A musical genre

A musical genre is a type of communication art that uses instruments and voice in a systematic fashion with elegance in continuity and style to portray a specific theme. The usage of features and the differential use of people or individuals separates one genre from another (Braudy and Cohen 110). There are several musical styles and genres. It is crucial to highlight, however, that the variation is due to the many historical and geographical elements that underpin the reasons and necessity for songs and films.

Musicals have used both musical art and narrative truth (Sklar 57).The two arms of a film, song or artwork can be differentiated from one another. On the one hand, a narrative reality is a logical consistency and coherence in the story that is told by a filmmaker. On the other hand, a musical reality is a song and dance sequences in a film that operates according to the laws of the filmmaker. This essay shall discuss the musical genre as presented by John Belton. It will particularly focus on his work on American Cinema published by McGraw and Hills concerning musicals. More specifically it shall analyze the several components of the musical reality and the narrative reality of the work and to identify the themes of the work.

The publication by Belton is the solution to the tension existing between the two realities of genres in musicals. Though the pressure might be different from one case to another depending on the style of music and the type under that is being made, it is clear that such a tension exists in any form of cinema and screenwriting and thus needs to be solved. It is against this backdrop that Belton discusses the various types of musicals with a particular focus on the efficacy of the musicals in resolving the tension between artistic and narrative realities (Belton 145).

The need for integration is informed by the history of theater and filmmaking. Belton notes that the theater and film musicals have for long recognized the duality in the genres. This is concerning narrative and the spectacle or music and dance. However, the critics of the duality argue that the musicals evolve from disintegration to integration of formats. This criticism is beside the point as the debate ought to be about the need for integration. To this extent, that the critics recognize the duality is enough justification for the necessity of duality having in mind the audience and competition. Also, the history has influenced the evaluation of the films and cinemas to be based on the ability to incorporate the realities and ensure seamless integration between the realities (Belton 147).

The process of ensuring seamless integration is marred with certain tensions. Belton explains that there is an existential crisis between the two realities. The author presents the tension in the realities by an analogy of registers. The publication captures the two dramatic records of musical and spectacle and their operation.

The work also suggests that the transition ought to be smooth between the registers as this is what distinguishes a professional film or cinema work from amateurs. However, as Belton notes that several musical arts like the Jazz Singer, published in 1927, had been faced with the tension between the realities and dealt with the imaginary pressure at the point of filmmaking. This shows that to do professional work, the filmmaker had first to recognize the current tension (Belton 152). Seemingly, from the case, this is critical in ensuring that the customers or consumers get the best of the information to be relayed by the filmmaker or the maker of cinema. For instance in Jazz Singer case, the filmmaker had ensured that the silent footage is overtaken by the sound footage to signal a transition.

Simply put, the whole idea of the tension and why it should be an issue of concern for a maker of film or cinema is pegged to the audience. Also, the music exists to ensure that there is thrilling of the public and ought to be presented with so much energy to send the message. As Belton notes, no audience would want to be taken through a series of transitions in a film and to transform from an audience to a mere spectator. Also, no audience expects the space to explode from original space to a fantasy space or a mere illusion.

However, care ought to be taken to ensure that there is no complete integration as the significant gap between the musical and narrative reality ensures that there is inherent power in the musical to thrill the audience. To main the energy that drives the musical, the filmmaker ought to be careful not to totally erase the distinction between the narrative and the music and dance in an artwork(Sklar 54). It is only by this way that the ecstasy, lift, and movement shall be maintained (Belton 147).

After the recognition of the tension as a historical problem in film and cinema making activities, it is imperative to recognize that the movement of transition is a gradual one. A sharp change might not work well for the consumption of the customers. Here, the example of the film named Chicago done in 2002 serves as the best example of how to use single cuts as means of ensuring the transition of characters from prison to musical numbers to ensure seamless continuity. In fact, the use of ecstasy as a literary tool seems to have worked during the staging since the characters can act within and without them being on the same stage during the performance (Belton 152).

The need for gradual and opposed to drastic change is necessitated by the fact that the transition is not a one-off process but a procedure that takes place back and forth within the same film. Belton also discusses the backstage musicals. The notion of a backstage musical is explained by various writers. It can be defined as the musical that utilizes characters as performers who are also show makers (Belton 146)

When there is a work that is in progress in the field of art, the writer or author may want to include the narrative and the musical reality in the work to improve its elegance. However, as Belton recognizes, there is a tension between the use of music and dance on one hand and the creation of the narrative on the other hand. This tension typically arises at the time when a transition needs to be set up from one reality to another. The solution for this tension can take two forms. The first can be the provision of the motivation of the numbers of the characters and musical instruments by screenwriters. An analysis of Berkley film shows that to ensure that this solution is achieved, there ought to be shifts in the geometrical composition of the characters, instruments, and locations (Belton 145). The film of Moulin Rouge further explains this solution by showing that the rehearsal and the performances in nights before the designated performance day can be used to solve the existing tension.

A further analysis of the film named Chicago shows the technique of dealing with the tension to be the alteration of fantasy and reality. The characters of the film turn their fantasy into reality by turning their collective notoriety into a big attraction for spectators who gathered around. This way the transition from narrative to musical reality is made more seamless (Belton 146).

The other technique can be created by constructing the bridge that connects musical from a non-musical section of a film or cinema. Belton, therefore, suggest the incorporation of performance into the plot of work to neutralize the tension at the transition stage and to make the justification for the activities in the cinema. Bringing performers into one show can be the best option if integration to ensure that the consumers o the film are satisfied with the content of the artwork (Braudy and Cohen 112).

Use of the Operetta is also recognized as a musical style of solving the tension between the realities. Belton explains that it is different from the backstage muscle type. In the attempt to explain the pressure, operetta focuses on the setting of the work characters. The example of The Merry Widow film done in 1934 is a classic example. This is because it explains the use of well-trained voices of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy as the setting to ensure their singing creates the transition smoothly.

The film of Moulin Rouge is another good example. It demonstrates the use of myths and fairy tales by impoverished writers to convey romantic ideals where song and dance becomes an integral part of the narrative. Evidently, a writer who can properly style his dialogue can be useful in ensuring the transition between realities (Belton 154). This film also showcases an additional technique of the use of professional actors where the focus of the audience is shifted to the performers and their ability to perform on stage.

Another style of musical with unique features that solve the tension between the narratives is the Astaire-Rogers Musical. This was utilized in the Vicky film. This type of musical utilizes transition from a narrative to dance and music by use of a romance theme. This is because romance as a theme is believed to be a creator of the smooth transition. For instance, a romantic question can quickly be turned into a song.

This Astaire-Rogers musical was also used in a film entitled A Star is Born done in 1954 (Belton 159). In this film, Lester attempted to recreate the number of production used earlier for her husband. The change for the table for a camera and elastic bands for chairs worked excellently to bring the transition to the audience (Braudy and Cohen 117). In fact, the shift in the A Star is Born is profound as the radical change from one reality to another is disguised. It is a musical that features romance as its primary theme and showcases the characters as either displacing or trying to replace their romantic feelings through song and dance. The film entitled Love me Tonight further illustrates this style of musical. The characters in the film by the names; Maurice and Jeannette utilized humor and surprise questions to signal a seamless transition into song and dance.

In conclusion, it is evident that the American movie making has recognized the musical genre as having dual realities; the narrative reality and the musical reality. The narrative reality is a type of genre that is consistent and coherent and obeys natural laws to gain credibility from the audience or the general public. The narrative may contain fictional elements like aliens that are unrealistic, but the characters in this type of plays obey the natural laws of the world and therefore seem true or real. As much as they seem unreal, the narrative reality employs the use of suspension of disbelief and verisimilitude (likeness to truth) to make that reality credible. On the other hand, musical reality operates under two premises; they shift from narrative to song and dance. They operate under two sets of laws that the narrative fiction is unable to naturalize. The change from narrative reality to musical reality produces ecstasy and thus affecting the laws that govern the world of fiction. While the two truths are important in a cinema or filmmaking the film-makers race called upon to solve the tension between the realities. However, the integration process has been recognized to proceed with caution to preserve the essence of the films as well as to thrill the audience.

Work Cited

Belton, John. American Cinema. McGraw and Hill, 1994.

Braudy, Leo and Marshall Cohen. Film Theory and Criticism. 7th. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

Sklar, Robert. Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies. New York: Random House, 1975.