James Bond in a Sumari outfit? Rambo wasn’t wearing a kaftan. How come the Addams Family are dressed like native Malays? Such were questions running through 15-year old Jonathan Ugwu’s mind when he watched the three movies his neighbour had offered him saying they were ‘the latest, hottest movies in town’. "I had spent almost an hour arguing with Sani (my neighbour and close friend) that these were all very old movies, I mean come on – Sean Connery still the James Bond? Well, finally, I agreed to take the movies home and check them out as he insisted and Damn, boy! what were all these things I was seeing?" As the young Nigerian was soon to comprehend, these were the latest, hottest movies in town. Old films and even, occasionally, new ones modified and re-introduced into the market. These modified versions are now sold side by side on the shelves of some local traders who deal in pirated films. "We’re given more choice, I like it", one of these traders’ customers smiles. From Nigeria to Tunisia, Egypt to Australia and all the way to the streets of the various cities in the United States and Great Britain pirated films are popping up offering viewers something a bit different to watch. So you thought you watched Blazing Cowboys so many times to be able to narrate the whole story over and over again in your sleep, but… do you remember seeing Jimmy Blaze dressed like a Kenyan farmer and uttering things like ‘thank’, ‘fuss’ or ‘disease’ so frequently in his vocabulary instead of his usual "f’-lettered "f" swear word? Well, thanks to Pix Remix-ing you get a chance to. Old songs and music are taken, remixed and incorporated into new sounds for the young musicians of today. Now the same thing is happening to films. Today’s young ‘artists’ (copyright pirates to the rest of us) are displaying their talents on many of the world’s famous motion picture productions."Many of these culprits are young kids of , say maybe, the ages 14 to 25. Many of them are probably into pix remixing just for the kicks", remarks Jon Mellon, head of the international task force Anti PR set up by the United States government in collaboration with the governments of eight other nations of the world to try and curb the problem. "That, however, does not change the fact that what they are doing is highly illegal and is causing hardworking film producers around the world billions of dollars in lost revenues. It is our job to see to it that we get these kids out of this business before they go in too deep." Most of these youngsters, some 68% of them, are said to have joined pix remix groups over the Internet. These groups are made up of everyone from greedy computer programmers out to make a fast buck with their skills to hackers looking for ‘some real challenge, fun and entertainment’. "Some also go into pix remixing because they believe they can make the world a better, multicultural place", the head of Anti PR further adds. That would be true of groups like Sweet Afrique Folk who specialize in pix remixing films into ‘African’ versions (actors and actresses are made to appear in African attire and use common African terms and expressions in their speech), Indian PR who try to make everything ‘Indian’ and Sis Pix Remix a group supposedly consisting of only female members (mostly muslims) who say their ultimate goal is to pix remix all popular films into ‘morally sound and entertaining commodities the entire family can enjoy together’. One thing with all pix remix groups is that they are illegal in the eyes of internationally recognised law and so, have to operate underground most of the time. Rumours are bound that certain wealthy individuals and governments who are just pursuing their own interests sponsor some of the groups. "What’s all the fuss about? It’s not like we’re the Mafia or drug barons out to cause deaths or something", says 19-year old Udi Udo who was arrested in Tanzania last month in connection with the illegal pix remixing of over two hundred Hollywood films, "All we’re doing is, like, satisfying a global demand for culture which has been neglected for long. There’s a huge market out there, this is just business." One critic of pix remixing rebuffs this claim saying it tends to increase the rates of violence amongst the youth of many traditional communities.
"Imagine what happens when a
child somewhere in an African village sees action heroes
on TV dressed exactly as he is and behaving like the
people he sees everyday in his village. Of course if they
can fly around with blazing guns, he should be able to as
well." Other people argue that children are already
led into violence by action films, which have not even
been modified. Never mind the arguments, how is pix
remixing done. Sci Fi Laze research has found that
there are two popular methods employed by those in the
trade. The first involves getting someone to stand in
front of a large projector screen. A motion picture is
then displayed on the screen and the person, clad in the
clothes to be used in the remixing, begins to carefully
follow and mimic the moves and actions of the targeted
actor/actress. All this while he/she faces cameras that
record his/her ‘performance’, as it is known.
This done, the recording is digitally inputted into a
computer system where the clothes the person had on are
carefully cut out from every video clip and pasted upon
the person of the film actor. Further editing is done
with graphics software. Another way of getting things
done would be by making use of a 
special software (available to pix remixers at
a fixed price on the ’net) called PIMIX. With PIMIX,
a film clip is played on a computer and the software
enables one to attach ‘sensors’ on all moving
limbs and body parts of the target actor. Each sensor
transmits the actor’s movements and actions to a
PIMIX virtual doll displayed on one side of the computer
screen. The doll already automatically has its shape
proportioned to match those of the actor. The desired
clothes are, probably, scanned and put on the doll. At
the click of a mouse button the clothes are then
transferred onto the actor, flowing with his every move
complete with features like air blowing against the
clothes. Further editing again takes place with another
software until the final product is ready for the market
place. In some scenes, the remixers simply zoom onto some inanimate
object for a while.Pix remixing has come a long way over the years
with improved technology making the practice more and
more advanced. World governments have got a lot to do to
protect property rights of hundreds of film producers
around the world from this growing menace (the idea to
attach special anti-pix remix viruses to digitally stored
films did not work). Would the simple solution be to have
television manufacturers integrate pix remix technology
into their products so in the end we all can watch films
the way we want without having to patronize the likes of
Sweet Afrique Folk?
- ISMAILA IKANI SULE '20/'99.