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Introducing the context

This section is related to the introductory part of Feuer's chapter. Here you will listen to a podcast in which you will hear about the differences between live performance and performing for the screen. This section will take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

Activity 2.1

Listen to this podcast (5:20 mins) in which you will hear about the context of Feuer's key arguments in her introduction to the chapter. In the explanation, a few questions are asked and answered. Listen carefully and take notes in the boxes of the answers provided to those questions.

Download mp3 (audio file)

Download Transcription (Word file)

1

Why is it problematic to create a sense of live performance on screen?

Because film is not a live medium but a recorded art.Check your answer

2

What does Feuer mean by "the medium of film alienates the film audience", and how did it come about?

Her suggestion is that the advent of cinema and movie stars marks the transition from folk art to mass art.

One of the characteristics of folk art is that there is no distinction between performers and audience and everyone participates in the live dancing moment.

The live presence of the performer is removed via the screen and the performance is not direct, but a mediated one.

Check your answer

3

So what does the musical attempt to do to counteract this alienation?

Feuer suggests that the musical attempts to close the gap between the audience and the performer by pushing the notion of 'community' as an ideal concept.

Through a number of devices, the Hollywood musical tries to create a strong sense of folk community.

Check your answer

Activity 2.2

Now look at a clip from the film Swing Time. While you watch think about the extent to which you are drawn in as a viewer or feel alienated from what is taking place on screen. Make a note of your thoughts in the box below.

Watch the clip: Swing Time (2:27 mins) (opens in a new window)

4

To what extent are you drawn in Swing Time as a viewer or feel alienated from what is taking place on screen?

This is a personal response. Different people would have felt differently about this scene.Check your answer