SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGNTHE DESIGN SCHOOLFOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT

NAME: NURIN BINTI ABDULLAHSTUDENT ID NO: 0318596FILMS SELECTED: MUSICAL FILM HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL & PITCH PERFFECTWORD COUNT: 1013ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605)WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: COMPARE CONTRAST ESSAYLECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIASUBMISSION DATE: 19TH SEPTEMBER 2014

PRE-WRITING

Introduction:Definition of musical film

Thesis Statement:There are three big comparison of similarities between these two movies such as the character passionate about the music, the school settings and the genre of the songs.

Body:Character: Passionate about musicHSM TroyWanting to get to know about Gabriella Gets himself into the musical audition, finds that musical somewhat very fun and passionate about it

Pitch Perfect BecaWants to purse music career in US, been making mash-up mixes of songs and even takes up an internship at the school radioEventually, got invited into Barden Bellas accapella group

Settings: School settingsHSM High School of East HighIn the classWhen There Was Me and You Gabriella walking through Science Lab, Hallways and corridors

Pitch Perfect - Barden UniversityBecas hostelIn front of the university, club and society selectionCups Beca during audition time at the auditorium settings

Choice & genre of the songs: Pop songHSM The songs are originally made for the movieGetcha Head in the Game Troy in the East Highs Gym. It shows that hes passionate

Pitch Perfect During the riff offA virtual wheel is spun to choose a category and any group may join n as long as the song matches the category. As for the Songs about SexS&M Rihanna Ill make love to you No diggity by The BellasLets talk about Sex Feels like the first time by The Treblemarkers

ConclusionMusical film should be directed more often as it inspires more people especially the young aduts. Back in 1960s, the budget to produce a musical film is relatively over. However, due to the uniqueness in musical film such as The Sound of Music (1965) which has won enormous box office, musical film is now been accepted and becoming one of the top film choices. The elements of singing and dancing in movies may reminiscent the sense of live-theathre. These elements are actually prominent as it liven up the audiences to continue watching the movie. Normally, musical elements are derives to show the connection from one scene to another and to stress out the important events of that particular movie.

A musical-based film of High School Musical and Pitch Perfect are chosen. High School Musical is a story about the young love of Troy and Gabriella. Both of them are come from different world as Troy is the basketball God meanwhile Gabriella is a stunning geek. Their love story sparks when they firstly met at a karaoke contest and discover their mutual love for music which resulting them to join the musical audition in their high school. On the other hand, Pitch Perfect is a story about young girl named Beca whom has no intention to study in the university that her dad enrolls her to. However, she is being persuaded into joining Barden Bellas accapella group which turn up to be the male rivals in a campus competition. Despite that the plot of these two movies are different but there are a few big comparison of similarities that are remarkable. The similarities are the characters, the settings and the genre of the songs.

Without doubts, the lead character in both movies has show their passion and love towards music. As for Troy in High School Musical, this young basketball player has no idea that he can sing until he is pairing with Gabriella for karaoke. Since he has an attraction towards Gabriella, he lets his pride down and willingly joining the musical audition together so that he can get knows her better. Singing with Gabriella makes Troy eventually getting passionate about music and this matter surprises his dad and all of his basketball teammates. On the other note, Beca who is the lead character in Pitch Perfect, has already show her love towards music from the start. She has been making a lot of mash-up mixes of songs and been wishing to pursue music career in US. Since her dad turn down her wish, she ends up taking an internship at the school radio. In my opinion, I can see that even though her dad rejects her decision but she is still doing things that are related about music. Her passions towards music has slowly being seen by one of the girl in schools accapella group which resulting her being invited into the Barden Bellas accapella group. Their sense of music are really far off but Beca eventually getting interested about acapella. Therefore, it can be seen that both movies have the simillarity in term of the lead character having this passion towards music even though their intention are different.

Moving on, both movies picture the same movie settings. Most of the scenes in High School Musical are directed in East High. As an evidence, when Gabriella singing When There Was Me and You she is actually been walking through the Science laboraroty, hallways and corridor which surrounded with lockers and pin-up boards. This kind of places cannot find anywhere but in school. It is the same in Pitch Perfect movie as well. The scenes of this movie takes place in Barden University. Even from the start, audience has already been exposed into the school environment when Beca arrives in front of the university by taxi and her, being in the hostel room. Another strong evidence of school environment is when Beca singing the Cup song during audition where it takes place in the auditorium. The acapella competitions are as well in the auditorium. To sum up, both movies have same movie settings which is school settings.

Apart from that, the genre of the songs chosen in these two movies are similar. Even though most of High School Musical songs are originally made for that movie itself, but it has a sence of pop music in it. The choice of using pop music in the movie succeed at attracting the audience to keep watching. As an example, the scene when Troy sings Getcha Head in The Game in the East Highs gym shows an intense feeling of the character as his heart and music reminds of Gabriella but on the same time, he needs to focus on the important basketball games that are just stones throw away. As an audience, I think it excites me to know what is his decision, whether to choose to be with Gabriella or basketball game. Meanwhile, pop music can also be seen in Pitch Perfect too, during the riff off. Riff off is a inter-club competition where a virtual wheel is spun to choose a category and any group may join as long as it matches the category. When the wheel stops at Songs about Sex category, Barden Bella sings S&M, Ill make love to you and No diggity. Meanwhile The Treblemarkers sings Lets talk about Sex and Feels like the first time which is actually a pop music too. The pop music amazes me and eagerly to know who wins the competition. In general, both of the musical movie has a similar choice and genre of songs which is pop music.

In conclusion, even though High School Musical and Pitch Perfect has different plots but there are few similarities between them - the lead character passionates about music, the school settings and the pop music genre. Personally, I hope that musical-based film can be produced more often as it inspires more people in music. Not only that, musical film actually does help in developing the content of the story, which pulling more audience to continue watching. Together with that, I also believe that musical films are able to improve both film and music in the entertainment industry.

Reference:

Conrich, I., & Tincknell, E. (2006). Film's Musical Moments. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Unknown (2014, September 17). High School Musical. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_School_Musical

Unknown (2014, September 17). Pitch Perfect. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_Perfect