pitch perfect and high school musical essay

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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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4. 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 from
http://www.metacritic.com/movie/pitch-perfect
3. Holt A. (2012). Pitch Perfect. Retrieved 2012 from
http://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 from
http://www.ryanseacrest.com/2014/04/01/high-school-musical-4-the-wedding-
to-begin-filming-in-fall/