Representation Analysis

The Tide ad featuring a woman and her daughter is one that works to try to break gender roles and stereotypes. The girl is wearing a camouflage shirt and cargo shorts, which are usually considered to be masculine clothing choices. The mom talks about how the daughter left crayons in her pocket, and almost all her clothes were ruined, and that she wished they were. This, paired with the juxtaposition of the daughter's clothes and the pink, feminine clothes and setting of the living room, shows how the mom wishes her daughter would dress more feminine. It also shows how the daughter is shattering gender roles and simply enjoying her own style. People in the younger generations would probably use more of Tide products seeing that they care about representation and want to support those who are under represented (masculine dressing girls and vice versa). People in older generations may feel angry about this change and refuse to use Tide products. The ad ends with the line that only cleanliness matters in fashion, saying that people should be allowed and accepted to wear what they wish.

H&M released an ad in which is tries to break almost all fashion stereotypes in terms of gender, hair color, sexuality, and race. The ad shows several common stereotypes, such as wearing red as a redhead or having underarm hair as a woman. They have several other examples, and at the end they claim that the only important rule of fashion is to recycle your clothes. Here, they present another message aside from representation. Representation is used as a marketing strategy to both encourage people who do not conform to stereotypes to shop at H&M and to recycle their clothes. The message being conveyed by the voiceover is juxtaposed with the visuals of the people breaking the said stereotype. This adds more power to the message, as it shows the people breaking the stereotype. Since this is something that people tend to not see, it makes people really take in the message being conveyed.

Genre Research Activity- Musicals

Musicals

Introduction

Musicals are some of the most creative, artistic works in the film industry. They combine both music and formalist strategies to help express a message in a beautiful way that no other genre can. The use of diegetic sound that accompanies the characters help expand the narrative and develop the tone of the piece. Musicals can have original scores (High School Musical)  or may be based off other artists' discographies (Across the Universe, Bohemian Rhapsody).

Across the Universe (2007)                      

Genre Conventions- Context

Musicals are a distinct class of films, and are considered movies that include music paired with singing and/or dancing performed by the main characters as an important element of portraying the narrative. Musicals exploit movement and sound more than any other genre. Although other elements, such as mise-en-scene and shots and angles, work to create meaning, it is the movement of the cut and cameras and the sound that truly bring musicals to life.

The narrative can take place in any kind of setting- fiction or nonfiction, modern or historic. The setting often has some sort of connection to the plot's theme or the conflict, or may be symbolic of what the director is trying to convey. The setting may have carefully selected mise-en-scene elements that help convey meaning. These elements may include costume design and make-up design on characters to develop a certain appearance. For example, in Across the Universe, when the character Max is being recruited into the Army, the soldiers during the dance scene wear heavy make-up to make them appear tougher and more intimidating. 

The main characters in musicals typically have a sort of desire or yearning that they fulfill by the end of the movie. They express these wants through song, which tend to be in the beginning and near the climax. When they are singing, they usually begin with normal spoken sentences that transition into song and dance. Then, the song transitions back to normal, every-day talking and shifts back to reality.

     La La Land (2016)                             

Genre Conventions- Production Techniques

The production techniques of musicals have one goal- to develop a plot and its characters through song and dance, which is aided by costume design, make-up design, lighting, set design, and location.

Costume design is used to create representation. In the movie Across the Universe, the main subject of the song, Max, along with his future fellow soldiers, are clad in nothing but their white underwear. This represents that they are very vulnerable and a blank canvas for the Army to pain and make their own. The white underwear also represents the innocence of the soldiers before they are sent out into the war. In the movie Chicago (2002), the dresses of the characters help represent the aesthetics of the jazz age. The costume design worked to illustrate the femininity of the female characters of this age, along with the accompanying accessories of flowers and embroidery.

Chicago (2002)                      

Make-up design has a similar effect to costume design, and works closely with lighting and production departments. Les Miserables (2012) won the Academy Award for best hair and make-up. The make-up artist has the main character Jean designed to look like a convict- with scars on his head and a long beard to indicate he is enduring a long struggle. The make-up around his eyes makes him appear sore and exhausted, and the rotten teeth prosthetics aid in this. Anne Hathaway's character was a prostitute who led a very sad and tragic life, so the make-up design worked to illutstrate this feeling.

Les Miserables (2012)

In musicals, lighting is a key factor during musical numbers. One important use it has is as a spotlight during a moment of significance. This is usually when the main character is having a realization, a conflict, or some other moment that is important to the narrative's progression. For example, in High School Musical, during the basketball dance scene, Troy stops in the middle of the musical number and a spotlight shines on him. Here, he expresses his feelings of conflict between choosing to "stick with the status quo" and play basketball, or to follow his heart and perform in the school's musical.

High School Musical (2006)

Institutional Conventions

Musicals have a unique style of marketing. Their trailers often begin with a calm sample of a song being presented in the opening, showing the main character in their beginning of the story. This music soon becomes more upbeat, and then incorporates the dancing scenes that are found in the film. They have shots of moments of passion, energy, action, and other emotions that attract the audience to the film.

The most important aspect of marketing a musical film is its soundtrack. The soundtrack can give the audience a glimpse of what the movie will consist of, as well as the story. Then, the audience can decide if they want to watch the movie. The soundtrack of musicals is also the most famous part of the movie, as many soundtracks become world famous and break many world record. The Greatest Showman (2017) has one of the most famous soundtracks today, with the album reaching number one on the Billboard 200 for weeks and won the Academy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.

The Greatest Showman Album (2018)

Across the Universe (2007)

Across the Universe is a musical taking place in the 1960s during the time of the Vietnam War. It focuses on themes such as anti-war, free speech and civil rights, romance, and- most importantly- rock and roll. The soundtrack is based off music by The Beatles, who are known as the best and most famous musical act of all time. The love story focuses on the two main characters Jude and Lucy, as Jude arrives from Liverpool and meets Max (Lucy's sister) and moves to New York with him and moves in with a band. 

The narrative here is a non-fictional one- England, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Manhattan during the 1960's. New York is a famous area for many immigrants, and is known as the city where dreams happen. The fact Max and Jude move here represents the opportunity available in America and for ones future. Throughout the movie, we see the love connection between Jude and Lucy develop through the songs by The Beatles. The song "With a Little Help of My Friends" is the song in which Max and Jude's friendship begins to blossom.

The make-up design and costume design is most effective in the "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" scene, with Max being recruited into the Army. The soldiers are covered in very heavy make-up prothetics, which make them appear very inhuman and angry. This makes the soldiers appear tough, powerful, and dangerous, which is meant to illustrate their control over Max and the other recruits.

The costume design here is a contrast between Max and the recruits and the soldiers. The soldiers are clad in full, Army green uniforms with badges, while the recruits are wearing nothing but their white underwear. This contrast further develops the power the soldiers have over the recruits, as the white underwear represents innocence and vulnerability, as does the lack of clothing.

Lemonade (2016)

Lemonade is a short film by Beyoncé Knowles Carter that accompanied her 2016 studio album Lemonade. The film consists of 12 music videos accompanied with short poems in between. Its focus is to tell her story of heartbreak, reconstruction, and black power. It is filled with symbolic elements in its costume design, make-up design, mise-en-scene, and choreography.

The most important song and video in the film is "Formation"- a song Beyoncé released in February 2016 protesting police brutality and systematic racism. The hair and make-up design is extremely important. Beyoncé, her dancers, and her daughter, Blue Ivy Carter are shown sporting their natural black hair styles, which tend to be mocked or appropriated by white people. This is important in expressing the message of black power and culture.

Another important scene is the opening of the video, in which Beyoncé is shown standing on top of a police car submerged in water. A voice in the background speaks 'What happened at the New Orleans?" This set design represents the damage of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when US President George W. Bush refused to send help to the people of New Orleans. Beyoncé standing on top of the inundating police car represents how she is escaping the systematic racism of police offers on top of black people.

In one particular scene, a boy is shown dancing in front of a group of policemen, in which after he throws his hands up in the air, which the policemen proceed to copy. This is used to symbolize peace between black people and policemen at last. To further develop the message, the words "Stop shooting us" appear on a wall in the next shot.

The second most famous video from this film is the video for the song "Sorry", in which Beyoncé sings about forgetting her cheating husband, or at least trying to. The whole video is shot in black and white, which conveys the feeling of sorrow and heartbreak. The video begins with Beyoncé speaking with a music box playing in the background. The music box represents feelings of reminiscence, but it also represents Beyoncé's will- she will not give up and she will continue to move forward. The music box will continue to play music no matter what, as will Beyoncé.

The video opens with a poem, as does every other video except for Formation. The poem reads:

"So what are you going to say at my funeral now that you’ve killed me?

'Here lies the body of the love of my life, whose heart I broke, without a gun to my head. Here lies the mother of my children, both living and dead.

Rest in peace, my true love, who I took for granted, most bomb p-----, who, because of me, sleep evaded.'

Her shroud is loneliness, her god was listening. Her heaven will be a love without betrayal.

Ashes to ashes, dust to side chicks."

This poem is Beyoncé speaking to her husband. Beyoncé is not literally dead- she is comparing that to the pain she felt when she discovered her husband was cheating on her. The line "who's heart I broke without a gun to my head" refers to how her husband betrayed her out of pure will- there was no one forcing her to, which makes the pain so much worse Beyoncé's heaven will be a love without betrayal, as she was unable to receive it from her husband.

The poem is accompanied by dancers moving together on a party bus. They move back and forth in a synchronous motion. This symbolizes their unity- as "girls stick together" when one of them gets hurt. Their make-up resembles that of a skeleton's, which symbolizes the dead that Beyoncé is expressing from her pain of being cheated on.

More Examples

Rocketman (2019)

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

A Star is Born (2018)

Mamma Mia! (2008)

West Side Story (1961)

Sources

“Musicals.” Film Reference, http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/Musicals.html.“19 Movies With Gorgeous Outfits That Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design.” BrightSide, 21 May 2019, https://brightside.me/wonder-films/19-movies-with-gorgeous-outfits-that-won-an-oscar-for-best-costume-design-745410/.Chiarelli, Jeff. “Makeup Artist Lisa Westcotts Amazing Les Mis Transformations.” Cosmetology School & Beauty School in Texas – Ogle School, Ogle School, 6 Apr. 2015, https://www.ogleschool.edu/blog/makeup-artist-lisa-westcotts-amazing-les-mis-transformations/.