Sherman, H. (2014, August 3). Movie Marketers Love Music, Not Musicals. Retrieved December 11, 2014, from http://www.hesherman.com/2014/08/03/movie-marketers-love-music-not-musicals/
Summary:
This article was based around the release of the trailer for the upcoming movie musical Into The Woods. It goes in depth into how movie musical trailers are made to manipulate audiences into overlooking the fact that it is a musical. Many theatre goers who know the show by heart are angered about not only not having insight into the music of the show, but that there are rumors that the plot has been slightly altered. Because theatre people aren't the general population who will be seeing this musical marketers try to make people who would not normally watch a musical view this movie. The article then goes on to describe various examples of movie musical trailers that don't show the characters singing and try and hide the fact that its a musical. Some of these examples are Hairspray, Mamma Mia, and Sweeney Todd. However in other movies like, DreamGirls marketers will add in cuts of performances because of the stars that were in that movie like Beyonce.
Quotes:
"superhero movies now arrive like clockwork, while movie musicals, though more common than in the 70s and 80s, are still infrequent events."
"The film studios are trying to reach a much wider crowd, for whom the sight of stars singing may be off-putting"
"Minimizing the musical theatre connection has certainly been true for movie musicals for some time. It’s almost as though marketers are trying to slip the fact that people sing past potential audiences."
Reflection:
Movie musicals are the one example where music isn't exactly a positive aspect of the film. Movie marketers try and manipulate viewers into seeing their movies in the hopes that they won't realize the movie is a musical. The actual music and film score isn't actually the problem, but it's the fact that the characters are the ones singing the music. This article particularly talks about how within the trailers for these movie musicals they never show the characters singing, but instead just play the music and maybe add in quick cuts of characters singing. Movie musicals have recently gained more popularity, and maybe it has something to do with the whole Frozen frenzy. However, there is still a huge dislike of movie musicals within the general population so the decision not to show the characters singing in trailers is understandable. In my opinion, though marketers should try and market the movie musical as the movie musical instead of trying to cheat the system and manipulate viewers. Although many viewers might be turned off to watching a musical when marketed based more on the plot, but including the music will also attract an audience who enjoys music. One example of a trailer that actually shows characters singing throughout the entire trailer is The Last Five Years, which is supposed to be released in 2015.
However, this movie musical could easily come off as cheesy because the entirety of the trailer is the two characters singing or quick cuts of other scenes.There is not hiding that this movie is a musical. I do think more move musicals should include their music in their advertisements because music appeals to many people. In this particular circumstance the plot is kind of put to the side, and it is more focused on the music. Movie musicals have a population of its own, and many theatre goers will also take part in viewing movie musicals. The marketers motive for trying to take the musical out of the movie musical is understanding because they want more of a broader population viewing the movie. However, maybe instead of taking the musical out of the movie marketers can find a technique to actually make movie musicals appealing to the general population. Sweeney Todd, one of the examples that Sherman wrote about, appealed to many different fan bases. First of all having a well-known actor such as Johnny Depp and a famous director like Tim Burton already attracts a whole new audience. This movie musical also has the horror movie appeal. By finding other marketable aspects about the movie musical, the whole fact that is a musical can be more easily overlooked.
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