The Magic Stops with the Music: The Impact of Music and Silence on Guest Immersion at Disneyland Paris
Location
Rosen Classroom 111
Start Date
20-6-2024 9:00 AM
About the Presenters
Dr Matt Lawson is Senior Lecturer in Music and Subject Coordinator for BA Music, joining Oxford Brookes in September 2017. He is a musicologist with a particular interest in music for film and television. After completing his undergraduate music degree at the University of Huddersfield, and his Masters at the University of York, he was awarded his PhD at Edge Hill University in 2017. He teaches on modules and supervises dissertations at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Description
A tired family of four disembark a Eurostar train at Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy, Disneyland Paris. Five minutes later, they are dancing down Main Street USA to the sounds of ragtime piano music; the careworn faces now etched with genuine untroubled smiles. The sounds of a streetcar rumbling past briefly adds to the soundscape, but it soon disappears into the distance. Two minutes later, the family find themselves in the Wild West, with Elmer Bernstein’s title theme to The Magnificent Seven adding a spring to the step of our intrepid travellers. This pattern of musical saturation continued through Adventureland, Discoveryland, Fantasyland, the restaurants, the restrooms, the park courtyard, Disney Village, and the hotel lobbies. It later occurred to the father of the group (me) that the family had been subject to musical accompaniment for 8 straight hours.
This two-part paper takes a multidisciplinary critical and anecdotal view of the music in Disneyland Paris and its environs. Theme Park music will be analysed using theoretical frameworks established by film and video game music scholars to formulate a methodological Venn diagram of film, video game, and theme park music theory. Walking through a theme park has been likened to being in a film or video game, and the diegetic musical immersion is a key factor in prompting this response. The first half of this paper will work towards a theory of musical theme park guest immersion.
Secondly, this paper will examine what happens when a lack or ceasing of sonic accompaniment contributes to a jarring removal from immersion, with particular emphasis on PA announcements and responses to emergency situations or ride breakdowns, as well as impromptu guest access to backstage areas. As with film, one only notices the importance of music when it isn’t there, and this notion will be applied to real-world theme park scenarios.
Recommended Citation
Lawson, Matt, "The Magic Stops with the Music: The Impact of Music and Silence on Guest Immersion at Disneyland Paris" (2024). Theme Park Music and Sound. 1.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/tpms/2024/thursday/1
The Magic Stops with the Music: The Impact of Music and Silence on Guest Immersion at Disneyland Paris
Rosen Classroom 111
A tired family of four disembark a Eurostar train at Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy, Disneyland Paris. Five minutes later, they are dancing down Main Street USA to the sounds of ragtime piano music; the careworn faces now etched with genuine untroubled smiles. The sounds of a streetcar rumbling past briefly adds to the soundscape, but it soon disappears into the distance. Two minutes later, the family find themselves in the Wild West, with Elmer Bernstein’s title theme to The Magnificent Seven adding a spring to the step of our intrepid travellers. This pattern of musical saturation continued through Adventureland, Discoveryland, Fantasyland, the restaurants, the restrooms, the park courtyard, Disney Village, and the hotel lobbies. It later occurred to the father of the group (me) that the family had been subject to musical accompaniment for 8 straight hours.
This two-part paper takes a multidisciplinary critical and anecdotal view of the music in Disneyland Paris and its environs. Theme Park music will be analysed using theoretical frameworks established by film and video game music scholars to formulate a methodological Venn diagram of film, video game, and theme park music theory. Walking through a theme park has been likened to being in a film or video game, and the diegetic musical immersion is a key factor in prompting this response. The first half of this paper will work towards a theory of musical theme park guest immersion.
Secondly, this paper will examine what happens when a lack or ceasing of sonic accompaniment contributes to a jarring removal from immersion, with particular emphasis on PA announcements and responses to emergency situations or ride breakdowns, as well as impromptu guest access to backstage areas. As with film, one only notices the importance of music when it isn’t there, and this notion will be applied to real-world theme park scenarios.