Sammy's AICE Media Blog: Musical Genre Research

WHAT IS THE MUSICAL GENRE?

Musicals are typically filled with feelings of happiness and joy; characters consistently are break into song and dance in order to tell a story. It is considered one of cinemas most unique genres of film. Musical movies typically include an opening number, a love ballad, a villain's song, dance numbers, and many more. Musicals have constant movement, one aspect being dance. Dance can be used to express emotion through movement. The singing aspect of musicals is similar, however, singing expresses emotion through words. Musicals provide a interesting and exciting twist to a movie, keeping their audience intrigued and curious about the story being told. Musicals provide a variety of sub-genres, the most popular, High school, adult, romance, etc.

CONTENT

Musical films have the main elements of movement and sound to capture a story through a performance. Musicals are commonly described to be a upbeat and cheerful. However, this genre is extremely versatile. One example is melodramas, this is when characters experience much more intense emotions. Melodramas are mainly expressed within a stylistic side (mise-en-scène)

This image above is from the live action version of Beauty and The Beast (2017) Belle is frightened of the beast and also is despair as she will not be with her father because of her imprisoning. This film has a darker aspect of colors as most of the film takes place inside a dull castle.

Musicals goal is to capture emotions through performance. Musicals have many sub-genres, the most familiar being romance. Many musicals capture two protagonists journey where they eventually fall in love. In The Little Mermaid (2022), we see Ariel saves Prince Eric's life during a storm where they instantly fall in love through this single interaction. As the film progresses, we see the build of their emotions toward one another.

In this image, a two-shot is shown to establish their relation between the two characters. We can see a connection forming between the two because of the proximity made by the producers. During this scene, the song "Kiss the girl" plays to emphasize the feels that are sparking in the beginning of a beautiful and innocent romance.

PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES

Musicals rely heavily on mise-en-scène in order for the set to be believable and aesthetically pleasing. The set in this genre is extremely important. When watching a musical film, the set is constantly changing as a there is a quantity of action and movement occurring. Even though musicals came become chaotic, as viewers, we must understand where the actors are performing.

This image is from La La Land (2016). As we can see, this is a great reference of mise-en-scène. This also reveals a glimpse of their costume choices to reveal their personalities. Mia Dolan has a bubbly and ambitious personality revealed by her bright yellow dress. Sebastian's clothing choice represents his sophisticated and classy personality.

MARKETING

Musicals have a wide audience range of an audience. Depending on the film, it can either be targeted toward young adults or even more mature viewers. One way musicals attempt to bring in an audience is by adapting a well-known musical into a film. Producers have been applying this idea for the past decade and it has become a wildly popular marketing tool for movie musicals.

One example is Mean Girls, it is currently one of the most popular musicals on broadway. This musical is being made into a movie that will be released in 2024. The film is already receiving an enormous amount of attention from the media due to the praise Mean Girls has already received.

Musicals are typically made for everybody, however, the largest audience that musicals receive is primarily driven by women. Producers making trailers and posters that will make women appealed. The attention is grabbed by the coloring consisting of typically pink, purple, or red. Musicals also fill their advertising with corny energy which gains a brighter feel for women who are looking to have a fun time while watching a musical film.

Singin' in the Rain (1952), provides a look of 3 individuals with expressions of joy. This movie poster provides a fun and inviting feel for viewers.

SAMPLES

High School Musical (2006)

This film follows our two protagonists Troy Bolton (Zach Efron) and Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens). The two meet at a New Years Eve party where they sing karaoke. They realize that they both have are talented singers. They get each others phone numbers soon going their separate ways. Little do they both know that Gabriella was transferring to Troy's high school. They both get to know each other better and we learn that Gabriella is a talented science student and Troy is the star of the basketball team. They both want to audition for their schools musical which goes against their typical clique ideals. As Troy and Gabriella challenge stereotypes, it begins to cause a riff within the entire school. This film provides catchy sound track with numerous dance sequences while sparking a predictable romance between the protagonists. The film contains numerous tunes such as "Breaking Free", "We're all in the together", and "Stick to the Status Quo." This songs, as well as the rest of the film, have versatile choreography, bright setting, and colorful costumes to keep the film upbeat. The story recaps common high school issues yet still contains optimistic views upon acceptance and friendship.

Annie (2014)

This film is centered around a foster child, Annie, who is living in an orphanage. She lives with numerous other girls around her age and a ruthless foster mom. She remains with hope as she believes her birth parents promise that they will one day return to her. Annie is naturally a bright and optimistic young girl. We find her throughout the course of the film performing a multitude of numbers on how she is reacting to the world around her and the change that is occurring. As Annie is one day scrambling through the streets, she almost gets hit by a taxi. She is then saved by The New York City mayoral candidate, Will Stacks. This life threatening incident is a light of hope for Will Stacks as he believes this praise from the media will boost his poll numbers in the upcoming election. Therefore, Will Stacks then takes Annie in as his own and slowly but surely begins to consider her family. Annie is not an original story as there was a previous version created produced in 1982. Some of the present-day Annie songs are "The City's Yours" and "Opportunity". The film has bright setting with a wide range of clothing choices and colors to follow the emotions of this story. The film tends to feel more vibrant when Annie is positive and we see more dark colors when her mood seems to damper.

EXAMPLES TO REFERENCE