The opening movie premiere scene of 1952’s Singin’ In The Rain is set in 1927 Hollywood, California, with the now iconic Gene Kelly as star actor Don Lockwood and Jean Hagen as star actress Lina Lamont setting the stage for the quintessential musical motion picture. Stylistically it’s difficult to not discuss a little bit of Mise en scène, Cinematography, Editing, and Sound for such a grandiose film. For my essay, I’ll focus specifically on the use and importance of sound since it’s a crucial plot
"Singin' in the Rain" is a 1952 American musical film directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. The movie is widely considered a classic, with its famously catchy tunes, energetic dance numbers, and immensely delightful performances. The movie is set in the 1920s, at a time when sound technology was revolutionizing the movie industry. This story explores the difficulties Monumental Pictures faces when transitioning from silent to talkie films. As the movie's lead characters, Don Lockwood (played
The motion picture of Singin’ in the Rain by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly was released in 1952. Singin’ in the Rain explores the different styles of film production in the MGM golden age. By showing the process of making a film, the transitions from a silent production to an audio production, and a romance between an actor and an actress. At the opening scene of the production, Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly), Cosmo Brown (Donald O’ Connor) and Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) start off by walking in step
Singin' in the Rain relates to the 'The Self and Community' section. The section discusses "the theme of the individual self versus the connected self" (The Human Experience 93). Kathy had to choose between living her dream as an actress in the spotlight or being a voice actress behind the scenes. If Kathy was an actress behind the scenes, she would not get any recognition because Lina is more famous than her and Lina would not want to share the spotlight. This reminds me of "The Ones Who Walk Away
Naturalistic sounds such as those that appear in real life are used in the film to emphasize comedic content. Singin’ in the Rain reveals naturalistic sounds as meticulously constructed to broadcast its reflexivity of the draw not only attention to itself but the techniques of creating film in general. A proficient example is during the sequence where Don spouts an effective narration before getting out of Kathy’s car while then ripping his coat as his attempts to make a dignified exit. Another
In ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ (1952), female sexuality is far more demonised than in comparison to ‘Grease’ (1978). For example, in Singin’ in the Rain, we see Cathy and Lina placed in contrast with each other, almost in private competition for the audience. Singin’ in the Rain was released in 1952, and traditional 50s values are presented in Cathy. She is modest and humble, while still being talented and skilled, as well as being naturally conventionally attractive. In all these aspects, Lina is the
and Singin’ in the Rain. Both of these films are very different to each other and therefore use editing in varying ways in order to give the audience a different perception of the characters as well as the setting that these characters are involved in. Psycho focuses on building suspense for the audience throughout the film using editing, camera work and sound. This essay will be primarily focusing on editing with the discussion of camerawork where relevant. In the film Singin’ in the Rain, there
Title: Singin’ In the Rain Director: Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen Other Technical Staff: Writer: Arthur Freed Producer: Arthur Freed Screenplay: Betty Comden and Adolph Green Cinematography: Harold Rosson Film Editor: Adrienne Fazan Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Genre: Hollywood Musical Major Cast Members: Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood Donald O 'Connor as Cosmo Brown. Debbie Reynolds as Kathy Selden Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont PLOT SYNOPSIS Other than singing, dancing and being a stuntman
tap-dances and sings to the catchy song. In his book The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity, Ramond Knapp describes the title song as a “particularly well-known song that expressed metaphorically the film’s capacity for ‘singin’’ during the ‘rain’ of the Great Depression.” While these characters appear to be genuinely delighted in spite of the weather that most would consider to be dreary, this juxtapose of imagery is satirical. The song itself is a strange contradiction that appears
Singin’ in the Rain is a classic Hollywood movie about making films. Film's musical genre makes it novel. The film uses romantic comedy for its narrative template and to express and narrate the story, Donen and Kelly used a combination of music, singing, dancing, and spoken dialogue. This movie humorously and romantically depicts an excellent time in Hollywood cinema – the transition from silent films to talkies. Combining musical performance, and the power of cinema made Singin’ in the Rain a success
“I remember having a grin from one ear to the other for seven minutes. It was a huge, fabulous event – absolutely grand and great fun,” (Leslie Caron, anothermag.com). All who have watched Singin’ in the Rain (1952) or Swing Time (1936) can easily understand Ms. Caron’s emotional state after dancing with both of these phenomenal dancers. This essay will compare the backgrounds, careers, and personal lives of the iconic Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. To begin, this essay will compare their general
example, this technique involves the usage of costumes, makeup, sets, props, lighting, weather, character movement, etc. The use of mise-en-scene shows the audience the importance behind characters and situation as seen in the production of Singin’ in the Rain (1952) directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. In this entertaining film, some examples where mise-en-scene applies is in the introductory scene where the big Hollywood premiere is shown, through the juxtaposition of two women, Kathy and Lina
defined as the attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly. Throughout this semester, realism was seen within two classics, Singin In The Rain and All That Heaven Allow, and both have it’s similarities and differences. Stanley Donon and Gene Kelley’s Singin In The Rain (1957) centers on a small cast with Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelley and Donald O’Conner, just to name a few, and tells the story of what it takes to make it in Hollywood. Douglas Sirk’s
One of the most classic staples in film history, Singin’ in the Rain, influenced the way the film industry made movies forever. Singin’ in the Rain was a musical-comedy produced by Arthur Freed. It was released in 1952, but based in the late 1920’s, depicting the transition from silent films to “talkies.” Don Lockwood, played by Gene Kelly, was an already successful actor in the silent film era. Kathy Selden, played by Debbie Reynolds, was an aspiring actress who fell in love with Lockwood. The
The new studio system took Hollywood by storm between the early 1910’s, and continued until the studio systems decline in the 1950’s which were primarily due to the government’s influence and federal taxes. There was a studio system in place pre-1920, however they did not have much influence and there was many independent film makers dominating the entertainment industry at that time, these older studios often varied in budgets, styles, and general film content, but this changed with the new studio
Both Singin' in the Rain and The Wizard of Oz include musical and dance numbers. How do the musical/dance pieces compare in the two films? Which film makes better use of music and dance? Why? The way that the two films are similar when it comes to there music and dance would be when it starts off as a conversation, then as time goes on the music played first and all the thoughts go into singing how they feel. I believe that singin in the rain showed more of the singing and
his backyard. “Some of my moves come right out of ice hockey.” The first film Gene Kelly was in was For Me and My Gal were he performed tap. He also was in many performances like Invitation to the dance (1956) and directed some performances like Singin’
Have you ever wondered how are new music trends developed? Pop music started with the music style of Rock. Rock ‘n’ Roll was very popular to teenagers in the 50s. This style is even popular still to this day. The music of the 1950s had a huge influence on the American Culture. After the music, this style spread into movies and musicals. Which started the new era of Rock ‘n’ Roll. The birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll in the 50s made music what it is today. In the 1950s, people started to have televisions in
Filip Nedelkov Mrs. Carver Honors Junior English - 5 29 January 2017 On The Waterfront On the Waterfront is a 1954 film directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg. It stars Marlon Brando, Eva Marie-Saint, and Karl Malden. The movie is about Terry Malloy, and ex-boxer who is working for a corrupt union boss on the waterfront. He witnesses a murder and has to decide whether he should do the right thing and testify against his friends, or continue to live a life under the oppressive rule
capabilities to capture their actor’s actual sound on the screen, there were limitless possibilities. Since then, the movie musical has seemingly grown exponentially over time. Starting back with the golden age classics such as State Fair or Singin’ in the Rain, the masses fell in love with dazzling ladies and dashing men dancing and singing on the big movie screen. It did not deteriorate over time. Beloved musicals such as West Side Story, The Music Man, Mary Poppins and My Fair Lady captured audiences’