Singin' in the Rain

So…Huntze I will say on my blog that you were right, Singin’ in the Rain is a really good movie. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie. Basically, Singin’ in the Rain is about a larger than life silent film actor, Don, making a transition from simply being a face in a silent movie to being an actor in a talkie/musical. It is filled with vivid, colorful musical scenes, fun and intricate choreography, and plenty of singing. The movie also depicts some of the problems that this transition created (i.e. the placement of the microphone, Lina’s annoying voice).

I thought the audio editing and the sounds of the movie were unique and different compared to Sunset Boulevard. A lot of the sound was used to emphasize the movement and action of the scene rather than emphasizing the mood. I forgot the exact term for it, something like Mickey Mouse, but the sounds very exaggerated and cartoon-like. One example of this was the make them laugh scene. Different, unnatural sounds were added to the scene to emphasize him falling, hitting the ground, or back flipping off walls. I don’t think this type of sound editing is bad, I just think it gives a different feel to the movie. I think it sort of takes away from the realism of the movie but adds to the overall excitement and entertainment. Also, this movie introduced us to the use of ADR, or additional dialogue recording, which is when lines or songs are re-recorded and added to the movie at a later time for clarity or better sound quality. This technique is also used to improve the sound of different actions like the feet tapping the ground during the tap dance numbers were re-recorded and added to the movie.

I was impressed by the skill level of the actors, also. The actors were multi-talented, so it’s kind of wrong to just call them actors. There were multiple song and dance scenes in the movie and the main actors were all able to sing, dance, and play their character. However, everything was very theatrical and over the top. Some of the musical scenes seemed to develop out of nowhere and have nothing to do with the movie. For example, a light-hearted song and dance scene starts when Don is getting lessons from a voice coach. Sometimes it just seemed like they just threw in musical numbers, but I thought they were all very enjoyable.

The theme of the movie basically suggests that the movies and the magic of movies are better than real life. The best example of this is when Don tells Kathy about his true feelings for her; he can’t say exactly how he feels unless he’s on set and lighting, mood, and scene are perfect. To me, this scene exemplifies the theme the best because this is supposed to be a very important and intimate part of a relationship starting and the fact that Don couldn’t express his true feelings without being on a set stresses movie rather than real life.