Musical Monotony
The market for musical films has been growing ever since "The Jazz Singer," it being the first picture under this genre ever created. Since then, many original musicals have come on the big screen, but various movies have also opted to be adaptations of already existing ones.
Content:
Over the years, musical films have inevitably developed several 'tropes' commonly found in most of these productions. An extremely well-known and easily recognized characteristic of movie musicals is when characters break into song. Despite it seeming sudden and random at times, usually, these musical numbers do correlate with and aid in developing the plot of the story. The common pattern is that when the emotions of a character become especially intense, they have to sing about it.
Musical films also tend to have a surreal tone, which gives way to unrealistic scenarios. It's almost like the characters enter a lucid dream, and they're usually singing as well. This serves to increase the viewer's suspension of disbelief and further proves that we are in a fantasy realm of sorts, and it's not completely rooted in reality at times.
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| Ex: In "In The Heights," during one of the songs, two characters dance on the side of a building. This would be impossible in the real world. |
Furthermore, the protagonist in these productions very frequently has a dream, or a wish, that they set out to reach for the duration of the production. This almost always includes a romantic interest, which could be a subplot or even the main plot. Viewers are meant to empathize with the protagonist's wants and goals, rooting for their success in the end. Lastly, the resolution in these movies is customarily a positive one, a classic 'happy ending' that satisfies the audience after any conflicts that arise.
Production Techniques:
In terms of productions techniques, obviously, sound design is one of the biggest aspects of production so heavily driven by its music. There are so many details to mention, the one id like to focus on, however, is the 'leitmotif.' A leitmotif is a reoccurring musical combination that is associated with a character, group, image, or setting. It is used in musical films to mostly subconsciously hint at viewers as to what's going on.
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| Ex: In "West Side Story," this leitmotif is associated with the conflict between the Sharks and the Jets. |
As mentioned before, movie musicals regularly blur the line between reality and make-believe. This then leads to extremely impressive, complex, and creative sets being used. Like in "Wizard of Oz," when Dorothy is swept away by the tornado, she ends up in a completely fantastical world. Additionally, color is heavily emphasized in these productions since they help to set the general mood of a scene or convey how a specific charcter is feeling.
Marketing:
The target market for musical films is 18 to 30-year-old females. Since most of the characters are young adults, a young adult audience is able to relate to them more. Also, females tend to be more interested in the romance and the singing in these musical pieces than men.
For the design of their promotional posters, most tend to go for eye-catching colors as many other genres do. The focus is on color blocking and aesthetic backgrounds that are pleasing to the eye. However, musical productions also tend to have their main characters clearly portrayed in the posters as well as have the actors' names be big and clear on the image.
Samples:
The movie "La La Land" (2016) follows Mia, an aspiring actress, and Sebastian, a jazz music enthusiast, as they fall in love but struggle to maintain a relationship with their mounting success. Some suspension of disbelief is definitely necessary for this product since there is a scene where the couple floats among the stars when visiting an observatory. What's interesting about this musical film that stands out from others is the fact that it doesn't have a happy ending. While both characters are successful in their prospective careers, they do not end up together. The poster clearly shows the main actors' names along with the two main characters and has an aesthetic, colorful background.
The movie "Grease" (1978) follows two summer lovers, Sandy and Danny, who run into each other at school and Sandy finds out that Danny acts drastically different at school. It follows a very classic musical format and demonstrates a very stereotypical and cheesy 1950's high school environment. The wholesome Sandy becomes a greaser girl to match Danny at the end of the movie. The poster, while not as bold as the other, has a framed and clear shot of the characters' faces with the actors' names on top.
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| "Bohemian Rhapsody" (2018) |
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| "Footloose" (1984) |
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| "Cats" (2019) |
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| "Les Misérables" (2012) |
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| "Chicago" (2002) |
