Why is the scenery in this otherwise wonderful dance segment so obviously fake?

I actually remember Robert Osborne saying this was originally planned to be filmed on location but MGM didn’t have enough faith in it so they slashed the budget and moved it to the lot.

MGM spent money on Brigadoon. All of this was interior.

You're supposed to be watching the dancers OP.

True, R3, but the set is distracting.

[quote]True, [R3], but the set is distracting.

It would not have been distracting to audience members at the time. A great deal of exteriors were shot in sound stages. It would not have odd at the time.

This was at the same year as The Silver Chalice which also featured weird abstract, cut, painted, cardboard sets.

I guess they went anti-naturalistic and abstract to look new and they couldn't cope with the very, very wide Cinemascope screen. George Cukor said he was flummoxed doing the 'blocking' on such a very wide Cinemascope set in 'Star is Born' in the same year.

OP if the set is too distracting watch something else. Jesus fucking christ.

[quote] …watch something else. Jesus fucking christ

Watch 'The Robe' which is all about the influence of Jesus christ.

I was concentrating on the many bulges in the hut scene. There were 7 hunky, sexy men on the screen and OP was hell-bent on gawping at the scenery. Talking about getting your priorities straight, OP.

[quote] Talking about getting your priorities straight, OP.

R9 Someone would suggest that your priorities were gay.

I kinda like the fake scenery in old-timey movies, like Tammy. I find it very pretty & oddly comforting.

[quote] I kinda like the fake

I find it claustrophobic.

You might want to skip Red Garters, OP.

Obviously those gay boys were supposed to impregnate the dancing ladies holding up their skirts.

It's one squirt, what's the problem? Wouldn't have a problem if there was a full orchestra and this kind of ritual. Once, for the future.

[quote] Why is the scenery in this otherwise wonderful dance segment so obviously fake?

The choreographer was a Brooklynite named Milton Greenwald. He was brought up working on small New York stages and unused to doing choreography for wide open spaces.

A more accurate title would be "Seven Fish for Seven Sisters"!

Backdrops of Seven Brides are on view in the landmark exhibit of Hollywood Backdrops now on show at the Baco Raton Museum of Art on display through next year. There is an accompanying catalog that probably gives insight into their use in film, and they seem prevalent in musicals. Part of it was most likely since they were adapted from prominent Broadway shows they wanted to harken back to that experience.

The other was the need to have a completely controlled environment to rehearse and shoot in, especially over long periods of time. The light, sky and weather changes extensively and trying to match that and light a complicated dance sequence were probably impossible. I forget how many times it took to get that sequence in La La Land of Emma and Ryan dancing at dusk above the city in Griffith Park when they could only do a few takes each night. And LA has relatively consistent weather to work with.

The Seven Brides backdrops must have been highly regarded on some measure too survive, a think only a fraction of what was created still exists. In the video on the website you can see a clip at the end.

This covers a lot of history about them.

[quote] The light, sky and weather changes extensively and trying to match that and light a complicated dance sequence were probably impossible.

I agree with what you say but I wonder how Zinneman coped filming 'Oklahoma' in Arizona the following year? (I've forgotten it).

[quote] "I actually remember Robert Osborne saying this was originally planned to be filmed on location but MGM didn’t have enough faith in it so they slashed the budget and moved it to the lot."

I was going to suggest that it was a stylistic choice, but this makes much more sense. My sister LOVES this movie, but I've never seen it. One heterosexual couple is enough for me. But seven or more? Overkill.

R19 But of course the Dream Ballet is not. The central dance of 7B47B is one of the longest and most technically sophisticated sequences of dance on film and the more complex the more control you need in the environment. There are literally 21 dancers dancing at some parts and a number of very dangerous stunts that could cause severe injury. You don’t want to have a perfect sequence of dance performed only to have an airplane fly through the sky in the background and make it worthless.

This goes pretty far in explaining a lot of the technical issues filming the movie, first off it was filmed in two different formats simultaneously, Cinemascope and Widescreen. The barn raising dance, to light everybody uniformly, used more wattage then had ever been needed on a film before.

Brigadoon sets are stunning. My dream home is the one Cyd Charisse lived in and it’s magical surrounding terrain.

I’ve always been in awe of set/production designers.

There looks to be only three parts of this documentary on this channel, this section mainly deals with the barn dance, enjoy the ethereal Julie Newmar.

It's old Movie magic charm, the Wizard of Oz has loads of fantasy background scenery in a sound stage, film artistry at its best, contributed to the enduring fairy tale look and feel like a long played out dream, it's Movie gold. Appreciate the background scenery Artwork, they don't make em like that anymore, everything today is CGI and devoid of sweetness and charm and heart, just enjoy the movie. :-)

R21 Here, I was think 21, but it was only 5 brothers who danced, so it was 15 in the extended sequences.

You know how disappointed I was to discover that movie was a musical?

"It's old Movie magic charm, the Wizard of Oz has loads of fantasy background scenery in a sound stage, film artistry at its best, contributed to the enduring fairy tale look and feel like a long played out dream, it's Movie gold. Appreciate the background scenery Artwork, they don't make em like that anymore, everything today is CGI and devoid of sweetness and charm and heart, just enjoy the movie. :-)"

Aw, that's sweet.

Hey, listen: I grew up watching the Wizard of Oz on tv, and the first time I saw it on a "big screen" was in college where they showed the movie on a screen in the dining hall. More or less decent print I suppose. I was a freshman. I was lonely. This helped.

Cut to, what 20? 25 years later? I see the newly digitized version in a movie theater that was once an old giant movie palace but now has three screens. They show it on the big downstairs screen.

You could fucking the see the end of the stage of Munchkin land. You could see where the matte painting met the stage floor. Movie magic? It's supposed to be. This is the big three strip technicolor reveal of OZ!

My point is, some say the eyes go first.

Some say the mind.

It could be both with you, hon.

[quote] Why is the scenery in this otherwise wonderful dance segment so obviously fake?

You’re talking about the Seven Brides, right?

I have to say though I like parts of it I am not a fan of the Oklahoma ballet. I much prefer the one from Carousel. It's too bad DeMille was fired from the movie. It would have been even better had she been kept on. But so much of her work was kept I believe she had to sue to get the payment she felt she deserved.

Thanks R22 and R23 - very interesting.

Contrary to what was written above 7Bfor7B was NOT based on a Broadway musical - it was an original film musical, though it was later turned into a stage musical that Powell and Keel toured in. It may have even had a very short Broadway run featuring, I think Debby Boone.

I enjoy all of it except Jane Powell's screechy singing voice that MGM seemed to love - almost as bad as Kathryn Grayson's caterwauling.

Budget.

[quote]Baco Raton

Oh, dear.

[quote]I agree with what you say but I wonder how Zinneman coped filming 'Oklahoma' in Arizona the following year? (I've forgotten it).

I suppose because Arizona weather hardly changed from sunny all day.

[quote]Munchkin land

Oh, dear.

The mountainous landscape in the OKLAHOMA! movie bugs me. I've been to Oklahoma. It's flat as hell. That's why they're the #1 tornado capital of the world.

[quote]The other was the need to have a completely controlled environment to rehearse and shoot in, especially over long periods of time. The light, sky and weather changes extensively and trying to match that and light a complicated dance sequence were probably impossible. I forget how many times it took to get that sequence in La La Land of Emma and Ryan dancing at dusk above the city in Griffith Park when they could only do a few takes each night. And LA has relatively consistent weather to work with.

I'm sure this was the main reason for shooting on sound stages.

Poor Julie Newmar didn't get to dance very much. Her partner was very handsome but couldn't dance.

The movies are like that R36.

"The Beginning of the End" about giant grasshoppers introduced us to the car telephone AND the mountains of Illinois.

Nuance is everything, the mountains they go hunting in in The Deer Hunter, a story deeply grounded in its western Pennsylvania setting, we’re in Washington State and look like no mountains whatsoever in Pennsylvania.

I cannot believe that the OP cannot answer this question. Are we being played. Perhaps the OP wonders why George Washington didn’t fly between New York and Boston during the Revolutionary war or that Southern slaves did not use the Internet to highlight their plight as modern aggrieved populations do.