It has long been suggested that music plays an essential role in films. This blog analyses the extended function of music in the fanvid’s works. Fanvid, which means fans-made video, is a kind of rewritten work, a short video integrated with chosen pop songs and a particular scene in the source film. (Turk, 2001) 

It has been argued that fanvids and other fan-made works are defined as user-generated content involving participatory culture in the context of new media, especially social media, and a derived adaption work for the original film by the creator with a fan identity.

(The video California has about 91k views on Bilibili of China )

This blog takes the example of the fanvid work in California-If you come back to California, created by a Chinese audience fond of the film The Social Network, meanwhile a fan of the ship between Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin, to discuss the relationship between music and other audiovisual elements of fanvid, and the affect within.

The repurposed pop songs dominate the narratives, which are usually non-linear. Generally, it serves the plot in the film, or it is put in the prior status in a music video. However, in terms of fanvids, the lyrics of songs act as a monologue of the first-person perspective, connecting with the melody to express emotion or tell the story. The songs California (Lane Del Rey) is regarded to fit the vision of the plot, especially for the story that Eduardo is waiting for Mark to pick him up at the airport in California and the lyrics “If you come back to America, just hit me up.” Lana’s singing makes it as painful and narrative as reading a letter full of missing for someone who had left. The creator switches the shots of characters when the lyrics start with “you” which does present the sense of telling. For California, “you” may refer to Eduardo.

It is found that the lyrics are constructed in an emotional, casual way, so the entire video to some extent breaks out the original film narratives order and turns to a more non-linear, fragmental way. Shaviro (2010)argued that the post-cinematic affect happened before the narratives via direct sensation. As a fan-made video targets fan audiences, it defaults to the plot of the film and the figures of characters are generally known among their community. So, the fanvids which lack narratives make it possible that music and bricolage scenes to focus on affective mapping. Or rather fanvid nature is a kind of media production that express personalised affect, and probe for emotional resonance in subcultural online communities. California is like a confessional memoir of Mark filled with sadness and guilt; the viewer still feels that regret even though did not watch the movie The Social Network.

Works Cited

Garwood, Ian. “Necsus | the Place of the Pop Song in Academic Audiovisual Film and Television Criticism.” Necsus-Ejms.org, 8 June 2022, necsus-ejms.org/the-place-of-the-pop-song-in-academic-audiovisual-film-and-television-criticism/. Accessed 28 Nov. 2022.

Kukkonen, Karin, and Sonja Klimek. Metalepsis in Popular Culture. New York, De Gruyter, 2011.

Shaviro, Steven, and John Hunt Publishing. Post-Cinematic Affect. Winchester ; Washington, O Books, 2010.

Lu Chang 33743573