Codes and Conventions of Film Musicals

Introduction to American Film, JC Clapp, North Seattle College

Overall Style & Characteristics

• Songs sung by the characters to advance the plot or develop the film's characters or themes.
• Singing in a movie isn’t what makes a musical – for it to be a musical, characters must be uninhibited and outwardly express emotion through song and dance
• Rather than simply adding music to the soundtrack (non-diegetic), the characters within the film sing and dance to convey their thoughts and feelings (diegetic).

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More Style & Characteristics

• Characters sing and dance to the camera, for the benefit of the film viewer, rather than any ostensible audience within the film's story.
• Musicals are always set in a fantasy world of some sort where music appears out of nowhere, where extras spontaneously act as back-up dancers, where everybody has a booming Broadway-style singing voice

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Narrative and themes

• Overall, musicals tend to be utopic and happy where good rules over evil – or where the protagonist prevails
• Whether the characters in musicals are feeling up or down, whether they are alone or in public, they are always able to fulfill their desire or to feel better by dancing or singing.

Music of Musicals

• The musical accompaniment comes from "no where"—outside the world of the film—though the singing comes from within the world of the film, which is a violation of the rules of realism that govern almost all other genres/styles.
• Songs are usually “Broadway” style requiring big, powerful voices
• Singing originates from the mind and emotion of the characters – the songs are used to express inward thoughts and feelings outwardly

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Setting

• Musicals have been set in many different times and places and are embedded in many other genres.
• Typically, there are big, lavish, colorful, over-the-top sets -- the scenery can often change from a realistic picture to something more dreamlike.
• Often musicals look like they are set on a theatre stage – reminiscent of Broadway theatre musical productions

Characters

• Male Lead: Protagonist, hero
• Female Lead: Protagonist, often the love interest of the male lead
• Villain: Usually an adult male, or often the conflict comes from the protagonist’s struggle against a life adversity (poverty, finding way home, unsympathetic family, forbidden love, desire for something unobtainable)
• Sidekicks: Side/ancillary characters that round out the narrative and support/thwart the protagonists

And now . . . An incredibly brief and incomplete history of American Film Musicals . . .

1920s: The Beginning of Music on Film

• The Jazz Singer (1927) considered the first musical http://youtu.be/22NQuPrwbHA

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1930s: Nods to theatre and Stage

• Busby Berkeley’s (Warner Brothers) precision choreography was popular for making complex dance patterns such as in Dames (1933) http://youtu.be/MDe9upTQcpk

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1930s: Wholesome Family Fun

• Shirley Temple (20^th Century Fox) at age six sang and danced her way into the hearts of Americans with films such as Curly Top (1935) http://youtu.be/wNwFXLcrsbc

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1930s: Choreography and Dance

• Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire (RKO) were big stars known for their ballroom-style dancing abilities in films such as Top Hat (1935) http://youtu.be/mxPgplMujzQ

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1940s: “The Freed Unit” (MGM) reigns

• Arthur Freed broke away from the old formula and made new films for MGM such as The Wizard of Oz (1939), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), and Singin’ in the Rain (1952) http://youtu.be/D1ZYhVpdXbQ

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1950s: Rodgers and Hammerstein rise

• Many theatre/stage productions adapted into musical films. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein rose to fame by writing major hits such as Oklahoma! (1955) and South Pacific (1958) – set in everyday life
• Disney made many animated musicals such as Cinderella (1950), Peter Pan (1953), The Lady and the Tramp (1955) and Sleeping Beauty (1959) http://youtu.be/DBVqWSWPxlg

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1960s: Musicals make money and win awards – and also flop big-time

• Musicals early in the decade were mostly huge successes: West Side Story (1961), The Music Man (1962), My Fair Lady (1964) Mary Poppins (1964), The Sound of Music (1965) – Julie Andrews was very popular http://youtu.be/HrnoR9cBP3o

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• In the late 60s, with the predominance of rock music, most of the film musicals were commercial flops: Camelot (1967), Paint Your Wagon (1969)

1970s: Rockin’ the big screen

• Popular music took over film musicals: Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), Tommy (1975), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Grease (1978), Hair (1979) http://youtu.be/bc80tFJpTuo

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1980s: Sparse Selections

• Most of the few musicals made in the 80s were directed at children: Jim Henson’s Muppets made three full-length musicals (1979, 1981, 1984), and Disney revived its successful formula with The Little Mermaid (1989) http://youtu.be/FpRap-zHZHY

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1990s: Disney’s New golden Age

• Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), Newsies (1992), The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998), Tarzan (1999) http://youtu.be/99Op1TaXmCw

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2000s: Bold and Postmodern

• Only a few musicals were made, but they were bold, such as: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001), Moulin Rouge! (2001), 8 Mile (2002), Chicago (2002), Dreamgirls (2007), Sweeney Todd (2007) http://youtu.be/CJUr7jMpKTs

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Musicals in a variety of genres/Styles

• Western = Annie Get Your Gun, Oklahoma
• Mystery = Drood
• War = South Pacific, Hair
• Science Fiction = Little Shop of Horrors, Chitty Bang Bang
• Fantasy = Mary Poppins, Wizard of Oz
• Documentary = This is It
• Biography = Musical Biography of Quincy Jones
• Horror = Sweeney Todd
• Comedy = The Mask, Singin’ in the Rain
• Action/Adventure = Labyrinth, The Great Race
• Family Drama = The Sound of Music, Annie, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Newsies
• Teen = Grease, Hairspray, High School Musical, Westside Story
• Adult Drama = Dream Girls, Saturday Night Fever, Dancer in the Dark, Moulin Rouge!, Chicago
• Children = Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, The Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty