1. Genre

To begin, one must understand what topic is being analyzed.  I know of musical movies such as The Sound of Music and High School Musical, but how can they be defined?


One must start with a definition:

“Musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate ‘production numbers.’”

Simply put, a musical is a normal story where characters sing about their situations, which may be developing the characters or distracting the audience from the narrative. However, we must take into consideration the source of this definition (Wikipedia), and perhaps combine this definition with one from another resource.


AMC's film site has a fantastic overview of this genre:

"Musicals / Dance Films are cinematic forms that emphasize and showcase full-scale song and dance routines in a significant way (usually with a musical or dance performance as part of the film narrative, or as an unrealistic "eruption" within the film). Or they are films that are centered on combinations of music, dance, song or choreography. In traditional musicals, cast members are ones who sing. Musicals highlight various musical artists or dancing stars, with lyrics that support the storyline, often with an alternative, escapist vision of reality - a search for love, success, wealth, and popularity. This genre has been considered the most escapist of all major film genres. Tremendous film choreography and orchestration often enhances musical numbers."

Allow me to break down the two definitions into a "checklist" of what a film needs to be in the musical genre:

• Vocals
• Exciting Dancing
• Songs support storyline
• Songs are an "escape from reality"

Wow. Four simple points.

Singing.
Dancing.
Pertinent Songs.
Songs are so exuberant they make the viewer (or even the character) forget about their world.

In my next post, I will analyze this checklist in my next post and break down genre conventions for content.



Sources:

http://www.filmsite.org/musicalfilms.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_film