1984: The Musical (What I've Learned)
To wrap up the last semester of high school, my best friends and I filmed 1984: The Musical. I hope to explain some behind the scenes but most importantly what I've learned about 1984 and dystopian propaganda.
A 2-3 page stress letter or a whole musical from scratch? Our group and I chose the latter, and honestly, the time we spent on the musical was most likely exponentially greater than the time we would've spent on the letter. Last quarter, my group filmed a rap battle music video, and we needed six constantly working brains to finish the video on time. With a musical, we add a new element to the mix: actual acting and singing. As soon as we got a vague idea of what our musical was going to be like, we started to write a script and the lyrics of different songs.
Tim (maybe Dante) had the fascinating idea to write the script and song in the perspective of Big Brother. In other words, our whole musical would behave as propaganda and would tell the story of how Winston was "led to the light". As a result, we had to think like the Party, especially like the Ministry of Truth.
For the songs in the musical, we decided to use familiar Disney songs. All three of these songs had a positive tone to it. "Under the Sea" and "Love is an Open Door" are especially upbeat songs. While rewriting these songs, I noticed how easy it was to forget their original lyrics. We knew the lyrics were propaganda, but when we sang it, I don't think we even cared that about that. We were excited by the melody and positivity of these songs that the lyrics just went over our heads. This holds true for many songs in today's music industry. If we actually take some time to think about what some lyrics say, we probably won't sing those lyrics ever again. The amount of vulgar language that we unknowingly sing out loud is incredible. However, these songs and the artists who sing them, specifically in the hip-hop genre, make it seem like it's okay to say inappropriate and hurtful words.
Our press can so easily become the Ministry of Truth. With the number of influences and social media outlets, propaganda can be spread out quickly and dangerously. Like we did to our Disney tunes, imagine if Kanye West put 1984 type propaganda into his songs. Because of his following, the propaganda would get into a lot of people's minds, and shockingly, a lot will believe such nonsense. In the beginning chapters of 1984, we saw kids almost playing a role as the spy for Big Brother. This makes sense because kids are more vulnerable and gullible to misleading information. They lack the knowledge and judgment necessary to differentiate between right and wrong.
Filming 1984: The Musical not only helped me realize how much effort and time it took to make a musical but also helped me to realize how powerful and dangerous a Disney song could be.
A 2-3 page stress letter or a whole musical from scratch? Our group and I chose the latter, and honestly, the time we spent on the musical was most likely exponentially greater than the time we would've spent on the letter. Last quarter, my group filmed a rap battle music video, and we needed six constantly working brains to finish the video on time. With a musical, we add a new element to the mix: actual acting and singing. As soon as we got a vague idea of what our musical was going to be like, we started to write a script and the lyrics of different songs.
Tim (maybe Dante) had the fascinating idea to write the script and song in the perspective of Big Brother. In other words, our whole musical would behave as propaganda and would tell the story of how Winston was "led to the light". As a result, we had to think like the Party, especially like the Ministry of Truth.
For the songs in the musical, we decided to use familiar Disney songs. All three of these songs had a positive tone to it. "Under the Sea" and "Love is an Open Door" are especially upbeat songs. While rewriting these songs, I noticed how easy it was to forget their original lyrics. We knew the lyrics were propaganda, but when we sang it, I don't think we even cared that about that. We were excited by the melody and positivity of these songs that the lyrics just went over our heads. This holds true for many songs in today's music industry. If we actually take some time to think about what some lyrics say, we probably won't sing those lyrics ever again. The amount of vulgar language that we unknowingly sing out loud is incredible. However, these songs and the artists who sing them, specifically in the hip-hop genre, make it seem like it's okay to say inappropriate and hurtful words.
Our press can so easily become the Ministry of Truth. With the number of influences and social media outlets, propaganda can be spread out quickly and dangerously. Like we did to our Disney tunes, imagine if Kanye West put 1984 type propaganda into his songs. Because of his following, the propaganda would get into a lot of people's minds, and shockingly, a lot will believe such nonsense. In the beginning chapters of 1984, we saw kids almost playing a role as the spy for Big Brother. This makes sense because kids are more vulnerable and gullible to misleading information. They lack the knowledge and judgment necessary to differentiate between right and wrong.
Filming 1984: The Musical not only helped me realize how much effort and time it took to make a musical but also helped me to realize how powerful and dangerous a Disney song could be.
Fascinating. And you are absolutely not wrong. Music is a wonderful way to spread propaganda (@ les miserables), and has definitely been used time and time again to for political purposes. For instance, national anthems?
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting, thanks for talking about your process! I think it's really interesting that you chose to film the musical as a form of propaganda for the state/Big Brother, and it worked really well! I also think what you said about upbeat songs having much darker messages, and I think you're definitely right.
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to see the behind-the-scenes process. The comedy that derives from using upbeat songs is justification enough for your song choices, but it also makes certain ideas seem more palatable. Thanks for writing this, Matthew.
ReplyDeleteLike Annette said, it's interesting learning about the behind-the-scenes of script writing and filming. I think that your video was very successful at acting as propaganda for Big Brother. The tunes were catchy and I found myself humming "Under the Sea" after class, and I agree that it is really easy to change the lyrics to fit your own agenda.
ReplyDeleteI’m glad you’re giving us a behind-the-scenes look at this. I hadn’t even thought of the lyrics themselves as being propaganda, but now that you’re talking about it, I can’t believe I missed it. Really drives home your point about not noticing messages that are in the music we listen to.
ReplyDeleteYour point that a catchy tune will often overpower the message behind the lyrics of the song is a good one. The message behind our songs was kind of terrifying, but I totally found myself thinking of your head singing "Under the Screen" for about a week (and I probably will for another week now that I reminded myself of your Grammy-worthy performance). Music really is a powerful tool and your post does a good job explaining that concept. Thanks Matthew, very cool!
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost, your video was really awesome! It was fun, funny, and still educational, which I think was a very effective combination. I'm glad that you had the opportunity to reflect on and share your experiance making the shot film because as a viewer it definately enriches my watching.
ReplyDeleteThe upbeat, catchy melody of a song can definitely overshadow its lyrics, and I agree that we often don't really comprehend the real extent of vulgarity that is present in many songs. This analysis and description of the process of making the musical was very interesting!
ReplyDeleteThis is very true. This happens even in the case of things not related to Utopias and Dystopias. Let's take The Weeknd's "I Can't Feel My Face." On the surface, it is a very upbeat song, and ended up hitting the top of the Billboard Charts (in 2015, only to be replaced at the top by his second single "The Hills"). It even won a teen choice award. The upbeat nature of the song overshadows the main topic of the song: an addict's relationship with Cocaine. As always, understand the lyrics before you belt it out.
DeleteThis is an interesting connection. I definitely agree that we tend to overlook lyrics and sometimes focus solely on the melody. We tend to just take in the lyrics and move on without considering their deeper meaning, which is just like what we do when we take in the propaganda spread by the Ministry of Truth. On the side note, I really loved how your musical was both humorous and educational at the same time.
ReplyDelete