This video begins with two people who unwillingly came to a party and were unwillingly forced to sing on stage in front of people. Both have shy awkward emotions on their faces. The girl, Gabriella, keeps her arms closed, giving others the impression that she would rather not be there. The music begins and the boy, Troy, begins to sing. Once his part is done, he walks off as if he figures there is no way this girl is actually going to sing the rest of the song, but she does. The mood changes and a more powerful, comfortable feeling is given off by the two subjects. Their faces relax and begin to show some enjoyment. Their posture is altered into a less tense position, and it looks as though they are beginning to have fun.
This experience is similar to one I have been put through. A boy and I had to sing a duet in an uncomfortable place as well--my huge cathedral church. This church would make anyone cross their arms and scowl at the fact of having to perform. The ceilings are a good four-stories high and the walls are cold cement. The carpet is a deep red and it stretches the fifty yards from the front of the sanctuary to the back. All along the walls are magnificent stained glass windows...windows that I had grown up loving all my life, but had in one instant turned menacing and scary when forced to sing at them and the rest of the hundreds of people filling the rows of wooden pews.
"Breaking Free" by Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical)
The couple find themselves onstage, auditioning for their school's huge musical production. The pianist begins to play the song, while the two exchange nervous glances. Troy is all decked out in his basketball uniform, while Gabriella is still in her decathlon apron. Once the music begins though, they ease into things and rock the audition.
Although my all school play auditions were less rigorous, the plays were usually quite a blast. This year was a mystery about stolen urns, and the set up was pretty sweet. The whole back wall of flats were painted to look like a circus. Each flat alternated in color, giving the look of the tri-colored circus tents. They were pastel yellow, blue, and pink, so as not to distract the audience from the actors, but the vividness was implied. Strung from the ceiling down to these flats was the actual roof of the tent. Long strings of vibrant triangle pendants came down and attached to the edges, making the audience feel as though they were actually in the circus where the mystery was taking place. The set had two more pairs of flats to creat the "upstage left and upstage right" entrances. These, too, were painted in the tri-colored circus scheme, but also were equipped with decoration. From the audiences view, on the left were bales of hay, likely for the circus elephants. On the right were many of the circus clowns' things: balloon animals, scooters, noisemakers, etc.
"Get'cha Head in the Game" by B5 or cast of High School Musical
The wildcat gymnasium is all decked out in red and perfectly shiny and clean for the "Get'cha Head in the Game" scene. The basketball team has decided to turn their practice into a song, and they go through all the drills while singing. The basketballs bounce to the beat of the song and swish through the nets at exactly the right time. They move through their drills with precision and don't miss a basket. The ideal basketball scene has been set by this movie, yet it seems to perfect to be real.
So I thought about my gym and how it was filled with not-so-perfect passes and the ever-present airball. It is not decked out in red. The walls are painted a light purple, almost blue color. Darker purple is painted in diagonal lines on the high brick walls to give the feeling of "V's" for Vikings. The dark purple is also painted along the base of walls surrounding the entire gym. It went about as high as the average Viqueen (lady basketball player) could jump. The floor was the rich golden color of well-kept wood, when not hidden by layers of dust that seemed to appear everyday. Running along one side of the gym was a brick stage. This stage elevated the "home" bleachers almost to the ceiling, giving an overwhelming and menacing feeling to the opponents. The visitor side had their bleachers on the ground. They stretched the length of the gym as well, but were less than a fourth as high as the hometeam bleachers. The two main basketball hoops at each end extended out from the wall, and framed the mats below them with the Viking logo. Up on the wall above one of the baskets are all the banners the gym has collected throughout the years from successful seasons in football and softball. The occasional "spirit sign" made in art class can be seen decorating the walls of the very real, very purple gym.
"I Don't Dance" by cast of High School Musical
The scene opens on a baseball diamond. The two main characters begin singing back a forth to each other in a "jeering" format, just like normal baseball players in a regular game would if they were not singing. Throughout the video the players go through all the motions of the game. A batter steps into the batter's box and then takes one foot out. He takes a couple of practice swings to get a feel for the way the bat feels in his hands, and then takes on the pitcher. Some of the pitches are balls, but the ones that are strikes usually result in a hit and some base running. The players in the video go through all the different, but strategic motions of base running. One is safe at first and leads off for the next pitch, but has to dive back to first in time to avoid being thrown out by the pitcher. There is a lot of sliding as well. The player in all white, Ryan, hits one way out to the outfield and tries for an in the park homerun. He rounds third and comes in to home, sliding just in time to avoid the tag.
The way the video portrayed the baseball game brought back many things I experienced in my high school career as a softball player, particularly the feeling of stepping up to the plate with my favorite bat in hand. The bat belonged to the school, but I felt as though I knew it very well. It was thirty-four inches long, great for reaching that outside pitch and gaining momentum on a swing. It was a light gray that faded to blue and said "Synergy" along the side. My my senior year the handle had begun to show some wear and the rubber began to come off, so it had some nice rings of duct tape holding it together. The best part about this bat, though, was the feeling it gave right when it hit the ball in its sweet spot. The long cylindrical barrel had one particular spot in the middle where, if any contact was made, the runner was almost guaranteed a double.
"Can I Have this Dance" by Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical)
Gabriella and Troy meet on top of their school for this music video. They start out talking, but eventually begin to dance. The dancing style is not normal high school dancing, though. They start out in a conservative waltz, but then begin utilizing the entire space, just focused on each other. Soon the moves begin to get complicated. They do lifts and spins, and footwork that must have taken many hours of choreography.
This dancing was more closely related to swing choir than any dancing that would be done at a prom. Swing choir was a part of my life for all four years in high school, and during that time, I had four different partners, but one was strikingly gregarious compared to the other. My junior year my partner dressed in drag as a hula dancer or a "dame" for the boys' number "There is Nothing like a Dame" from South Pacific. The outfit was quite stunning. During a short twenty-second time span he transformed from a swing choir member in long black pants, an uncomfortable white, long-sleaved, button-up shirt, and a turquoise sequined vest to the hottest hula girl on stage. The grass skirt was a long and weedy green colored contraption that tied (very tightly) around his waste. Both the shirt and vest had to come off to make room for the rest of the ensemble: the famous coconut bra. It went neatly over his shoulders and tied in the back, while a lei completed the look. He was onstage in a second and wooing all the rest of the men.
"A Night to Remember" by cast of High School Musical
"A Night to Remember" is how the singers describe their prom as they search through many outfits to find the perfect dress. The scene is set in a dressing room area. There are many doors with many rooms that help to make the song go well with the choreography. They lyrics all describe different aspects of the night, and the aspects of finding a perfect dress. The boys in the video don't seem to really care about the girls' dresses; rather they are more occupied with how they will look.
The girl's dress may the most important part of prom to her, or at least close. I tried many different stores and hundreds of dresses to find the absolutely perfect one. My senior year I wanted not just a pretty dress, but one that would make people stop and stare. I finally found it in a small dress boutique in Fremont, Nebraska. The dress was an aqua color, and I easily spotted it in my first round of sifting through dresses. It was sleeveless with rounded top to the corset to fit to my body. the back of it tied in a fish-tail style braiding that took a good five minutes to complete. Right at the waist, the dress suddenly poofed out, giving it the overall look of a Cinderella dress. There were eleven layers in all to the bottom. The top five layers or so were made of tulle. To the tulle small beads were sewn in and glittery jewels were attached. This same tulle criss-crossed over the corset part, and the beads were sewn in here as well. The bottom layers of the skirt were made with a scratchier form of the tulle that really added the volume. The dress was so big that it would barely fit through doorways, and it was so sturdy that it could stand on its own. It was definitely the perfect princess dress.
"We're All in this Together (Graduation Version)" by cast of High School Musical
This video is a compilation of scenes that make up the three different movies that these videos are based on. It shows how they have grown up from their junior year, progressed through the summer, and have made it to their senior year and accomplished many things. This song is played during the graduation scene in the movie, and reminds me of my class and my own graduation as I looked back on all my times with my high school friends.
My class as a whole can been seen as an object that is full of many unique characteristics that make it so amazing and memorable to look back on. There were twenty-six members of the graduation class of 2008. Twelve of the twenty-six were girls, while the other fourteen claimed to be boys. Sixteen of the members had been together since their first day of school in kindergarten. This made the bonds of the class of 2008 even more strong. Throughout elementary each teacher looked forward to having this class. We showed high test scores, good manners, and a willingness to learn. There were no cliques. One member of the class could be with any other member and be able to carry on a thirty-minute conversation without problems. As the class entered into high school, we became very shy, but still had lots of integrity and respect for others. Senior year, though, was the time of many of our greatest accomplishments. The boys led the football team to a state championship and the girls won the Conference Tournament in both Volleyball and Basketball. As the flashbacks came during our graduation ceremony, like the ones in high school musical, the class of 2008 could be seen sitting closely together, holding hands and shedding tears over a wonderful thirteen years together.
