I’ve only just discovered your site. "You see (musical film) in the 1940s but I think World War II put a damper on that," she said. Like, how do we go from here?". Their numbers may have doubled but because global film production quadrupled over the same period, they appear relatively less popular. It is repeated and unquestioned so often that it acquires a truthiness. I allowed each movie to have up to three genres, which was derived as an aggregate of all the sources listing that movie. why shouldn’t people see the tent poles if they want–they have other options, no one is force-feeding them(i say them, but i’m crazy about cartoons and sci-fi and sometimes even superheroes too; i just also happen to gluttonously consume all kinds of movies). The data from today’s research suggests that the broad nature of Drama may be further compounded by the sheer number of such movies on offer. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Nancy West, who teaches U.S. film history at the University of Missouri, thinks the move away from musical film has everything to do with a changing political climate. By the time I’d finished, I had tracked 117,134 movies made in 151 countries over the past twenty years. Nancy West, who teaches U.S. film history at the University of Missouri, thinks the move away from musical film has everything to do with a changing political climate. "She's struggling—there's one scene where she faints from hunger—so there is a gesturing out to the Depression: 'We recognize what kind of world you're living in,'" she said. I disagree totally!
Across the dataset, the average movie had 1.7 genre classifications. But the political landscape might be also be calling for a cultural pick-me-up. For example, although romantic films make up a smaller percentage of movies made, their raw production numbers are still increasing. "And then she makes it.". I look forward to poking around. Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site. Select an icon or film genre category below, read about the development and history of the genre, and view chronological lists of selected, representative greatest films for each one (with links to detailed descriptions of individual films).
To this day, popular portrayals of masculinity don't leave room for song and dance: "that kind of malehood is just not fashionable in America" anymore, West said. Next week I’m going to look at which countries prefer to make which genres. "Instead of putting us in a joyous mood, it winds up breaking our hearts," West said. Technicolor, an invention of the 1950s, brought with it a brief reprise of the musical film genre. Required fields are marked *. This instinctively feels like a better measure of a nation’s filmmaking tastes, as otherwise a country could make 660 micro-budget dramas and play host to one Hollywood action film and the nation’s output would be classed as ‘50% action movies’.”. So in a sense musicals weren't seen as a kind of escapism as much as a sign of disrespect.". Across the dataset, the average movie had 1.7 genre classifications. but those films also finance the cool indie movie that only made 79 dollars, and the haughty period film adapting an elitist type novel that made just 9 people go squee, etc. I would have thought that if over half the number of tickets sold, are for the usual comedy or fantasy/action/thriller movies featuring loud bangs and gratuitous violence, then that should be the measure of all things. Is A Symphony In Praise Of The 'Razzmatazz' Of The Genre Jeanine Basinger argues, authoritatively and passionately, that the musical … There have been certain conventions such as music, dance, male-female duality, personal styles of characters, entertainment, spontaneity and audience, introduced to describe the Hollywood/American film musical genre.
I have access to plenty of cinema fare that aren’t the handful that make all the money.–at any given moment in my city there are 50-80 big screen options open to me that include foreign films, anime, classic cinema, indie fare, adult focused dramas, documentaries….anything i might like. See Notes section at the end of the article for details.
They are even more clear that they do not want to see gritty urban kitchen-sink dramas with poor production values such as point-n-shoot, location-based cinematography and poor scores, or even no music whatsoever! "It is escape and it's wonderful and the most poignant moment in that film is when Judy Garland sings 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,'" West said. The depression was raging on and Americans desperately needed an escape," West said. A true love letter to Hollywood and the musical film genre, La La Land follows the dreamy romance of an aspiring actress (Emma Stone) and a jazz musician (Ryan Gosling) in golden-age L.A.
It’s cheaper and easier than ever before to shoot, edit and distribute a feature film, not to mention the effect of the internet in sharing ideas, knowledge and advice. Global film production is increasing and so even if a genre is comparatively less popular than it once was, there still may be more movies made in that genre than in previous years.
Your email address will not be published. That being said, they’re also losing interest in War movies, along with Action and Crime movies. Twenty years ago, horror movies accounted for 4.3% of all movies made, whereas in 2017 they represented 12.4%. Other genres which are growing in popularity are History, Sci-Fi and Biography.
Global film production is booming, thanks in large part to new technologies.
"It was a different gloom: it's not economic crisis, it's death. A few years ago, I looked at what genres are disproportionately popular with cinema audiences around the world. It reflects what aspirant filmmakers can afford to make! The 20 genres I included were Action, Adventure, Animation, Biography, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Family, Fantasy, History, Horror, Music, Musical, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Sport, Thriller, War and Western. The 20 genres I included were Action, Adventure, Animation, Biography, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Family, Fantasy, History, Horror, Music, Musical, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Sport, Thriller, War and Western. Conversely, simply stating that a movie is a Western conveys a great deal of information about what may be on offer, including time period, location, tone, plot elements, character tropes and more.
It was designed for people watching the film whose soldiers might be away.". So I set about building a database of the movies made in each country and what genre they are. Stephen Follows 2 Comments February 12, 2018. So I’m going to split the results into two articles. In my research last year into horror movies, I showed how the horror genre has grown incredibly in the past decade or so.
The musical movies that were produced in the decade, like 1944's "Meet Me in St. Louis," were marked not by joyfulness, but by sorrow. “It’s worth noting that we’re measuring production numbers, not amount spent, meaning that a micro-budget film has the same weight as a mega-studio tentpole. Movies that include an occasional musical interlude, such as Dooley Wilson's famous rendition of "As Time Goes By" in Casablanca (1942), generally are not considered film musicals.
I allowed each movie to have up to three genres, which was derived as an aggregate of all the sources listing that movie.
I have access to more movies at the theatre then i can find time and money to see. After the 1950s, "the climate just didn't support the musical," West said. (TV gives you) stories you can really immerse yourself in, characters you can follow for long periods. 660 micro-budget projects reflect the need for first-time producers, directors and actors to learn their trade and cut their teeth on something that will not break the bank. Book Review:'The Movie Musical!' Your research demonstrates that the film industry is growing explosively and that films of all shapes and sizes are being made, even if it doesn’t say anything specific about type of film such as sequel or remake. Note: Some of today’s charts may add up to more than 100% as each film could have up to three genres.
", When you kind of interrogate a genre that way, maybe this is now the end. This instinctively feels like a better measure of a nation’s filmmaking tastes, as otherwise a country could make 660 micro-budget dramas and play host to one Hollywood action film and the nation’s output would be classed as “50% action movies”.
Just over half of all films made anywhere in the world over the past twenty years are Dramas (51.6%). In 1930, Hollywood put out 100 musical movies. Your email address will not be published. By the 1940s, the U.S. had a new burden to bear, this time in the form of World War II. Making movies is, after all, a part of the entertainment industry – so a movie that nobody wants to watch is a movie that probably should not have been made, or perhaps is better classed as an art-installation.
The genre exploded in the early 1930s as the U.S. struggled through the Great Depression.
He’s got a knife!”. In 1930, Hollywood put out 100 musical movies. "Musicals presented an ideal genre for the escape because it made people leave the gloom and doom of poverty behind and see films that depicted people in joyous movement but had very lavish surroundings.".
"La La Land" swept the Golden Globes last night and has been lauded as the second coming of musical film in American cinema. Political protest and the counter-culture movement spurred by the Vietnam War didn't provide a fitting backdrop. And the hyper-masculinity of the film industry in the 1980s—when action, adventure and science-fiction films were having their time in the sun—wasn't too welcoming of Fred Astaire types, West said.
In discussion, usually on the internet, I constantly come across bemoaning and laments that “hollywood has run out of ideas” or “all they make is sequels/superheroes/remakes”, “nobody makes movies for adults anymore”, etc. I get that the box-office is monolithically dominated by things disney owns–animated, starwars, marvel, pixar and that the top ten films in a year represent a staggering concentration and proportion of total box-office dollars into a handful of franchises and cartoons. Fresh graduates from film schools seem to have a depressing tendency to want to make gritty urban kitchen-sink dramas – films that have lines like “Dad, I’m pregnant.” and “Look out! Now, I’m willing to concede that the scale of the research I did for today’s article was slightly out of proportion with the value of its findings, even by my standards. So what caused a one-time industry staple to nearly disappear after the genre peaked in the 1930s? As the song goes, everything old is new again. "'Singing In the Rain' is this extraordinarily self-reflexive film," she said.