Musicals

Musicals

·         Musicals have gone up and down in popularity in time.

·         1927 – 1931 musicals were very popular

·         In 1931 the popularity of musicals started to decline.

·         1933 a film came along called "42nd street", made by Busby Burkey??

·         MGM was a very famous studio for producing musicals

·         60’s did see some success of musicals, such as Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, and Westside Story etc

·         Grease was one of the main musicals from the 1970’s

·         Disney kept the genre of musical “alive” but declined in the 1990’s

·         Mama Mia was produced in 2008 and is the one of the most successful musical films of all time

The Musical Genre

·         Musicals are centred on combinations of music, dance, song or choreography.

·         The musical was created following the technical innovation of synchronizing live music and film

·         At first many musical were “Revues” – programs of numbers with little or no narrative link between each other

·         Hollywood Musicals tend to celebrate typically American ideals – a search for love, success, wealth and popularity

·         We are reminded over and over in Musicals that this world makes it possible for people at any time and in any place to express themselves through songs and dancing

Musical Conventions

·         The range of the subjects in musicals makes it difficult to define very specific iconography

·         But there iconographical settings e.g., dressing rooms, studios, nightclubs and dance floors

·         We can also find iconographical costumes e.g. Fred Astaire’s top hat and John Travoltas white suit, the umbrella in “singing in the rain”

Two typical plot patterns of the musical genre emerged during the 1930s:

·         The Backstage Musical – The narrative centres on singers and dancers who perform for an audience within the film

Most famous iconographic stars are Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire

·         The Straight Musical – where people may sing and dance in situations of everyday life

·         Often romantic comedies where characters express their fears, desires and joys while singing.

Technical Aspects

Musicals are usually brightly lit to:

·         Highlight the colourful costumes and settings – happy?

·         Keep the dancing clearly visible

The camera is usually high mobile to show off patterns formed by the dancers. Crane shots are commonly used.