Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Friendly Creative Reminder

Cite your sources.

Click below:


To me, it's just as important as mache and paint.

Just saying.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh no.... not again!? Some one trying to take credit for something original???

Rot said...

They look pretty cool too.

Not being preachy...just reminding is all.

Terrormaster said...

Rot you know how I stand on this kinda stuff and I'm right there with ya. But preachy? Nah, nothing preachy about asking for a little common courtesy from others in the community.

They are pretty cool looking (rubs hands).

Anonymous said...

Yes, they are cool looking, but credit is needed where credit is due. When I did my own version of the Witch Jars I made sure I put in the title "Pumpkinrot inspired".

Well at least we true Pumpkinrot followers now where it originated from.

Your Halloween evil goodness spreads throughout the Halloween community....

ShellHawk said...

Sometimes plagiarism is not the best compliment.

At least I freely admit when I rip someone's idea-unless I have a senior moment and forget!

Rot said...

Worth mentioning that even the music/dialogue is based on the music in my 2008 Hollowmen video by Jon Glassett.

JHMDF said...

I could not even count how many props I have seen people do that are just copies of your work.

The Gill-Man said...

Yeah...they look exceptionally...familiar! Seriously, is it really that hard to say "this piece was inspired by..."? Nothing wrong with adapting other's ideas, especially with yard haunting, but just let people know where the idea came from. It's a fine line between homage and rip-off, and the easiest way to make the distinction is giving credit where it is due.

Jack Oh' Lantern said...

These are very cool...

Drop Gallow said...

While I have no doubt that these are direct rip-offs of something you made, I would like to play devil’s advocate a moment and say, the pumpkin-headed scarecrow is not a new idea. When I first saw your Pumpkinrot scarecrow, for example, I thought it was a cool combo of the Sleepy Hollow ‘crow and the fugly cemetery pumpkins from Pumpkinhead. Your zombies (for me anyway), always remind me of the muddy corpses at the end of Poltergeist (that’s a huge compliment, by the way). You probably didn’t even know you were making these homages. This stuff just creeps quietly into your mind and seeps into everything you make.

The primary inspiration for my pumpkin-headed Halloween props is the artwork that Denslow did for Baum’s Marvelous Land of Oz in 1904. It’s a childhood nostalgia thing for me. My secondary inspiration is my lifelong obsession with dead trees. Add to that every Halloween-twinged TV Show, cartoon and movie I’ve ever seen. Add to that list every single scarecrow I’ve ever seen since I was born. Add to that list every person that ever carved or mached a pumpkin and posted it on the internet, including you (in a big way), of course. It’s just too big a list to even attempt.

I don’t know the guy that made those props or the props they’re copied from (sorry, I’m unable to get here as often as I’d like), and I’m sure you’re right about deserving credit, I’m just saying (mostly because I enjoy being contrary for absolutely no reason at all), that inspiration comes from many places.

Many, many places.

Marrow said...

Come on! Even the title?! Sigh.

I saw an old post of yours about a near identical etsy shop. A complete rip-off. Awful. But what happened to that? I could never find it! Did they shut it down?

Rot said...

The guy changed his etsy shop around after that and developed his own style. Which was cool.

DGallow,
I called this guy out because there's really no disputing where his idea came from. Even the name. Had they been groundbreakers or a pumpkin-headed scarecrow, I would just have featured them like I do all other cool props.

In the end, it's really up to the haunter. He knows where the idea came from. It's really that simple.

Drop Gallow said...

Oh, I believe you, Rot. I've seen many people try to make direct copies of your props.

I think I just wanted to blah-blah because I can't sleep today.

I'll wander off now...

Mantan Calaveras said...

Off the bandwagon here, but they are done in a refreshingly different style than yours.

It's as if the guy who made the original ground-breaker went around claiming that everyone who made ground-breakers was ripping him off. Sometimes you establish a meme, you should be so lucky (talented! (skilled!))!!

Anonymous said...

Jeremy said: I usually try not to get involved, but this is pretty lame. How hard is it to say "inspired by pumpkinrot". It is obvious that these props are copys. The style is pure rot. Immitation is a form of flattery, but only if the original creator is acknowledged. I am glad you call these people out. Its all about manners.

Rot said...

Mantan,
Like I said before. It's all about what's going on in that creative process. Would the finished work have existed had the artist/haunter/painter/musician/sculptor not seen it elsewhere?

That's the easiest question to answer.

dubbax3 said...

Hey Rot. I couldn't agree more about giving credit where it's due (your a huge inspiration to me and I've borrowed your style as well). After seeing this I went over to the Hauntforum and he did mention you and Stolloween as his inspiration. However still think showin' a little love in the video should've been addressed.


Take care,
Tim (dubbax3)