Genre Wizard of Oz

Movies that fall into the musical genre have songs sung by the characters that are interwoven into the storyline of the movie. The songs are used to develop the plot of the movie, or further characterize the roles in the movie, whether directly or indirectly. Musicals came about from stage productions put to film. Musical films tend to have a better set of scenery and backdrops than stage productions because of the ability to move location and editing. Musicals differ among moods of the films due to usage of color and light. Musicals can also differ due to the editing performed on the film itself. Time periods also play a key role in the production of musical films. Sound effects also add individuality to musical films.

The Wizard of Oz was the first technicolor film, and uses both technicolor and black and white in the film. The usage of both types of film is meant to show the transition of “worlds” that Dorothy makes in the beginning and end of the film. Within the film itself, there is a lot of light used, even in scenes that tend to have a darker mood. For instance, when Dorothy arrives in Munchkinland, the scene is extremely bright with both color and light. Everything can be seen. The scenery is almost surreal in nature. The use of light and bright colors is to show the difference between this “dream world” of Oz and the real world which Dorothy has left. The light and color also give the film a very happy feel, even during scenes where the evil Wicked Witch of the West is present. These scenes, although filmed in the dark forest, still use quite a bit of light. The use of light in these scenes ensures that the younger viewers are not terrified of the flying monkeys because they do not seem as dark as they could be.

The Wizard of Oz has limited editing within the film. However, this is most likely due to the time period in which the film was produced, as well as the skill of the technology for this time. It must be noted that The Wizard of Oz was an