Video File #9 Camp (2003)

Camp is a film written and directed by Todd Graff about a New York performing arts summer camp. The film follows the campers through the audition process and rehearsal and performance of the musical. I saw this film in high school and then rewatched it this weekend for my research project on film musicals. One of the articles I read in my research called Camp one of the most successful independent films to bring an original musical score to the screen. The film was called a "touching yet hilarious look at teen egos and hormones clashing at a performing arts summer camp exploded with wit and talent", and won rave reviews across the country. The film goes beyond the normal summer camp themes and brings to light issues such as different types of sexuality such as: bisexuality, homosexuality, and being transgendered. Camp was distributed by IFC Films and grossed close to two million dollars in the US.

Research Project Links

1. A book about the history of MGM and how the golden era came about. Found at Cudhay Library.

2. This website is a mecca for the history of musicals through film. The site goes through each decade with an article on what was happening both in film and society.

3. Although it's wikipedia this gives an extensive look at how music videos began.

4. The museum of broadcast and communication look of music on television.

5. A critique of Across the Universe, which is one of the modern movie musicals I'm going to focus on.

Video File #8- Anvil! The Story of Anvil! (2008)

Anvil! The Story of Anvil! (which by the way is possibly one of my favorite film titles ever) is a documentary about a Canadian rock metal band called Anvil. The tagline of the film is "At fourteen they made a pact to rock together forever. They meant it." The film follows the story of the band and the struggles they've had to get famous. The film was directed by Sacha Gervasi in 2008 and had a small release into international film festivals. The idea for the doc came about like this "Gervasi first met Anvil on September 21, 1982, after a gig at The Marquee Club in London, where he introduced himself to the band as "England's number-one Anvil fan." He subsequently became a roadie for the band on their '82, '84 and '85 tours, and was given the nickname "Teabag" by the band. He reunited with Anvil after a break of 20 years, and started shooting a documentary about them in November 2005." (wikipedia). The film never received wide release but has been shown on VH1 classics a few times since 2008. It grossed $853,363 in it's limited release. I saw this film in 2008 at a film festival, and since then have tried to watch it the few times it has been on VH1. I’m not a fan of heavy metal music at all but I found myself immediately in awe of these musicians. By the end of the film I found myself rooting for them to get their break they rightful deserved and wanting to continue to follow their story. The movie has recently been released on DVD and I urge anywho is interested in the music industry to rent it.

Weinberg #3- Television and Identity

Revisiting Weinberg's third article, the second half of the article focuses on identity. Hilary Clinton's presidential campaign believed that the more television exposure she got, the more voters would turn out for her. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. The more Clinton was on the air the more her poll numbers went down. Because Clinton was not comfortable on television her identity/personality came off as cold and rigid. Weinberg goes on to discuss how identity can work against actors. He uses the example of Mary Tyler Moore being one of the most beloved TV characters for over a decade. Because the public identified her solely as her character on the show it was hard for her to have an identity outside of the character. This sparked me to think of other actors that have had problems losing a character identity.

The popular 90's family television show Full House ran for 8 seasons. The show was known for it's family values and lessons that each episode taught or instilled. Actor Bob Saget played the uptight, clean freak father on the show named Danny Tanner. After almost 200 episodes of playing this character America saw Saget as his character. It was difficult for him to get more hard hitting roles after the show as much as he tried to distance himself from the role. As possibly an act to gain his own identity back, Saget became an stand up concept known for trying to push the limits on blue-collar standup. As Weinberg says however it's not just celebrities that have a problem with identity. With technology we never know when a camera will be around or what may end up on the Internet.

Video file #7- Every Little Step (2008)

Every Little Step is a documentary that follows the audition process of the revival of the classic broadway musical A Chorus Line. The film not only mirrors the audition process, which takes place in the musical, but also shows how the original musical was brought about. The film plays the original audio tape of the seven hour conversation of dancers that the musical was created around. The film was directed by Adam Del Deo and James Stern in 2008. It distributed by the company Endgame Entertainment and made its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in 2008. After the film received good reception from the festival it was distributed in Japan under the title Broadway Broadway. It was then shown at three more film festivals around the world and because of continued success Endgame decided to give it limited release in the US. I watched this film for research for my research project and ended up falling in love with this little documentary. I like how simple and direct the footage is, it lets you feel the emotions of the actors auditioning and you quickly become attached to them. Rolling Stone magazine said in a review "a thrilling combinations of documentary and musical dazzlers; and a heartbreaker".

Weinberg #3- Overnight stardom

Fifteen minutes of fame. With the invention of reality television and YouTube almost anyone can be a celebrity, at least until the next person comes along. In Weinberg's third article he lists the three conclusions media burn came to after beginning to film people with a handheld camera:

1. the more they saw, the more that people wanted to see themselves.

2. they had remarkably few inhibitions

3. if they became regulars on TV, they had to confront tough new personal realities; celebrities are not the same as you and me.

In class we talked about how YouTube has really proved this conclusions. We also talked about what happened after the 15 minutes of fame was over. In the documentary Winnebago Man we see this concept played out with Jack Rebney. Rebney was an actor hired to make an infomercial for Winnebagos in the 80's. Rebney had quite a temper and when the 16 day shoot was not going well, the camera crew recorded all of Rebney's outtakes. The tape went viral, although there was no YouTube to post it on friends were passing around VHS tapes of the outtakes and Rebney quickly became a celebrity for his explosive temper. (View the video here) The film follows what happened after his fame died down. Rebney became reclusive and moved to the mountains in California to live alone with his dog and few friends. He never wanted his 15 minutes of fame and did not handle being exposed well. It's a very raw look at how overnight popularity can change a person.

It was interesting to watch some of the media burn footage of the first time recording average people who had never seen themselves on film before. Looking at it in a historical perspective, reality TV got it's start from home video footage like what media burn captured.