pills in my hand and place the ring with them. Suddenly I see a change in my eyes almost before the idea hits me.
Why should I be the one giving in, and giving up? What good will it do? He'll gain the sympathy, and tell everyone I was a depressed maniac. I have friends that care, and my manager Craig has been quite interested in me lately. I don't need to take this way out, I don' t need to be bound. I look around the bathroom and find a soap dish and a plastic bag. I placed the cocktail in the plastic bag and picked up the soap dish. I crush all the pills in the bag until their a rainbow powder, a death potion. A potion that will set me free. I can see I may have lost my mind, I glance at the clock. 8:57. I have three minutes. I quickly throw on my pajama pants and a tank top and rush into the bedroom.. I go under his side of the bed and pull out the bottle of rum. I open the bag and start pouring the contents in his bottle, but then I hear the door open. Suddenly everything keeps rushing back at me. I hear his footsteps on the stairs and I get up off the floor, shut the bottle, and return it to it's rightful spot. I calmly walk to the bathroom and flush the bag, and wash my hands of the deed I just barely got away with. I see the ring on the counter, and place it back on my hand. He walks by the bathroom and gives me a sly smile and goes into the bedroom to change for bed.
"How was having drinks with the guys baby?"
"They're such lovable assholes, but I only had two beers."
"Oh, why?"
"Happy anniversary darling!" He hands me a bouquet of flowers with a little card that read: This day 20 years ago I promised I'd make you mine, and now I know you'll never leave.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
Capstone:The Making of "The Queen", an original song by Teddy Bair and Kylie Young
The Queen Podcast
This is my Capstone project for English IV AP, I chose to do a podcast on the making of this original song. Essentially, this podcast is my version of Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains the Same" or Pink Floyd's "Live at Pompeii."
Songwriting is an art that has been around forever and over time has been found to be more and more of a human instinct and impulse. Song is a human phenomenon; whales may have whale songs and the bird may sing but humans are the only species to really use music to tell story and make it such an integral part of society. We have even reached the point where we use songwriting as a treatment for mental illness and a coping strategy for those who have been psychologically traumatized. Songwriting is an inexplicable, unfathomable, but extremely important and complex art. In this podcast I show you the process and thought that goes into one song from the instrumentation, to the melody and lyrics.
This song started out as a simple guitar track sent to me by email while my boyfriend, Teddy Bair, was in New York on business. Listening to it, I hummed along and found a melody I could work with. We picked up the song again while relaxing in my room and within 20 minutes had a melody with lyrics to work with. We then decided to make this simple song a "trip-hop" symphony and to really capture the essence of what the song is about. Ted spent hours and hours putting in the right groove, bassline, string line, and properly mix it all to create the "sound" we envision in our minds. This podcast takes you through that experience with some interesting facts and testimonials on the songwriting artistic process.
References:
Lieberman, Lowell. "Once Upon a Time:
Storytelling." NPR.
NPR, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
This is my Capstone project for English IV AP, I chose to do a podcast on the making of this original song. Essentially, this podcast is my version of Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains the Same" or Pink Floyd's "Live at Pompeii."
Songwriting is an art that has been around forever and over time has been found to be more and more of a human instinct and impulse. Song is a human phenomenon; whales may have whale songs and the bird may sing but humans are the only species to really use music to tell story and make it such an integral part of society. We have even reached the point where we use songwriting as a treatment for mental illness and a coping strategy for those who have been psychologically traumatized. Songwriting is an inexplicable, unfathomable, but extremely important and complex art. In this podcast I show you the process and thought that goes into one song from the instrumentation, to the melody and lyrics.
This song started out as a simple guitar track sent to me by email while my boyfriend, Teddy Bair, was in New York on business. Listening to it, I hummed along and found a melody I could work with. We picked up the song again while relaxing in my room and within 20 minutes had a melody with lyrics to work with. We then decided to make this simple song a "trip-hop" symphony and to really capture the essence of what the song is about. Ted spent hours and hours putting in the right groove, bassline, string line, and properly mix it all to create the "sound" we envision in our minds. This podcast takes you through that experience with some interesting facts and testimonials on the songwriting artistic process.
References:
Bair, Teddy. "Your Approach to
Songwriting." Personal interview. 21 Feb. 2013.
Freed, Brenda S. "Music Therapy Perspectives." Songwriting with the Chemically Dependent. National Association for Music Therapy, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.
"My Approach to Songwriting."
Personal interview. 22 Feb. 2013.
"The Power of Music." The Power of Music. N.p., n.d.
Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
Watson, CJ. "Songwriting." Ancient Music -n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Watson, CJ. "Songwriting." Origins of Music - n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Williams,
Cal, Jr. "The Creative Mind." Songwritingzen.com.
Songwritingzen.com, n.d.
Monday, February 24, 2014
And Now for Something Completely Different...A song!
I wrote this song in eighth grade that I recorded when I was 15 that you can find on my old Flash Point CD.(anyone remember that band? The 2012 Battle of the Bands winners? We performed last year for Red Ribbon Week? Yeah, we weren't that relevant but whatever, we had a good run.) This song had a story, but it could be spun to be many different stories. The song is called "Thunderhearts and Lightening Knives", the title has seldom to do with the song, for some reason that was trendy, and still is.
Cafe Riches keep their souls lit up
Trying hard to remember who made that one up
Two young dames in a disturbed world hiding from their failures with their hair curled.
Staying in the backstreets and watching the sky
Ominous cloud cover and they start to cry
Life for them is hanging on their shoulders
Knowing if they can't run they'll be much colder
Lightening Pierce across the sky
Thunder cracks and the storm is nigh
Running down the alleyway
Just trying to get home, just trying to get home.
Making it rich is all you ever wish, holding back a smirk with diamonds on your dish
Being tranquil and sitting in the grass, these two girls really do have class
I can't tell you how it makes me feel
To never know what exactly's truly real
silence echoes again in space, I guess
human nature won this race
I honestly don't remember the original story behind this song but it's been said that this song is about hipster girls, hipster girls going to a party but getting caught in a storm, hipster girls getting raped, rich girls getting beaten up by hobos, the mean girls getting what was coming to them, etc...
So what's the point of all this?
What I think is neat about poetry and music-or any other art form that isn't a short story or novel-is that you can fit so many different meanings and stories into the mold set for you; you get to participate.
Cafe Riches keep their souls lit up
Trying hard to remember who made that one up
Two young dames in a disturbed world hiding from their failures with their hair curled.
Staying in the backstreets and watching the sky
Ominous cloud cover and they start to cry
Life for them is hanging on their shoulders
Knowing if they can't run they'll be much colder
Lightening Pierce across the sky
Thunder cracks and the storm is nigh
Running down the alleyway
Just trying to get home, just trying to get home.
Making it rich is all you ever wish, holding back a smirk with diamonds on your dish
Being tranquil and sitting in the grass, these two girls really do have class
I can't tell you how it makes me feel
To never know what exactly's truly real
silence echoes again in space, I guess
human nature won this race
I honestly don't remember the original story behind this song but it's been said that this song is about hipster girls, hipster girls going to a party but getting caught in a storm, hipster girls getting raped, rich girls getting beaten up by hobos, the mean girls getting what was coming to them, etc...
So what's the point of all this?
What I think is neat about poetry and music-or any other art form that isn't a short story or novel-is that you can fit so many different meanings and stories into the mold set for you; you get to participate.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
The Importance of Ambiance
A lot can be conveyed in a story or a poem with imagery yes? Often times we've talked about the "symbolism of the blue curtains" and whether they symbolize the character's depression, or they were just blue. Imagery is obviously extremely important because it gives us context to the situation. If two character's are having a romantic conversation it can be a very different scenario if it were in a city street as opposed to a dimly lit bedroom yes?
In music and film the same scenario applies, the difference being the ambiance and mood are shown through picture set and sound as opposed to printed words. If a character is running through the woods and it's twilight with the blue hue of dusk and the shadows creeping in we have a different feeling as opposed to if the character was running at high noon in the bright sun. So where am I going with this post?
In the music I listen to I am a huge fan of ambiance, but how do we have ambiance in music?
Dynamics, dynamics, sound effects, harmony, chord structure, tempo, and more dynamics!
I like music that really sets a mood when you listen to it, but how can such a thing be described?
I guess the best way is to post a few examples.
For me, this song takes me to a beach in early morning. This is an example of ambiance. There are no words therefore the entire "story" or "meaning" is conveyed with pure ambiance.
This song has lyrics, but the way the music fits around it creates a fitting mood that also takes you somewhere.
So what exactly is the point of this post? What is the importance of ambiance? Doesn't all music have ambiance?
Ambiance is the difference between music taking you on a journey and making you participate and music that just sits in your ears. Here is an example of a song that I personally feel lacks the ambient element.
This is not to say that music that lacks ambiance isn't successful music it's just not the same thing. Ambiance is an art in and of itself, an art that I particularly enjoy. I tend to enjoy music with ambiance, I enjoy ambient movies, ambient rooms, some people like a lot of imagery in books others enjoy dialogue. There's no wrong way to tell a story, that's why there are so many literary devices and different genres of music. I just hope I helped you understand ambiance a little bit, and if you like ambiance in your music I'll leave you with a list of the most ambient bands I know of
Radiohead
Ott
Shpongle
STS9
Portishead
Fever Ray
Pink Floyd
^^that should be a good start.
In music and film the same scenario applies, the difference being the ambiance and mood are shown through picture set and sound as opposed to printed words. If a character is running through the woods and it's twilight with the blue hue of dusk and the shadows creeping in we have a different feeling as opposed to if the character was running at high noon in the bright sun. So where am I going with this post?
In the music I listen to I am a huge fan of ambiance, but how do we have ambiance in music?
Dynamics, dynamics, sound effects, harmony, chord structure, tempo, and more dynamics!
I like music that really sets a mood when you listen to it, but how can such a thing be described?
I guess the best way is to post a few examples.
For me, this song takes me to a beach in early morning. This is an example of ambiance. There are no words therefore the entire "story" or "meaning" is conveyed with pure ambiance.
This song has lyrics, but the way the music fits around it creates a fitting mood that also takes you somewhere.
So what exactly is the point of this post? What is the importance of ambiance? Doesn't all music have ambiance?
Ambiance is the difference between music taking you on a journey and making you participate and music that just sits in your ears. Here is an example of a song that I personally feel lacks the ambient element.
This is not to say that music that lacks ambiance isn't successful music it's just not the same thing. Ambiance is an art in and of itself, an art that I particularly enjoy. I tend to enjoy music with ambiance, I enjoy ambient movies, ambient rooms, some people like a lot of imagery in books others enjoy dialogue. There's no wrong way to tell a story, that's why there are so many literary devices and different genres of music. I just hope I helped you understand ambiance a little bit, and if you like ambiance in your music I'll leave you with a list of the most ambient bands I know of
Radiohead
Ott
Shpongle
STS9
Portishead
Fever Ray
Pink Floyd
^^that should be a good start.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Why Writing Lyrics Feels Like Reading your 12 Year old email addresses
So here I sit at my computer finally writing a long overdue blog post for English class. I ask myself the same questions every week; first: "What post are we on?" "Or wait, is it a comment week?"
I then tell myself: "Gee, maybe I should actually write this post tonight, after I check Tumblr."
A week of procrastination later: "Why didn't you catch up? Now you're two posts behind!"
I then justify in my head: "I will write one when the spirit gives me an idea worth writing about..."
I take that advice to heart, because I value this assignment to be interesting and not "phoned in" as some would say. I take this same advice in song writing; I have procrastinated writing music for about four years I think, always saying the time will come when I will be inspired and then the music will flow free. The time has finally come, I am now heavily working on writing an album to be done by summer with my boyfriend; who practically shits out music because he's amazing like that and that's job. I've been waiting for someone who can put music to my lyrics, and piece together the little bits of music I did write. Teddy is that guy, and he has taught me the secret to writing and that is to let go and let it happen, much like this post. So the point of this post is to explain why songwriting is so damn hard.
Like anything creative you're going to stare into the abyss of nothingness waiting for a while to get started. A good tip that I've taken far too long to listen to is write the music first. A lot of your lyric inspiration will need to not only fit the mood of the music, and the meter, but it must reside in the music. A lot of times the instrumentation will help you find the words needed to say, maybe the music will take you to a memory you will write about. Since we've all written short stories and I know a number of you want to write novels, you can think of this as setting your..well...setting first.
Next you need to wait for a lyric to hit you, once you've picked a mood and topic. Don't automatically think that the lyric: "I've roamed amongst the Earth with my eyes closed and heart open." Needs to be the first line, or even the chorus, maybe it's the last lyric or the 7th I don't know!
Now here comes the part I hate the most, once you think you've finished writing beautiful poetry to go to your instrumentation you are going to read it back and want to destroy it. DON'T! A lot of times you'll find amazing lyrics and some that make you cringe, the trick is to not destroy but enhance. I've thrown out so much of my work when I was younger, and regretted it. Some of the lyrics I wrote at 12 are much more inspired and poetic than what I wrote at 15. I regret throwing them out so bad! YES THEY ARE EMBARASSING, YOU ARE GOING TO FEEL LIKE YOU'RE READING BACK YOUR OLD AIM PROFILE BUT....but....it is just that. It's immature, it has to grow. You're going to think your lyrics are cheesy, shitty, awful, I always do...but I find that most are. You won't get better without writing in route, and you can't force it out, it'll come out when it's ready.
So I am currently looking over at my guitar pick I ripped my room apart to find, and about to get up to write some lyrics to this song I wrote today. I know it's going to be an odd experience, but it has to be done. Hopefully the lyrics won't be as cheesy as I am expecting them to be. Maybe blog post 9 will be the lyrics I wrote...or maybe not, I don't need to risk having them stolen from me >:) Blog post 9 will then deal with copyright law suits.
I then tell myself: "Gee, maybe I should actually write this post tonight, after I check Tumblr."
A week of procrastination later: "Why didn't you catch up? Now you're two posts behind!"
I then justify in my head: "I will write one when the spirit gives me an idea worth writing about..."
I take that advice to heart, because I value this assignment to be interesting and not "phoned in" as some would say. I take this same advice in song writing; I have procrastinated writing music for about four years I think, always saying the time will come when I will be inspired and then the music will flow free. The time has finally come, I am now heavily working on writing an album to be done by summer with my boyfriend; who practically shits out music because he's amazing like that and that's job. I've been waiting for someone who can put music to my lyrics, and piece together the little bits of music I did write. Teddy is that guy, and he has taught me the secret to writing and that is to let go and let it happen, much like this post. So the point of this post is to explain why songwriting is so damn hard.
Like anything creative you're going to stare into the abyss of nothingness waiting for a while to get started. A good tip that I've taken far too long to listen to is write the music first. A lot of your lyric inspiration will need to not only fit the mood of the music, and the meter, but it must reside in the music. A lot of times the instrumentation will help you find the words needed to say, maybe the music will take you to a memory you will write about. Since we've all written short stories and I know a number of you want to write novels, you can think of this as setting your..well...setting first.
Next you need to wait for a lyric to hit you, once you've picked a mood and topic. Don't automatically think that the lyric: "I've roamed amongst the Earth with my eyes closed and heart open." Needs to be the first line, or even the chorus, maybe it's the last lyric or the 7th I don't know!
Now here comes the part I hate the most, once you think you've finished writing beautiful poetry to go to your instrumentation you are going to read it back and want to destroy it. DON'T! A lot of times you'll find amazing lyrics and some that make you cringe, the trick is to not destroy but enhance. I've thrown out so much of my work when I was younger, and regretted it. Some of the lyrics I wrote at 12 are much more inspired and poetic than what I wrote at 15. I regret throwing them out so bad! YES THEY ARE EMBARASSING, YOU ARE GOING TO FEEL LIKE YOU'RE READING BACK YOUR OLD AIM PROFILE BUT....but....it is just that. It's immature, it has to grow. You're going to think your lyrics are cheesy, shitty, awful, I always do...but I find that most are. You won't get better without writing in route, and you can't force it out, it'll come out when it's ready.
So I am currently looking over at my guitar pick I ripped my room apart to find, and about to get up to write some lyrics to this song I wrote today. I know it's going to be an odd experience, but it has to be done. Hopefully the lyrics won't be as cheesy as I am expecting them to be. Maybe blog post 9 will be the lyrics I wrote...or maybe not, I don't need to risk having them stolen from me >:) Blog post 9 will then deal with copyright law suits.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
My Theory on why Sequels and Remakes Never Work
So my seventh blog post is a little late, and probably won't get comments but I feel like ranting. As I sit here I am listening to the second cover of "No Quarter" by Led Zeppelin that I heard in the past week-Tool made an epic one and I'm currently hearing The Flaming Lips version I'm not quite digging as much. This sparked thought about covers of songs which led me to think of sequels to movies and remakes.
Probably the most famous debate I've been hearing lately in regards to sequels and remakes is peoples ideas about the "Evil Dead" so called "remake" that came out last year. So many people were up in arms about it and thought it didn't do justice to the series however; it wasn't meant to be a dead ringer; it was meant as a tribute really which is what "covers" really are. Some bands(and movie directors) want to replicate the work as best as they can with what they have to offer-this is more common in music. Others want to do it their own way with modern technology-very common with directors such as Rob Zombie's "Halloween". Sometimes replicas of classic movies are not received well, such as the remake of "Clash of the Titans" while others are actually praised, such as "The Parents Trap".
In regards to sequels I am once again using "Star Wars" as my example regarding sequels. Being that Lucas started the series with episode 4 it only called for a 1 2 and 3. We all can agree that episodes 1 and 2 were not great, but 3 (the most recent) was awesome, Why? Plot! 1 and 2 were boring and really only there to build up to Darth Vader becoming Darth Vader, but that was their purpose! I personally wasn't a fan of the incoming use of CGI in 1 and 2 but hey, it was the new millennium so that was cool then I guess. I think there's something to be said for old school special effects but what are you gonna do? So Star Wars was a rough ride with sequels considering episode 3 was a hit but 1 and 2 weren't, but then you have a series that just won't quit and really should like Paranormal Activity. Sequels stop working when you tire out a plot or release them too frequently- like the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" movies, "Shrek" did well with their sequels because they timed the releasing of them properly even though the third (or was it the fourth?) was kind of questionable. Going back to "Paranormal Activity", I was shocked they even did a second one! I will admit I saw the third and fourth and wasn't too upset but I think it's going too far, how much more can you elaborate on a haunting? The first movie was awesome because of how low budget it was but now that it's becoming a regular series they're now "faking" the low budget thing sucking the appeal dry and it's STUPID!
So why do some work and others don't? In sequels it's pretty cut and dry, sequels work well when you create a reason to have one like Star Wars in conjunction with timing. If you release a sequel the year after the first movie it may be too soon and will tire out the whole franchise. It's very easy to tire out a plot or release a sequel that is soley relying on the success of the original movie. As for remakes? Remakes work best when you either create a new element that sells the movie almost as if it wasn't a remake at all. They also work if they are a proper tribute and honor the original well. If you make a remake and it retains no soul of the original or isn't unique in it's "new take" on the original. I personally enjoyed Rob Zombies remake of Halloween because it had a gritty, sleazy, modernness to it that sold it well. It wasn't too different from the original in plot at all or the intensity, it was exactly as it was intended to be, the same movie as if it were released now.
I don't see remakes and sequels as cop outs if they're done by renowned and respected directors with good intentions. It's hard to be original in this day and age so I see how remakes look like the easy way out but creating one is delicate work because you have purist fans out there who will be very tough critics. I have my eye on Disney and what they're going to do to my Star Wars trilogy.
Probably the most famous debate I've been hearing lately in regards to sequels and remakes is peoples ideas about the "Evil Dead" so called "remake" that came out last year. So many people were up in arms about it and thought it didn't do justice to the series however; it wasn't meant to be a dead ringer; it was meant as a tribute really which is what "covers" really are. Some bands(and movie directors) want to replicate the work as best as they can with what they have to offer-this is more common in music. Others want to do it their own way with modern technology-very common with directors such as Rob Zombie's "Halloween". Sometimes replicas of classic movies are not received well, such as the remake of "Clash of the Titans" while others are actually praised, such as "The Parents Trap".
In regards to sequels I am once again using "Star Wars" as my example regarding sequels. Being that Lucas started the series with episode 4 it only called for a 1 2 and 3. We all can agree that episodes 1 and 2 were not great, but 3 (the most recent) was awesome, Why? Plot! 1 and 2 were boring and really only there to build up to Darth Vader becoming Darth Vader, but that was their purpose! I personally wasn't a fan of the incoming use of CGI in 1 and 2 but hey, it was the new millennium so that was cool then I guess. I think there's something to be said for old school special effects but what are you gonna do? So Star Wars was a rough ride with sequels considering episode 3 was a hit but 1 and 2 weren't, but then you have a series that just won't quit and really should like Paranormal Activity. Sequels stop working when you tire out a plot or release them too frequently- like the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" movies, "Shrek" did well with their sequels because they timed the releasing of them properly even though the third (or was it the fourth?) was kind of questionable. Going back to "Paranormal Activity", I was shocked they even did a second one! I will admit I saw the third and fourth and wasn't too upset but I think it's going too far, how much more can you elaborate on a haunting? The first movie was awesome because of how low budget it was but now that it's becoming a regular series they're now "faking" the low budget thing sucking the appeal dry and it's STUPID!
So why do some work and others don't? In sequels it's pretty cut and dry, sequels work well when you create a reason to have one like Star Wars in conjunction with timing. If you release a sequel the year after the first movie it may be too soon and will tire out the whole franchise. It's very easy to tire out a plot or release a sequel that is soley relying on the success of the original movie. As for remakes? Remakes work best when you either create a new element that sells the movie almost as if it wasn't a remake at all. They also work if they are a proper tribute and honor the original well. If you make a remake and it retains no soul of the original or isn't unique in it's "new take" on the original. I personally enjoyed Rob Zombies remake of Halloween because it had a gritty, sleazy, modernness to it that sold it well. It wasn't too different from the original in plot at all or the intensity, it was exactly as it was intended to be, the same movie as if it were released now.
I don't see remakes and sequels as cop outs if they're done by renowned and respected directors with good intentions. It's hard to be original in this day and age so I see how remakes look like the easy way out but creating one is delicate work because you have purist fans out there who will be very tough critics. I have my eye on Disney and what they're going to do to my Star Wars trilogy.
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