Classic+Hollywood+Musicals

Over the summer I watched a series of classic hollywood musical films. Because most of the films that I’ve watched involved two characters falling in love, I’ve learned to use three techniques such as cinematography, mise-en-scene, and editing to display the relationship between Frank and Lauren. __ Cinematography __ __:__ I realized that musical films really like to use far shots and close up shots whenever the two characters get together. This is used because as audiences we are able to concentrate on just purely the character and how they’re feeling when they see each other, and at the same time the far shots indicate what sort of place they’re in for the scene. As for Frank and Laure, I want this technique to be used specifically on the last blind date between Frank and Lauren. As a director, I want to show the audience that the two characters have changed their thoughts on each other after multiple encounters in various different places. __ Mise-En-Scene __ __:__ Musical sets always show the stereotypical aspect of the place. I also want everything to be straightforward in terms of mise-en-scene. I want the restaurant that we’re filming at to have a red and kind of dim background. I feel like the dim background could be used to set the mood between Frank and Lauren. At the same time, the red background could indicate the romantic feelings between both characters and also symbolize the idea of lust. For the psychiatrist office I pictured Lauren’s place to be extremely white with a hint of various different colors. This could show her organization and uptight personality but at the same time show her optimism with the hint of colors. Lastly at the plastic surgeon place I pictured Frank to have a grey and somewhat messy office. This is used to show his anxiety problems and how his personality is portrayed through this space. __ Editing __ __:__ As for editing wise, I thought musical films really like the use match cuts to transition from one scene to the other. The other day when Titus was drawing possible transitions I noticed him making one transition where Lauren sits at her psychiatrist office and the shot fades to Lauren sitting in the waiting room for the plastic surgeon she made an appointment with. I thought that this works ideally for our film considering the limited amount of time we have for this film. This could help develop the plot as well by clearly transitioning the scenes through a short amount of time.