I’m going to directly quote from Wikipedia on this one as, to be honest it’s the best descriptor of what today’s Life In 360° video is all about.
“A jukebox musical is a musical film or stage presentation featuring the songs of popular music acts. The term was originally (and is still) used to describe films starring famous popular music acts showcasing their own recorded songs, not necessarily as part of a traditional musical score (though they are sometimes augmented with scored background music). Use of the term has also grown to encompass musical films and theatrical presentations that celebrate past or present music acts or personalities, usually played by professional actors singing new renditions of the real artists’ previously-recorded songs and other material, done in a manner more akin to a typical Broadway musical, where songs are incorporated into a formal musical score and accompanied by choreography.”
While the term has been around for some considerable time, the idea of a ‘jukebox musical’ came back to the forefront thanks to the success of Mamma Mia!, both on the stage and in the cinema. Mamma Mia! was, of course, developed off the back of the collective works of Swedish pop group ABBA.
It’s been a decade since the first film, and nearly twenty years since the debut of the stage version and now a sequel film is coming to cinemas later this month. Called Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, it follows the characters from the first film and dips into yet more tunes from ABBA’s greatest hits. In preparation for its premiere Universal have released a new promotional video filmed specifically in 360 degrees and capturing one of the musical numbers. This one based off their 1974 Eurovision Song Contest winning effort Waterloo.
Pleasingly the video truly is a 360 degree performance, with the actors playing up to the camera and the action going on all around. Though personally, I’m not quite so sure of the lead actor’s singing. Check it out below. VRFocus will, as always, be back on Friday at the usual time
via Mint VR