Our Film Opening: The Musical

Our chosen genre is musical and romance combined. This blog post will be exploring the musical aspect of it. We chose this because we all found elements that we liked: the music, the dancing, and the overall happy tone that musicals tend to have. I was inclined to do this genre as well because when we watched film openings in class, the one from the movie La La Land (2016) really stood out to me. I have also done a lot of research on musical theather films, such as The Sound of Music (1965) and Grease (1978). It usually has a protagonist chasing after some big dream - usually in the show business, but not always. The target audience for a musical really depends on the plot, since musicals could appeal to kids all the way to full-grown adults. Mamma Mia is a good example of this; the musical not only appeals to today's generation but also Gen X and Baby Boomers since they are using songs sung by ABBA - a famous pop band from the '70s. Musicals also seem to be in a "fantasy world" since characters randomly break out into song. The songs used in musicals are often used to further the narrative accompanying the dialogue. They are usually "Broadway Style" songs, using powerful voices, and musical motifs/phrases are often used to identify characters. 

Music Marketing Campaign

BEAUTIFUL ENTROPY - MARKETING CAMPAIGN

During this marketing campaign project, I learned that research has a lot of impact on the

choices one makes while creating the campaign. I definitely could have done more research regarding the genre and the target audience. I am an artistic individual so I put more of my thought and energy on the aesthetic of the band as well as the music video. Looking back, I realize we did not address the target audience and the genre enough. Since we had done all the research and we already knew about it, we overlooked sharing more details about it during the presentation. Next time, I’ll make sure we’re addressing age range, gender, socioeconomic status and clearly stating why our marketing techniques work for the audience. The genre could have also been more clearly addressed, again we overlooked details during the presentation.

https://www.cagetheelephant.com/home/

https://halfalive.co/

We definitely assimilated our marketing techniques to our case studies, Cage The Elephant and Half Alive. They both had simplistic websites with tabs for social media, newsletter, tour dates, etc. We found this was common among the genre so we chose to do the same.

OUR WEBSITE

Same with social media - we found that both these bands were present in social media

such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. They mainly posted aesthetic pictures and

pictures of the band members which is what we chose to do as well.

The meaning of our band name “Beautiful Entropy” sends out the overall purpose of the band - to

encourage an audience to embrace chaos rather than fight against it; to find beauty in the

disorder of life. We chose this theme as we found, through our research, that our target audience (mainly teens and young adults) relate to having struggled with stress, anxiety, and even depression. We wanted our music to be inspiring to this audience to learn how to cope with the ups and downs of life. We also chose to do a symbol for our band - the dripping rose - to send out our overall message of “The Beauty Of Chaos” - but also because we noticed a trend with the other bands.

Half Alive is identified for its use of colors, for example. This is why all of our branding - website, logos, social media - uses the same color scheme of dark red, black, and white. The rose is constantly present throughout our branding - from the music video to the website to the social media - as a symbol of beauty; finding the beauty in chaos. We had a clear reason for all of our choices; however, when we presented we overlooked sharing all of these details and focused on our main points.

Another thing that we focused on that we did not see these bands do is our heavy social media influence on TikTok. We found that TikTok currently has over 1.5 billion downloads, outperforming Instagram, and that most TikTok Users are teens which are a large portion of our target audience. We chose to create a hashtag with a dance challenge (a trend on the TikTok app) to encourage people to listen to the song and widen our audience to all teens, not only the ones who choose to listen to alternative music. The hashtag was #TroubleChallenge and we included a sample of what the video would look like made by a fan.

For our music video, we did a mix of an artistic music video with a storyline. I learned that it is very important to take many shots and have a lot of footage, as it will make the editing process way easier. Also, planning ahead is very important, especially when it comes to shooting in order to have continuity in the video. Looking back at it, I wish we had had more time to edit the video as it did not come to life the way I pictured it in my mind. Also, we could have taken more risks and been more creative with this project, yes. However, we were under a time strain and did our best and I am proud of what we made and what we learned. We are all busy students with a thousand other things, projects, and work to do so it is unreasonable to expect so much for a  single class. I think that we did our best - we put clear time and effort into this project; we did the research, we just missed a few spots. Now that I have a clear understanding of what a marketing campaign is expected to do, as well as the importance of taking more creative risks, I am sure I can learn from my mistakes and do a better job next time.

TROUBLE - OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

Representation Analysis

In the Tide commercial, there is a woman and her daughter shown in a house, implying they are probably part of the middle class, representing a large amount of the population. The mother says she “tried the whole pink thing”, which is a stereotypical gender role characteristic, but her daughter prefers to wear hoodies and cargo shorts. The daughter represents all those girls and boys out there who do not assimilate to what society has set up for them as their gender role. She implies that she wishes her daughter’s clothes would’ve been ruined because she did not want her daughter wearing those “boyish” clothes. When an audience is faced with this, it makes them believe that not conforming to a gender role would be “odd” and “incorrect”; they would think that it is not good for a female to wear what is typically seen as male’s clothing.

In the Axe commercial, there are hundreds of attractive women depicted in bikinis, and running like animals. They are being sexualized. They are running through the forests and the ocean like wild animals, depicting women as savages and desperate, towards the man spraying Axe perfume on himself. The women are also all fit and skinny, which only represents a small percentage of women, it is unrealistic.This depicts a sense of “machismo” for the man, as if all women desired to be with a man who wore that perfume. A possible effect on the audience of this is that men would think that wearing this perfume would make them attractive and objectifies women as simply things a man must attract and achieve. 

Both of these commercials underrepresent different ethnicities, older people, or even mental disorders. They are both composed of only one race, which is the whites. Axe misrepresents women’s physique as well as the common man’s, and the Tide commercial does not represent people who may not assimilate to their gender role, such as people part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Researching The Combination of Two Worlds

Musicals combine my two favorite things: music and film.

The best part about musicals is that the plot is not only developed through dialogue, but the soundtrack helps to create the plot and can sometimes reveal a character's personal thoughts and feelings to the audience. The music is created to help the film come together. Musical performances can go from flash mobs in a school cafeteria to the main character singing to herself in her room. Musicals allow characters to freely express their feelings in song to the audience, rather than having them be implied or told through dialogue in between the characters (diegetic music). Musicals are also known for using movement and sound together. When characters perform a piece of music, they are often dancing on screen, keeping the audience interested as well as helping to develop the plot. The characters not only sing the songs but actively participate in some kind of dance or movement to accompany it.

         The protagonist in musicals often has a goal or “dream” that he/she is working for, and it often relates to showbusiness. In La La Land, for example, the female protagonist is hoping to become a successful actress in Hollywood. Musicals often set a surreal tone or seem to be a “fantasy” world, since characters break into song unexpectedly and extra backup dancers come out of nowhere. Musicals often have a happy ending and tone, as the characters make themselves feel better through singing.

         The songs used in musicals are often “Broadway-style” requiring big, powerful voices, as well as lyrics that tell a narrative. Often, certain musical motifs or phrases will be associated with a character. Reprises, a repetition of a certain song/theme with different lyrics, are also included to develop the story. Musicals can be set in a variety of scenes, from the most simplistic landscapes to the most elaborate stages that seem dream-like. However, usually, there is at least one lavish and over the top set for at least a couple of scenes. Settings often resemble Broadway, as they are closely related. The way these films are marketed is through the soundtracks or even its close resemblance to Broadway, which draws people in.

The Sound of Music (1965)

This film about an Austrian convent Maria, played by Julie Andrews, who goes on to become the caretaker of a Naval officer who was recently widowed. It was actually adapted from the stage musical of the same name from 1959. Maria introduces music into the family’s lives and the songs they use help to show their bond as well as develop the plot. For example “Do-Re-Mi” is a song that Maria teaches the children to help them learn about music. “So Long, Farewell” is a song the characters sing as they are trying to escape the Nazis, and the lyrics relate to their current situation. These songs have become iconic, and anyone who hears them relates them back to this film.

The Greatest Showman (2017)

This film is a perfect example of a musical created recently. It is based on P.T. Barnum’s life, starring Hugh Jackman. It follows the story of him being poor as a child and having all these aspirations, to him going through the process of achieving his dreams. It stars many big names like Zac Efron, Zendaya, and Hugh Jackman. The reprise in this film is called “A Million Dreams” and it really contains what the whole plot is about. The music in the film really helps to develop the plot and it would not be the same without it, as it adds an immense amount of emotion to the film itself.

Some Other Musicals Worth Watching:

1.    Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

2.    Grease (1978)

3.  West Side Story (1961)

4.    La La Land (2016)

5.    Mamma Mia! (2008)

6.    The Wizard of Oz (1939)

7.    Hairspray (2007)