Cast
Nikki Blonsky
John Travolta
Michelle Pfeiffer
Queen Latifah
Zac Efron
Elijah Kelley
Amanda Bynes
Brittany Snow
James Marsden
Character Names
Tracy Turnblad
Edna Turnblad
Velma Von Tussle
Motormouth Maybelle
Link Larkin
Seaweed
Penny Pingleton
Amber Von Tussle
Corny Collins
Edna Turnblad
Velma Von Tussle
Motormouth Maybelle
Link Larkin
Seaweed
Penny Pingleton
Amber Von Tussle
Corny Collins
The scene I analyzed is when Maybelle sings 'Big Blonde and Beautiful', and most of the characters dance. Later Link, Tracy and Penny join in with Seaweed. Then Edna enters to tell off Tracy for her presence at the club.
Mise-En-Scene
There are many different props through out the scene; food, records and music players. The dart board shows they have fun, and enjoy themselves, and the records show they love music, the vast number of records shows a lot of their time is occupied with music.
The setting is what looks like a record shop been turned into a dance floor. This shows just how important dance is in their lives. All the chairs have been put to the side, and the tables are used to hold food. This makes the audience feel as if the characters are relaxed.
The cast are doing a number of different things, the black kids dance, and the white kids talk but later join in. The white kids are placed on the side whilst the black kids are on the main 'dance floor'. The white kids feel slightly intimidated by the black kids, this represents the white people as the minority in the club. Black people were normally seen as lower status to white people, but in the club, its the other way round. This shows how life was before equal rights acts against racism. With-in the scene the whole narrative is shown, it is reversed because the minority used to be black people, but in this scene is shown as white people. Almost all the characters are shown positively, besides Amber, who is shown as a villain.
The lighting throughout the scene is quite dark and dull, besides for Amber's bedroom. The darkness, and few lights, shows its a hidden place, and is meant to stay that way, this gives an effect of escapism. The windows have been boarded up, which implies the element of secrecy and privacy was on purpose, almost as if it is a exclusive club. Also it shows they don't have much, but what they do have they enjoy, and live life to the fullest. The room is mainly made out of dark colours, like murky greens, browns and musky yellows. When the shot changes to Amber's room, the colours are very pink and girly, its quite a bright room. The room has pictures of ballet dancers, which implies she is very elegant, which is the direct opposite from the feeling in the club. This would make the audience feel as if she always has to have everything perfect, and she is not an approachable person.
The bright colours definitely come from the wild eccentric costumes the dancers wear. The costumes are very bright with wild patterns. Most girls wear dresses, whilst the boys wear flared trousers with bright coloured shirts. All the clothes are very 1960's retro. This might make the audience feel as if the characters care alot about appearance, but don't care what other people think.
Most people throughout the scene are dancing, but Link, Penny and Tracy are talking to Seaweed standing on the side watching. Maybelle walks around, checking everything is okay which shows she owns the place and is the person everyone talks to. Once the song starts, everyone joins in eventually and dances.
The setting is what looks like a record shop been turned into a dance floor. This shows just how important dance is in their lives. All the chairs have been put to the side, and the tables are used to hold food. This makes the audience feel as if the characters are relaxed.
The cast are doing a number of different things, the black kids dance, and the white kids talk but later join in. The white kids are placed on the side whilst the black kids are on the main 'dance floor'. The white kids feel slightly intimidated by the black kids, this represents the white people as the minority in the club. Black people were normally seen as lower status to white people, but in the club, its the other way round. This shows how life was before equal rights acts against racism. With-in the scene the whole narrative is shown, it is reversed because the minority used to be black people, but in this scene is shown as white people. Almost all the characters are shown positively, besides Amber, who is shown as a villain.
The lighting throughout the scene is quite dark and dull, besides for Amber's bedroom. The darkness, and few lights, shows its a hidden place, and is meant to stay that way, this gives an effect of escapism. The windows have been boarded up, which implies the element of secrecy and privacy was on purpose, almost as if it is a exclusive club. Also it shows they don't have much, but what they do have they enjoy, and live life to the fullest. The room is mainly made out of dark colours, like murky greens, browns and musky yellows. When the shot changes to Amber's room, the colours are very pink and girly, its quite a bright room. The room has pictures of ballet dancers, which implies she is very elegant, which is the direct opposite from the feeling in the club. This would make the audience feel as if she always has to have everything perfect, and she is not an approachable person.
The bright colours definitely come from the wild eccentric costumes the dancers wear. The costumes are very bright with wild patterns. Most girls wear dresses, whilst the boys wear flared trousers with bright coloured shirts. All the clothes are very 1960's retro. This might make the audience feel as if the characters care alot about appearance, but don't care what other people think.
Most people throughout the scene are dancing, but Link, Penny and Tracy are talking to Seaweed standing on the side watching. Maybelle walks around, checking everything is okay which shows she owns the place and is the person everyone talks to. Once the song starts, everyone joins in eventually and dances.
Sound
Sound is quite important as the film is a musical, which makes it more interesting and enjoyable, also there is a lot of drama in the film which is represented well through music. In the club, there is very jazzy up-beat music played, until Maybelle sings. The music builds when Edna is tempted to eat the food, which shows the temptation. At the beginning of the scene, Seaweed talks to Link, Penny and Tracy about how things are ran at the club. They comment on the liveliness of the place, then later talk about how they are welcome here. Maybelle encourages them to join in, and later to make Edna stay. Amber calls Edna to tell her that Tracy is at the dance club. She puts on a voice pretending she is a man, who knows her daughter. The ambient sound in the piece is the music the background, which the dancers dance to, and sometimes slight mumbling. The music is diagetic, and people are having fun and find it relaxing.
Music is a big part of the film, as alot of the messages are represented through song and dance, and give us a taste of what the 60's were like.
Music is a big part of the film, as alot of the messages are represented through song and dance, and give us a taste of what the 60's were like.
This scene is important to the film because it shows the differences between black people and white people in the 60's, also it shows where different races started to mix, and come together.
