So, when your thinking of Halloween music, there's a lot of spooky pipe organs, right?
This is only marginally related to that topic.
First written as a novel by Gaston Leroux in 1909 France, Le Fantome de l'Opera was similar to Frankenstein in that it sold very poorly when first published. What the novel lacked in any literary signifigance though was more than made up for by its musical adaptations.
The first musical was Ken Hill's British Phantom of the Opera. During one performance Hill was aproached by Andrew Lloyd Webber to establish a Broadway version. In 1988 Webber's own version of Phantom opened.
Phantom is a macabre love story about a female actor named Christine who is bedeviled by a mysterious admirer named Erik that lives beneath the Opera House. It's not exactly a horror by any stretch, but it has dark elements that win it over many a horde of (often teenage female) fans. Michael Crawford made his name in America off of the role of Erik. 11 25 15
Today Webber's play is the longest running ticket on Broadway, by over 2500 shows, as well as the first to surpass 10,000 performances. It is considered (admittedly by its own writers' calculations) to be the single highest grossing entertainment venture ever conceived, making 5.1 billion dollars.
The connection to literature is that Phantom is a classic, at least by any theater teacher's terms, in the ranks of Shakespeare. Though Leroux's novel was a flop, its legacy will likely live forever.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
The Frankenpost
In 1818, Mary Shelley anonymously published Frankenstein, a horror that would one day greatly influence monster media. And seeing as next week is Halloween, I figure I could write a breif blog post about it.
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Mary Shelley's name was not on the first edition of Frankenstein, as it was still uncommon for women to write books. Reviews were mixed, with some praising its ingenious writing style and others panning its dark and sometimes meandering plot. Still, the public instatnly latched on to it, and it still holds up today.
Many of the now commonplace elements of horror literature (mad scientists, reanimated corpses, dark and stormy nights, etc.) weren't the norm before Frankenstein. Of course, the monster himself has become a staple of the modern Halloween scene. Nowadays he looks a little different then the meat puppet Shelley envisioned, but he's there nonetheless. Next week, gentle bloggers, is actual Halloween.So I have something special planned.
Well, not particularly. It's just Halloween themed again.
18 9 14
Mary Shelley's name was not on the first edition of Frankenstein, as it was still uncommon for women to write books. Reviews were mixed, with some praising its ingenious writing style and others panning its dark and sometimes meandering plot. Still, the public instatnly latched on to it, and it still holds up today.
Many of the now commonplace elements of horror literature (mad scientists, reanimated corpses, dark and stormy nights, etc.) weren't the norm before Frankenstein. Of course, the monster himself has become a staple of the modern Halloween scene. Nowadays he looks a little different then the meat puppet Shelley envisioned, but he's there nonetheless. Next week, gentle bloggers, is actual Halloween.So I have something special planned.
Well, not particularly. It's just Halloween themed again.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Where Everybody Knows Your Name
Sinfeld prides itself with being a show about nothing, a term this blogger doesn't entirely subscribe to. But before there was Sinfeld, and by extension most other shows about nothing, there was Cheers.
Cheers was an early entry into the ensemble cast genre. Taking place in a (sort of*) real life bar in Boston, the show dealt with a number of regular patrons with unique quirks. The bar itseld served the "Jerry's apartment" role, a room with essentially one camera angle that people would randomly burst into.
Frasier (star of the spin-off of the same name) was a down-on-his-luck psychologist, Norm was the typical barfly (literally everyone knew his name), and Cliff was a mailman who loved quoting facts and figures. Cliff is also Ham the piggy bank from Toy Story, which you will never be able to unhear if you ever watch the show now.
The "nothing" draw of the show came from the principal action rarely leaving the bar. Someone would bring up a conversation, the rest would join in, rinse and repaeat. There was, of course, an overarching plot like Mr. Sinfeld's sitcom, but those were the small potatoes.
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*The outside of the bar used in stock footage is the real Cheers bar in Boston. The inside where the action took place was filmed on a setpeice. The decor of the Cheers set was then converted into a sports-bar like setting in Boston's Quincy Market.
Cheers was an early entry into the ensemble cast genre. Taking place in a (sort of*) real life bar in Boston, the show dealt with a number of regular patrons with unique quirks. The bar itseld served the "Jerry's apartment" role, a room with essentially one camera angle that people would randomly burst into.
Frasier (star of the spin-off of the same name) was a down-on-his-luck psychologist, Norm was the typical barfly (literally everyone knew his name), and Cliff was a mailman who loved quoting facts and figures. Cliff is also Ham the piggy bank from Toy Story, which you will never be able to unhear if you ever watch the show now.
The "nothing" draw of the show came from the principal action rarely leaving the bar. Someone would bring up a conversation, the rest would join in, rinse and repaeat. There was, of course, an overarching plot like Mr. Sinfeld's sitcom, but those were the small potatoes.
20 15 4
*The outside of the bar used in stock footage is the real Cheers bar in Boston. The inside where the action took place was filmed on a setpeice. The decor of the Cheers set was then converted into a sports-bar like setting in Boston's Quincy Market.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Music and the Senses
So, after discussing dissonance and tone last week, I got to thinking about the way music conveys emotion, and how that may be equated into literature.
I'll start off easy - suspense. It dangles something in front of you, then, at the right moment, strikes! A way to accomplish this often seen in movies and TV is the employment of Hitchcock strings (or Lost strings as we might as well start calling them). Hitchcock would famously use the etherial whining of violins to build suspense, then let loose with a shrill "scare chord" (think the shower scene from Psycho) A good story teller (campfire stories anyone?) can use this same technique with his voice, drawing out syllables to give that cliche' "spooooky" feeling.
Next, consider how one may express anger in music. Loud, short, stilted, phrases with sharp attacks should do the trick. Looking around the internet, this selection checks off most of the above (note the intense blasts of base drums and brass). Evidence suggests the meter that Beowulf has been passed down in employs this emphasis on the first syllable.
The easiest way to show sadness in music is to use a minor key and slow, lilting phrases. This again falls to the good story teller, who uses his own tone to get his point across. The below example is more mysterious than sad, but the same basic principle applies.
It should be noted that not all songs that convey these emotions use these techniques, nor do songs with these techniques necessarily need to convey these emotions (Or else Bernstein's "America" would be angry). It's just a few tricks I've picked up on.
I'll start off easy - suspense. It dangles something in front of you, then, at the right moment, strikes! A way to accomplish this often seen in movies and TV is the employment of Hitchcock strings (or Lost strings as we might as well start calling them). Hitchcock would famously use the etherial whining of violins to build suspense, then let loose with a shrill "scare chord" (think the shower scene from Psycho) A good story teller (campfire stories anyone?) can use this same technique with his voice, drawing out syllables to give that cliche' "spooooky" feeling.
Next, consider how one may express anger in music. Loud, short, stilted, phrases with sharp attacks should do the trick. Looking around the internet, this selection checks off most of the above (note the intense blasts of base drums and brass). Evidence suggests the meter that Beowulf has been passed down in employs this emphasis on the first syllable.
The easiest way to show sadness in music is to use a minor key and slow, lilting phrases. This again falls to the good story teller, who uses his own tone to get his point across. The below example is more mysterious than sad, but the same basic principle applies.
18 5
I'll leave you on a high note. Happiness can be signified with soaring and triuphant chords, which there again can be immitated by a skilled poet. If you've ever heard the main theme to Disney's Dinosaur, then you'll know what I mean.It should be noted that not all songs that convey these emotions use these techniques, nor do songs with these techniques necessarily need to convey these emotions (Or else Bernstein's "America" would be angry). It's just a few tricks I've picked up on.
Monday, October 1, 2012
The Tone of Scone
The thing about written word is, it was recorded from speech. The original speaker probably would have said something a certain way, and we deduce that using the author's diction and textual clues. We call this tone.
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Tone in written documents is usually denoted with punctuation marks like exclamation points. Italics can be used to stress a word as though it was being enunciated, while boldfont and CAPITALIZATION can emphasize loudness of the word or phrase.
Other things are harder to show on the limitations of a white page. In more visual mediums, color palettes greatly influence the emotional response from the audience. The feel of a character's voice, or the speed at which they speak a line, can also impact tone. Imagine a mother singing Rock-a-bye Baby to her child. Now, imagine Anthony Hopkins singing it in his Hannibal Lecter voice from Silence of the Lambs.
Speed, or tempo, is a factor that applies to music and literature equally. One of the most prominent examples from my childhood is from a favorite movie of mine, Disney's The Brave Little Toaster(1987).
Sung by junked cars in a scrapyard, "Worthless" is about all the things they accomplished in life as they await a magnetic crane to hoist them into a trash compactor.
I'll give you a minute to let that sink in.
Perhaps the only thing that prevented myself and other 6 to 10 year-olds from bawling our collective eyes out over this premise was the actual music in the song. For what it is, "Worthless" is rather up-tempo, with a rock beat and what I make out to be a major key. There are heavy implications of death, aging, and even a debated suicide in the sequence, but the music masks it for less perceptive minds. The movie and its sequel (the one good sequel, that is) have a number of mature elements that you wouldn't expect from the box art alone.
19 21
Tone in written documents is usually denoted with punctuation marks like exclamation points. Italics can be used to stress a word as though it was being enunciated, while boldfont and CAPITALIZATION can emphasize loudness of the word or phrase.
Other things are harder to show on the limitations of a white page. In more visual mediums, color palettes greatly influence the emotional response from the audience. The feel of a character's voice, or the speed at which they speak a line, can also impact tone. Imagine a mother singing Rock-a-bye Baby to her child. Now, imagine Anthony Hopkins singing it in his Hannibal Lecter voice from Silence of the Lambs.
Speed, or tempo, is a factor that applies to music and literature equally. One of the most prominent examples from my childhood is from a favorite movie of mine, Disney's The Brave Little Toaster(1987).
Sung by junked cars in a scrapyard, "Worthless" is about all the things they accomplished in life as they await a magnetic crane to hoist them into a trash compactor.
I'll give you a minute to let that sink in.
Perhaps the only thing that prevented myself and other 6 to 10 year-olds from bawling our collective eyes out over this premise was the actual music in the song. For what it is, "Worthless" is rather up-tempo, with a rock beat and what I make out to be a major key. There are heavy implications of death, aging, and even a debated suicide in the sequence, but the music masks it for less perceptive minds. The movie and its sequel (the one good sequel, that is) have a number of mature elements that you wouldn't expect from the box art alone.
"An adorable adventure that kids will treasure"
- The Chicago Sun-Times on Toaster
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