Research on Abridged genre
 

Hello, everyone!

This is my first time posting, but I'd like to ask for some serious input from the members here.

I, for one, am a huge fan of abridged series. Therefore, I was thrilled when my professor said that she would allow me to study the "Abridged Genre" for a small school paper (great project, huh?).

Naturally, there is probably going to be absolutely no academic research on the subject yet, but I wanted to gauge the thoughts and feelings of those who partake in and enjoy the genre. If you all could answer a short survey seriously, I would appreciate it.

They don't have to be long answers. One or two sentences is fine. You also don't have to be an expert or anything. For this part of the project, any input is valued. (I might be posting a similar topic on other abridging sites as well.)

Thank you!



1) In your own words, what is "Abridging" and what does it entail?

2) What are some "essesntial" aspects of the abridging genre? What makes an "Abridged Series" a true "Abridged Series"? What do you look for and enjoy when making/watching episodes?

3) Do you think "Abridging" is, in fact, a new genre? If so, what seperates it from other genres? If it is not, why?

4) How do you feel about the copyright "issues" associated with abridging? Do they have legitimacy? Should someone be allowed to use another's material without their permission and in ways never intended?

5) What about merchandising? Should an abridged series maker be able to make money off of products that bear the likeness of characters they do not own?

Anyway, thank you all for your input and I hope you have a great day!

1-3.) Ask someone else. I don't really watch the show anymore.

4.) Of course the copyright issues are legitimate. Just talking over something someone else made doesn't make it yours. The creators are well within their right to remove any abridged series from the internet that infringes on their ownership of the material.

However, they would have to be pants on head retarded to do so. No one would care about Yugioh if the Abridged Series didn't exist. The creators of abridged series' are essentially just providing free advertisement for the original creation and can make the company a lot of money. There is essentially no reason for companies to take action against the creators of abridged series'.

5. No, of course not.

1) In your own words, what is "Abridging" and what does it entail?

-Abridging in the literal sense means "shortening without losing meaningful content." However, abridged series' vary from this traditional meaning because they have a more comedic focus. Therefore, an abridged series is currently understood to be a condensed story (usually of an anime) that loosely follows basic plot points, while parodying the characters and universe in which the story takes place.

2) What are some "essential" aspects of the abridging genre? What makes an "Abridged Series" a true "Abridged Series"? What do you look for and enjoy when making/watching episodes?

-Although I cannot speak to the process of making an abridged series, I do enjoy watching several. First, I really enjoy it when abridgers take the basic characters in a story and alter them just a fraction, keeping their key characteristics but amplifying them or tweaking them slightly to create a unique, cohesive personality of its own. I also enjoy it when abridgers mercilessly mock any flaws in the original story. I watch abridged series' of stories that I already love, so chances are I have already spotted those plot holes or weak spots, and having my opinion verified and corroborated is a good feeling as a viewer.

3) Do you think "Abridging" is, in fact, a new genre? If so, what separates it from other genres? If it is not, why?

-I do believe that abridging is a new genre. Although related to the parody, it is not quite the same, because it has the added qualifier of being chronological in nature. Also, because most abridged videos are made as a series, it is different from a one-shot comedy piece.

4) How do you feel about the copyright "issues" associated with abridging? Do they have legitimacy? Should someone be allowed to use another's material without their permission and in ways never intended?

-I honestly do not think that the copyright issues have much ground to stand on. Parody and comic mocking have always been an allowed genre of expression, most copyright holders glad to get any free advertisement for their product. As long as the abridger properly sites the owners and creators of the material, they should be free to riff on it and deal with that material creatively in their own way.

5) What about merchandising? Should an abridged series maker be able to make money off of products that bear the likeness of characters they do not own?

-I think that merchandise that is based on the creative additions of an abridger is fine to sell. However, they should not be selling things that have no alterations from the original work (such as just a picture of a character). Websites like Qwertee, BustedTees, and Threadless all sell designs that have copyright characters on them as long as they are altered in some way (for example, drawn by a different artist, mish-mashed with other characters, etc.)

=Abridging is traditionally the shortening of things like films, books and speeches without losing their meaning. This was often done for educational purposes as most curriculums were too packed to allow students to read several whole novels. The plan therefore was to give students shorten versions, which would hopefully give students an appreciation of the work and possibly even inspire them to read the whole story on their own.

-However, abridging in the sense referenced to here, as formed by people like Martin Billany, is actually more of a hybrid between parodying and abridging. This is because, while many fan-made abridges do attempt to maintain a sense of the original plot and feel, they are also interested in making humorous observations about whatever is being abridged, as well. As such, they are not just shortening the plot, they are adding their own touch to it as well. This form of parody abridging has also been done professionally, as can be seen by Robot Chicken's Star Wars and Family Guy's Star Wars episodes.

For fan-made abridges, like Yu-Gi-Oh TAS and TeamFourStar, I feel two main things are important:

1=Loyalty to the original plot=As this is about abridging and parodying, I feel for the thing to show respect to the original material, it must in some manner follow the original plot.

2=Respectful humour=As these are fan-made shows it is important that the humour is based on witty observations, otherwise it runs of the risk of appearing to just be pop-culture references, glib toilet humour, or snide and mean-spirited remarks. Ironically, many professional parodies (like the Scary Movies) fall into this trap.

I would say that the acts of parodying and abridging have been around for a long time going back to things like Naked Gun parodies, but fan-made abridge parodies like these are a genre to themselves as now these are sentire by fans; a way for the fans to show their feelings for the original work, so to speak.

Legally speaking, there is no answer to this question because most material is protected with contractual exclusion clauses that forbid public screenings of the work. This mean when we buy the DVD (or other form of medium) to obtain the material for the series, we agree not to post such material for public viewing. However, as abridging has generally alternated the material beyond recognition from its original state (with the loss of original audio being fundamental), it is hard to know whether these clauses still apply because one is no longer putting the material up for public viewing, instead they are using it for their own (free) work; this is especially problematic as most countries have statute protecting the rights to review and parody others' works.

That being said, if the owner of the work asks you not to use their material in such a manner, it is common decency to abide by their wishes.

On the other hand, it seems somewhat abrasive for creators to take such a heavy-handed approach to fans only trying to show an appreciation of their work.

Here, the answer is simply, No.

Legally=Almost all images, such as that of Yu-Gi, are copyrighted and as such cannot be used by others as a way to make money. If an abridger wishes to use their completely original creations (such as any slogans they may have created) for profit, that is their choice, but they hold no legal claim to the images of the material and as such, cannot make a profit from it. (This applies even if the image is self-drawn or partly altered.)

Morality=Again, I would say no. Abridging in this form is about showing appreciation of another's work, and to use their work to make money, betrays that fundamental aspect of the genre. Furthermore, as the abridger did not create the image, it is not their's to make money from, even if they are editing. If we justify making money from editing the image, then we are only one step from justifying abridgers being allowed to make money from the abridging itself, which to my mind seems erroneous.

It is a mortal pastime meant to take their minds of their approaching demise. It entails a failure to achieve this distraction, for all shall be consumed in darkness nevertheless.