Teenagers who have a passion for acting, dancing and music attend this performing arts school for four years.
Blaine: Producer David De Silva had wanted to make a movie about New York City’s High School for Performing Arts and it wasn’t till the late ‘70s that he felt it was time to make his dream project because the musical genre was ushering in a new era of pop. David met screenwriter Christopher Gore and asked him if he could write a story about a High School for Performing Arts. Christopher put together a script called “Hot Lunch” and after it was finished, Chris and David asked MGM studios what they thought of it. Director Alan Parker came to everyone’s mind at the studio because he had the right sensibilities for a story like this. Alan Parker loves to see people perform, he loves people who have passion for performing and he admires them for that. Another reason Alan took on “Hot Lunch” was because it takes place in New York and Alan has always wanted to make a film there. Alan visited a real Performing Arts school to learn how everything works there and the teachers were helpful. In order to bring his vision to life, Alan had to observe how things worked at a Performing Arts school. Alan got to know everyone there and they had ideas of what should be put into “Hot Lunch”. Alan used their ideas.
Three and a half thousand kids auditioned for “Hot Lunch” and Alan had never seen a bigger audition before. A lot of them came from the High School of Performing Arts. They were actors, dancers and musicians in training. It took several months to choose the right people who were suitable for “Hot Lunch”. The High School of Performing Arts was ok with Alan Parker shooting “Hot Lunch” there, but the New York City Board of Education thought differently. They thought Alan Parker’s film, “Midnight Express”, was gritty and the script for “Hot Lunch” had too much bad language. They wouldn’t allow “Hot Lunch” to be shot at the Performing Arts School. There was an abandoned school in New York where they could shoot all the school interiors and the exteriors were shot in front of a church. The school was bigger than the Performing Arts School which was great, but it was a mess when they found it, so they had to tidy it up. “Hot Lunch” shot for 18 weeks and half way through shooting, the word “fame" came to Alan’s mind and he thought the title of the movie should be changed to “Fame”. The name, “Hot Lunch”, still came in use for a song in the movie. While Alan was getting a tour and doing his research on the Performing Arts School, he saw a lot of madness going on and it gave him an idea for this cafeteria scene. The teenagers are just making a lot of noise and talking to each other in the cafeteria. Some of them play their instruments and one, Bruno, has a beat in his head as he is standing next to a piano. Then all of a sudden the students begin jamming. Everyone in that cafeteria is full of energy playing their instruments and dancing around. Alan loved directing these big dance numbers for “Fame”. It’s fun to watch everyone dance, mainly during the “Hot Lunch” scene.
They had to shut down a street for four days to shoot the scene where everyone goes out to the street while dancing to the song, “Fame”, and it caused a lot of traffic. The traffic grew and grew and grew. The song, “Fame” wasn't written until after they shot that scene. What the kids were really dancing to was “Hot Stuff”. The songs in “Fame” were written by Michael Gore and Dean Pitchford. Michael Gore’s sister was 1960s pop superstar Lesley Gore, best known for songs like “It’s My Party” and “You Don’t Own Me”. Lesley helped write a song with Michael called “Out Here on My Own” for “Fame”. “Fame” is all about the students, but there are eight main characters the movie focusses on more. At the beginning, it cuts to a lot of different teenagers showing what they are made of as they audition in order to get into the school. It cuts to a different talent. Alan loved the way his editor cut footage together, especially scenes with music like “Hot Lunch”, showing different choreography pieces. “Fame” also cuts to each school year, freshman year, sophomore year, junior year and senior year. You see the students’ lives change as those years go by and you see them work really hard so they can pursue their dreams. The people who weren’t actors did a fantastic job with their acting performances in the film.
Through the movie you get to know the main characters and you see different things out of each one of them. Each actor gets an equal amount of screen time because again it’s a movie that focusses on students and there are no leads, just an ensemble of young talent. It’s almost like a documentary because it’s showing what kids do at performing arts school. None of the kids had to be professional actors, they just had to act as they would in an everyday life.
Doris starts off as someone shy, but then she comes out of her shell and feels positive about herself as the school years go by. She works hard to become an actress. Lisa trains herself to be a dancer. Problem is Lisa's dancing isn’t good enough to become a professional. Lisa’s teacher tells her she is never going to make it as a dancer. At one point, it looks like Lisa is going to take her own life because she’s never going to be a dancer, but she stays strong and decides to switch to the drama department. That was another thing Alan Parker learned while touring the school. Students who start off in one department don’t make it and so they do something else. Bruno is a musician, who wants to create his own sounds in music, which is retro. Bruno spends a lot of time experimenting with music and writing his own songs. There’s a lot of musical sounds going on in his head. He’s more of a loaner, but he spends a lot of time with another student, Coco, and she sings the lyrics to the music he writes. Coco can do a lot of things. She can sing, dance, play the piano and act. Coco thinks about what she wants in the future and that is to make it big. She feels that perfect opportunity will head her way some time. Coco wants to put together a band with Bruno, but it’s more about creating music than being famous for Bruno. Bruno and Coco make a great team and even though they don’t know what the future holds for them they continue to create music together. Irene Cara, who plays Coco, is the voice of “Fame” because she had sung all the main songs of the movie, “Fame”, “Hot Lunch” and “Out Here On My Own”. Irene Cara was one of the few who didn’t attend Performing Arts School. Irene had been working her way up to being in the music business ever since she was a little girl and she had some acting experience as well. Irene had everything Alan was looking for in Coco. Irene wasn't asked to sing during her audition even though Alan knew she was a singer. After she was hired, Irene spent a lot of time with the film's composer, Michael Gore, to rehearse the songs.
Ralph is the class clown. Ralph knows he is talented and knows there is something for him at Performing Arts. He auditions for almost every course. During the first half of “Fame” you see him as this guy who acts like a dick, but then later you see he is a caring man. Montgomery is a very serious and sensitive guy even though he acts shy at times. He’s the person you always go to talk to because he’s a good listener. Montgomery wasn’t supposed to sing, but Paul McCrane, who plays him did a little singing during his audition and so a new scene was written where he would sing. Leroy hates school, but dancing is his life. Leroy doesn’t plan to get into performing arts school at first, he just helps a friend do a duet, but the teachers love his moves so much that they know he’s meant for performing arts school. The only problem Leroy has with the school is that he has to read and he can hardly read. Doing school work makes him angry. He acts like nothing matters, but he has a soft side. Hilary comes from a wealthy family and she’s a very skilled dancer. There’s a scene where Hilary is dancing and her moves are choreographed well to the music that is playing in the background. It’s also well shot with the backlight coming through the yellow blinds, so it’s golden. There’s another golden shot for a scene where Coco is wandering a hall way looking for Bruno.
“Fame” has some really nice shots done by cinematographer Michael Seresin. There’s a shot of Laura Dean, who plays Lisa when she starts off the song “I Sing the Body Electric” and it's a rim light shot. I also like the shot of Paul McCrane with all these empty theater chairs and the light is lit from the side. That shot has all the light that fits and creates an interesting composition. Last shot is at the end when it shows dancers on stage. There are stage lights lighting those dancers and hitting the camera a few times with a big back light.
At the end of “Fame”, the seniors graduation is this big show for the families and teachers. Alan wanted each individual talent for the actors who sing at the end. He also wanted to show an orchestra because not everyone can sing, but they love playing instruments. And the dancers dance to the music. Alan thought it was the perfect way to end the film. “Fame” received mixed reviews when it was released, but it got a lot of people’s attention. Performing Art schools were becoming more popular thanks to “Fame”. “Fame” became an inspiration to a lot of young artists and it made the people who were involved with it very happy. “Fame” also made history at the Oscars by being the first movie to be nominated for two awards in the Best Original Song category.
