SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

THE DESIGN SCHOOL

FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT

NAME: NIK AFIQ AMADI BIN NIK ABDULLAH

STUDENT ID NO: 0317749

FILMS SELECTED: HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL & PITCH PERFECT

WORD COUNT: 740

ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605)

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: COMPARE – CONTRAST ESSAY

LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA

SUBMISSION DATE: 19TH SEPTEMBER 2014

Differences between High School Musical and Pitch Perfect

High School Musical and Pitch Perfect have become two of the biggest television franchises in recent history. They cater almost exclusively to the teen market. It is therefore hardly surprising that the two would invite frequent comparisons to one another, since aside from targeting the teen market, they are both obviously musicals. Nevertheless, the two shows have a number of clear differences that may miss the scrutiny of their most avid viewers.

First and foremost, in High School Musical, they sang the original songs which are specifically made for the movie. They do not do any cover songs at all. Instead, they focus more on their own songs, which mostly are pop and dance music genres. Unlike High School Musical, Pitch Perfect is more independent, it does mostly cover songs with a few originals and songs by real artistes. I could say that some of their covers are just a lot better than the originals. Besides, High School Musical is basically very ‘Disney, their songs are original and geared towards tweens, whilst Pitch Perfect has a lot more adults themes and geared more towards college kids. They do cover real songs, which is way more entertaining and funny as well.

Moreover, in my point of view, the actors and actresses in High School Musical can actually sing and act, but they are not as good as the ones in Pitch Perfect. As I mentioned before, in Pitch Perfect, they do cover songs with different genres, which makes them even more talented and versatile compared to the ones in High School Musical. However, in High School Musical, there is no doubt that the actors are talented as well and many, like Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale, have gone on to release their own solo albums . Basically, most of them are well-known artistes in Hollywood. Plus, they are also very popular among young artists in America. They have their own fan base that makes them become very famous and always being supported by their own fans.

Apart from that, one of the most obvious differences between both shows is the musical numbers. I think it is amazing that Pitch Perfect has just as much, if not more, energy in it than High School Musical with more people in their musical numbers. Pitch Perfect features musical numbers only in the context of performances, competitions or rehearsals. No singing or dancing goes on outside of the context of a realistic scenario at all. The characters in High School Musical often simply drop everything and launch into a song or dance

number. Even though I am not into dancing at all, but I believe, these are one of those things that make High School Musical a bit more interesting than Pitch Perfect. They do have some interesting dancing scene in the movie, which makes the movie becomes more attractive for kids as well.

Next, in High School Musical, the students will randomly burst into song even when they have not even practiced. They sing only just for fun. For example, the scene where the players simply burst into singing and dancing when Zac Efron is playing basketball with some of his team mates. Whilst in Pitch Perfect, they are singing for competitions. They take music more seriously compared to High School Musical. Besides that, in Pitch Perfect, it also covers real life issues that actually occur in teens lives like being homosexual, dealing with backstabbers and more. For me, that is what makes it great as well as entertaining since they include them all with a little song and dance too. Pitch Perfect somehow simulates scenarios closer to reality, unlike High School Musical which is almost surreal at times.

Last but not least, in my opinion, Pitch Perfect is aimed at older audiences, whist High School Musical is basically a Disney movie obviously aimed at younger kids. For example, they would not have lesbian characters, suggestive dancing, or sexual references at all in High School Musical. However, Pitch Perfect has all of those scenes, even if they are not fully sex scenes.

In a nutshell, both High School Musical and Pitch Perfect are indeed very good musical movies to watch. I would say I love both movies without any complications since I enjoy watching them, even though they both have their own ways of expressing the music in the movies. These movies are also highly recommended to those people who love listening to music.

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References:

1. Ebert R. (2012).Pitch Perfect. Retrieved 2012 from http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/pitch-perfect-2012

2. Kendrick A. (2012). Pitch perfect. Retrieved 2012 fromhttp://www.metacritic.com/movie/pitch-perfect

3. Holt A. (2012). Pitch Perfect. Retrieved 2012 fromhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/dec/20/pitch-perfect-review

4. Kenny O. (2007). High School Musical 2. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475293/

5. Brendan R.(2014). High School Musical. Retrieved fromhttp://www.ryanseacrest.com/2014/04/01/high-school-musical-4-the-wedding-to-begin-filming-in-fall/