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What are Pastiche Actions in Film

What are Pastiche Actions in Film with Examples

Some of the most notable filmmakers, particularly Directors that engage in the production oversight and general artistic direction of films worldwide, will admit that they steal for a living. Well, maybe not exactly, but when it comes to the use of pastiche actions in film, many directors steal ideas from previous filmmakers, and they do so not only without any potential repercussions, but with absolute success. 

Pastiche actions in film represent a means in which a filmmaker recreates iconic scenes and elements of a prior film in an attempt at paying homage to the previous artist while drawing distinct connections to the prior art with the new film and technique. Audiences love to see the many ways that iconic scenes and elements of a film from the past come back to live in films that are produced in this sense as they recreate features that were one representative of a previous filmmaker’s work.

What are Pastiche Actions in Film?

Pastiche actions in film represent the recreation of particular actions or events from a prior film in an entirely new film. You might recall scenes from a film you love being extremely evident in a film several years later – it will make you think, “WOW, I remember that…” The connection is strong, and it’s one of the reasons the filmmakers find the use of pastiche to be so popular. Not so much for comedic value like a parody, but for production value and to remind audiences of the past films that the pastiche actions connect us to.

Examples of Pastiche in Film

Take Stranger Things the television show. If you’ve watched enough of it, you probably already know that there were several elements in the show that pay homage to the classic sci-fi film E.T. Particularly, there are scenes in the first episode towards the end on Stranger Things where the boys find El in the woods. It’s a direct homage, or pastiche of E.T when Elliot finds him in the cornfield. 

Directors of Strange Things admitted that they loved the movie E.T. from the 80s so they wanted to bring some of it back in Stranger Things. This is one of many ways that we see pastiche actions in film frequently come alive once again in the films of today.

Another example of pastiche actions in film is represented in the film Mr. Robot. This film is entirely a pastiche of past films that have iconic roots. For example, Mr. Robot, features elements of past action films including Fight Club, Matrix and others. You might recall the voice-over that occurs throughout the series? It’s much like the character in Fight Club. This again is an example of a pastiche action that is taking place in the film Mr. Robot.

Pastiche actions in film allow the filmmaker to emulate various works and events in ways that otherwise couldn’t take place without the prior film to bring about the specific work to reflect on. Many pastiche actions in film imitate elements, features, and key areas of specific cinematographer that was evident in the original work, and if you know – you know!

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