Editing Tricks for Amateur Vacation Video #101 ... even more Air Rage!!!!

Air Rage Humor

If anyone deserved to be slapped silly while strapped into their seats, it was the "Air Rage Twins". This was my inspiration to create a mash-up video, using the movie Airplane and my own footage of the incident.  (True story:  I offered duct tape from my carry-on bag to the incident responders on United #857. "Maybe you want to put this over her mouth?"). 

It was 2001.  Those were the bleeding-edge days for anyone trying to edit digital video at home.  It was nearly impossible to keep Pinnacle StudioDV running on my PC without crashing, but I managed to create a six minute movie which everyone thought was pretty funny.

I've included this short excerpt as a teaching example.  I have not obtained explicit permission from Airplane's copyright holders to use their material; therefore I'm not comfortable posting the entire mash-up edit.  Nevertheless, I feel that this is a fully legal use of their material under the definition of "Fair Use" (see below).

Lessons Learned:

Sometimes the inspiration is obvious.  Run with it and let your friends and family enjoy the fruits of your imagination.

Suggestion:

When I recently re-watched this video I was pleased that it is still funny.  Now that I have a more robust editing system, the cuts could be tightened up and the video shortened from six minutes to about four minutes.

Music Copyright Considerations:

When this video was edited it was intended to be displayed for private audiences in my own living room.  When I posted it on YouTube, I decided to use only a short portion so that it would be legal under the definition of "Fair Use".

Since the copyrighted material is transformed, only short segments of it is displayed, and the edited video is intended for non-profit illustration and educational purposes only, I believe that valid arguments can be made for its "Fair Use".

Today, with digital distribution, artists' rights deserve more attention.  Please understand that I do not encourage improper use of copyrighted material.