I´m just listening Love Song
from Godfather movie performed by a gypsi musician Diego “El Cigala”. This
relationship with musical movies and videos is very special for me because I
found many stories related to myself. ¡I´m always relating audiovisual products
to my daily life! When I was a child I decided to be an alien because I saw
many tv shows as Mork and Mindy and ET, and this was decisive in my actitude
toward science and investigation. Most of the time I´m watching material on
YouTube, I love looking for something new in my timeline about movies with
sound and mainly with soundtrack. I think I like much more soundtracks than
movies.
Movies were first made due a
brothers Lumiere invention. Photography as well as Filmaking Technology changed
arts concepts and processes. The first silent movies were accompanied by an
orchestra on the teather. We still use different equipment to catch images and
sound for filmaking and then we take all this material to a computer for assembly,
though nowdays it is possible to catch images and sounds in a phone camera as
well and processes it as in tv technical way to get a movie for internet,
televisión and cinema.
When sound was feasible, the
first documentary works appear only with natural sounds but any music, later
on, filmakers included sound effects, voice-over and music not only for the
cover but to follow main actions and emotions on screenplays.
And I started talking about
The Godfather because most of the Luciano´s fortune at that time, 20´s, ended on
entertainment industry. People liked to pay for theatrical music shows with
nuded dancers, pubs and gambling, so during first days of Hollywood, filmakers
took to big screen dance staging with box-ofice success. This period is characterized
by the WWI and a wealth growth of US economy because of the income related to
the given help to Europe in uniforms and arms, but US never felt war impacto n
its territory. Instead, people continue consuming goods and servicies and
dancing on streets. After 29 Crisis, people deepen alcohol consumption and due
the Prohibition the organized crime erned more money than ever and
entertainment industries grew in the whole continent.
Next in movies history 40´s
and 50´s, we can found many latinamerican and spanish musical movies from
argentina´s Singer Sandro de América; brazilian Singer living at tehe United
States Cármen Miranda with music by jamaican composer Harry Belafonte, the same
fo 90´s Beetlejuice; and Mario Moreno Cantinflas from Mexico, he wasn´t a
singer but an actor who used to dance in many of his filmography, while at the
States we can find vocal góspel assemblies, and the advent of the huge music
figure, Elvis Presley. Though musical videos as we know right now, for tv
programming, don´t appear until 80´s.
In 50´s, one innovation is the
production of musical flims for children, titles as Mary Poppins and The Wizard
of Oz. This leds toward a new gendre which was going to mark a time, the opera
rock.
Contraculture at 60´s was
characterized by a series of social movements that were fighting human rights
not only at the US but in Europe. This movements have to do with the end of
WWII in 1945. After Nuremberg Trials, United Nations Organización was created
as well as the Red Cross and Red Crescent in order to prevent world of a new
confrontation later on. They stand human rigths as a must and youth manifests
troughout music and arts this belief.
During and after Spanish Civil
War, artists expressed their feelings in movies like the rare done by
surrealist painter Salvador Dalí and Walt Disney, and gypsi music related to
poet García Lorca. In Germany we can found experimental films against war by
the art group Fluxus integrated by Joseph Beuys, Jhon Cage and Yoko Ono,
between others. Important musical videos of this period are “Ballet Triádico” a
conceptual dance stage and films of dancer Isadora Duncan.
The deal music – films explodes
during 60´s and 70´s. In the opera rock we can find titles as Tommy by
psicodelia band Deep Purple starring by Jack Nicholson; Jesuschrist Superstar and
Cats, theatricals montages taken to film with music by composer Andrew Lloyd
Weber, between the most outstanding, while The Beatles ventures in
cinematography with movies from their famous song like Yellow Submarine, and Lucy
in the skies with diamonds.
Recently there is a movie constructed from The
Beatles music called Across The Universe (2007).
At this time is very important
to stand out the newest satellite communication technology that led to
retransmisions of musical events as George Harrison´s Concert for Bangladesh accompanied
by Eric Clapton and that is going to be very important on cinema buildings
construction because digital technology joined to telecommunications let us nowadays
to have the retransmission of any movie at many places at a time.
All these 60´s and 70´s movies
have the intention of getting the highest quality and are characterized for the
best talent called, music, art design, color, actors, staging, shooting and all
they are classics of its genre.
A chorus line, a movie about
dancers on a stage is one of the best moviese ver film of this period.
Later on we could see on
screen the movie Good Morning Vietman starring by Robin Willians related to
60´s facts.
One characteristic of 80´s musical
films is the interest on people participation and representation, that´s why
appears on stage musical proposals as YMCA band concept; Alan Parker´s Fame
with main Singer Irene Cara; and spanish director Almodovar´s films
representing people from all social levels and ethnicities.
In this period show up Jhon
Travolta as a prominent figure of Holliwood industry in movies like Staying
Alive directed by Sylvester Stallone, and Grease with singer Olivia Newton
Jhon.
80´s brought too the advent around
the world of well known singer Michael Jackson´s musical videos which impulsde
music industry using screen writers to construct a story around the topic of
the song. This breakthrough evolution into the industry business appears to us
on today as new transmedia proposals because media manager started to mix all
options of entertainment for all audiences haunger of a variety of contents if
different forms including advertisment.
Late 80´s strengthen the idea
of music as one of the best seller topic on film industry. New movies show up, Flashdance. Footloose. Breakdance.
Purple Rain with stories about young people that either want to dance or to succed
on any performative arts.
At 90´s we have outstanding
movies as Chicago with excelent coreographies, and Pulp Fiction, that is not a
musical film but that has an important dancing scene on cinematography.
Soundtrack concept consolidated not only for film but for televisión. And in
Latin America we have new musical proposses like colombian punk movie “Rodrigo
D” that uses music to show Medellin social problems; and argentinans “Tango
Feróz” with a story about a well known rock musician, and “La noche de los
lápices” about the Argentina dictatorship.
Documentary is a very
important genre on film and we can find music as topic wide world around. 2000
brought out the cuban film Buena Vista Social Club about old “soneros” in the
island, follow by argumentative movies like Salsa and a movie for televisión
about Hector Lavoe´s life. It´s usual to find on cable telefilms about singers
from different continents.
To close, films have had many
brilliant composers, figures like Vangelis, Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner;
Harry Belafonte, Beetlejuice; Jhon Willians, Shark Attack, Superman, E:T; Ennio
Morricon with music for more than 500 movies like Kill Bill, The Untouchables,
The exorcist, and The good, the bad and the ugly; and Hans Zimmer, music for Lion
King, and Gladiator.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao3vOCDZd-Y
