Media are temporary and a recurring effect. For most media the shelf life is brief, promoting a product, entertainment, and the news of the day. Media are typically shown and then forgotten as one unit in a long line of information. Media entertainment such as music and films however are recurring, played continuously throughout time as classics. Even songs and films that are later forgotten or loose frequent play can still resurface, especially with a reformatted: analog to digital, tape to disk, or websites to mobile apps. Through remediation, old media can be revived as new media.



The idea of remediation is drawn from Marshall McLuhan’s observation of how old media become the content of new media. When a new medium comes into use its identity as a medium are verified in the medium’s ability to replicate the fidelity and function of an old medium. Jay Bolter and David Grusin used McLuhan’s theory of transference between mediums for coining the term remediation. The authors say that media is translated, reinterpreted and preserved differently but still main cultural consanguinity of the song and film that they re-presented in a new dominant medium with transparent immediacy – or the invisible operation of a medium.  


This exchange of dominance for viewing media is exemplified by video. Whereas television remediated the medium of cinema by broadcasting films, viewing the analog videotape cassettes have been remediated digitally by laser discs, memory cards, hard drives, and online streaming, all of which feature playback controls, image, and sound that originate in tape deck technology, just as tape decks were based on the spooled mechanisms of a steenbeck film editor. Therefore, remediation is the takeover of an old medium which had dominated human attention and imagination, or at the very least the co-existence of mass media, whose mediums inform and change the others style of dissemination.



Reformat/Remediation is also a way for generating new profit margins from old media. The profitability of a mass-produced intellectual property is not really a singular effort of release and purchase. Media reformatting is an opportunity to sell media properties time and again. We can see how corporate publishers have re-packaged and manufactured books, music, and movies with new formats. Books are reprinted into a number of editions, but also are re-created as e-books, audio books, and streamed readings. Music albums have been released on vinyl, 8-track, cassette, CD, mp3 players, and paid streaming services. The containment of Films and movies to their respective mediums of display have been continuously democratized with the purchasing of video disc, laser disc, Betamax, VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, and streaming, as rent or purchasable. These re-releases of entertainment cause a frenzy of reinvestment into newer formats that advertise lighter weight formats that have higher fidelity, on demand control, and memory space extra content. Consumers quickly toss away the old format when they acquire familiar titles with the newly superior technology. The expansion of consumer purchasing of new media technology creates a windfall of new sales of old intellectual property. Buyers are not getting content, just a new mode of experience. By tricking consumers into re-investing in home media for greater cinematic or concert quality image and sound, so then does the property of the publishers and artists reach new levels of profit by simply re-purchasing books, songs, and movies time and again.



But on the remediation side of this, there is not just the technology of media but also the content of performance which can be simultaneously revived be being remade. The theatrical release of A Complete Unknown premiered in cinemas in the U.S. in 2024, and is now available for free streaming on HBO MAX, is a film that focuses on musician Bob Dylan and the evolution of his career. Starting off as the wanderer “Bobby,” to an anointed folks singer, and then famed counter-cultural rock star, the overall story depicts Bob Dylan as an who never wanted to to fit into a particular genre of music. We see this when Dylan transitions from an acoustic vocalist to being back by a band with electric guitar. The film stars the young headliner Timothée Chalamet who plays Bob Dylan. Chalamet not only speaks and moves like Dylan but also plays Dylan’s songs, instead of lip syncing the original songs.


On the surface this film reflects a consistent alliance between the cultural production of film studios and music labels. Music can serve films by elevating scenes and deepen the emotionality of a narrative. Conversely films can carry songs into a new phase of appreciation through a visual story. Original songs covered by other artists or bands always result in a reinterpretation of sound and delivery which draw comparisons between the original and homage artist. A Complete Unknown is a biopic which not only pushes for not only the sales and interest in Bob Dylan’s songs and albums but also the sale of Chalamet’s covered songs. This film isn’t just one of many biopics about Bob Dylan. What sets it apart is not just a storied adaptation but also an adaptation of songs and sound for a generation new of listeners.



The film transports audiences into the 1960’s as if Dylan has come back young again. Despite restoring a public interest in Bob Dylan, Timothée Chalamet’s appearance overshadows Dylan’s image. And the film’s soundtrack performed by Chalamet makes us compare their audio performances. Such effective remediation of Dylan’s songs draws new profits and could launch a music career of Chalamet if his sound and image is accepted with full transparency.  


It is my contention that through inherent remediation in A Complete Unknown, repackages Dylan’s history, image, and artistry for the new format of Chalamet’s appearance, acting, and singing performance in a motion picture and original soundtrack. In fact, the emotional depth of the soundtrack’s titles is amplified and certainly differ from original recordings of Bob Dylan. Blending the effect of a live performance set, staged within a film makes Chalamet’s seem as or more authentic than the past recordings of Dylan. Dylan’s recorded songs serve as a medium to test and show us to what degree Timothée Chalamet can perform identically to Dylan because Chalamet’s musical talent can be verified. A listener can certainly tell the difference between the singing of the two men. But do audiences come to prefer the new over the old? Is Chalamet doing a cover anymore if we are immediately thrusted into a reality recreated in a new cinematic format and a new star?



Now when a movie comes out about a cultural icon, I can no longer just assume it is matter of just reviving their sales like an appearance on a Time Magazine cover. By using a well-trained theatrical actor to remake old songs, old media is renewed and the quality of new media verified. The movie is one long billboard for redesigning Bob Dylan as Timothée Chalamet. So recluse, Dylan now exists only as a commodity to be resourced and his youth cannot be photographed in the say way as Chalamet’s has. Remediation is not just reformatting the original content of media but is also about the reformation of captured performance. Thus, culture and history, are replaced by a fresher visuals and new sounds which make the past come to life again, to be purchased and enjoyed all over again. Profits can be made from old and new Dylan songs. But as Grusin and Bolter write, new media are not really new, they are just old media performed in a new way. While captialist scheming wants both the new and old to extract more value from both performers.