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Post by Angel on Sept 24, 2005 12:15:14 GMT -5
What do you think of Miss Rossum's Christine? I think that that pretty much sums up this topic - whether you loved it, hated it, or are torn. Currently, I'm not a huge fan. To be very, very blunt, I'm not loving her singing and although I like her subtle acting style, sometimes I found it too subtle, if you know what I mean. When I first saw the movie, though, I was incredibly impressed with her voice but after listening repeatedly and with a more critical ear, it just doesn't seem as wonderful to me as the critics make out. Sure, she's young (sixteen when she was filming, I believe?), but surely she could have spent a few more years in vocal preparation, especially considering that the movie had been in preparation for so long. On the other hand, she does make a beautiful visual Christine in photographs  That's my two cents ... and I've got more, if anybody wishes to hear  But I'm actually more interested in other opinions - so please, share! |
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Post by Jaycee on Sept 24, 2005 22:12:49 GMT -5
I actually really like Emmy Rossum's voice, but i don't really have much to compare it to. The only version i've ever seen is the movie.
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Post by Angel on Sept 24, 2005 22:42:35 GMT -5
Hey, I can totally understand that I started off adoring her voice. But after learning a bit more about actual singing technique, some parts make me cringe. I'm no expert - far from it, in fact, but I just find it ... irritating. Some things she's really great on (I absolutely love her 'consume us' in PONR and her middle/low range is lovely) but others could use some work, IMO. But please, feel free to disagree! |
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Post by raoulsgem on Sept 29, 2005 18:44:27 GMT -5
No I agree with you Angel, at first I loved her voice but after awhile it just didn't sound as good as before. I do like her outfits though and she does look good in photographs, I just don't like her singing too much.
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Post by Angel on Sept 29, 2005 20:29:53 GMT -5
::nods:: The costumes in general I thought were gorgeous (if perhaps a little period-incorrect and 'boobtastic' at times ) and look even more gorgeous on Emmy. I heard recently that, before shooting the movie, she received one voice lesson to hone the skills she had gained while singing in the children's chorus at the Met. Me -->   The poor thing hadn't really sung since she was what, twelve? And then with one lesson was expected to sing Christine - one of, if not the most extensive and challenging vocal parts in musical theatre? Most of the flaws in her voice (diction, breathiness, etc) are things that would have been improved vastly through a few years of consistant vocal training. I do think that her voice is quite pretty and, with time, she could develop into a really talented singer. But she just doesn't cut it for me in the movie, singing-wise. |
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Post by Jaycee on Oct 5, 2005 17:13:30 GMT -5
Well, you do have a point, Angel, but keep in mind, she was only 16 when the movie was filmed.
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Post by Angel on Oct 6, 2005 5:52:47 GMT -5
Well, you do have a point, Angel, but keep in mind, she was only 16 when the movie was filmed. Jaycee, I've heard people say that so much and I so think that she sounds gorgeous for a sixteen-year-old. But this isn't live theatre, it's a movie. Things like the crack in her voice in Think of Me - surely they can edit it out? Technology is so good now that any flaws are just, in my rather critical and over-analysing opinion, unacceptable. And if she couldn't cut it, they could have cast somebody else. Harsh, I know, but it's my opinion. Plus, Christine didn't have to literally be sixteen to look young. If I'm not mistaken, in the book she's about twenty? An older actress with more experience and training would probably have been an improvement. Again, just my opinion |
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Post by Jaycee on Oct 12, 2005 16:39:41 GMT -5
Well, you made some good points, but i don't think we're ever going to agree on this! Oh well!
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Post by Angel on Oct 13, 2005 5:48:23 GMT -5
Hey, variety is the spice of life, no? Imagine if we all agreed all the time ... ::shudder:: Boring! Long live spirited debate!
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Post by Jaycee on Oct 16, 2005 14:19:30 GMT -5
couldn't agree with you more!
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Post by Angel on Oct 21, 2005 3:55:12 GMT -5
Cool, Jaycee I don't want anything I say to be taken as a direct insult to anybody - even Emmy Rossum - I just, well, have my opinions. I've never met her, so I can't judge her as a person. But I have heard her sing, so I think I'm qualified to judge that to the best of my ability. I actually don't blame Emmy for most of the things I don't like about her voice. I blame Joel Schumacher and the other people running things who didn't seem to realise that her voice wasn't developed enough and she needed to fix up some of the basics. Who knows, maybe he asked her to sound breathy to add to Christine's aura of innocence? Perhaps they left that crack in Think of Me to make it sound like a real stage performance where people stuff up here and there. Maybe she was told not to sound too good to reflect that she was still learning. Who really knows? |
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Post by Jaycee on Oct 23, 2005 16:12:11 GMT -5
I just, well, have my opinions. well, if you didn't speak your mind, angel, there would be no point to this site. We'd have nothing to dicuss. We all have our own opinions, and i think it's ok to disagree and still like each other. I mean, my best friend is EC, but she's still a really cool person. Yay! Let's all debate over everything until we've analysed every aspect of POTO! |
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Post by Angel on Oct 25, 2005 3:26:25 GMT -5
Three words: Bring it on! ;D
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Pam
Childhood Sweetheart
Posts: 10
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Post by Pam on Feb 14, 2006 15:24:24 GMT -5
Other than Sarah Brightman, Emmy IS Christine to me.
It blows me away to think that she was only 16 when she did the movie. WOW.
She is beautiful, sweet and VERY talented. Perfect as Christine.
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Post by The Black Domino on Feb 14, 2006 20:30:49 GMT -5
To be honest, I did not like at all her portrayal of Christine Daaé, the very first time I heard her sing, I though 'wow, so she can sing', but after I saw the movie, I realized that she lacked acting and singing skills (though I thought that she could sing, still that is different from knowing singing techniques, etc.)...
BTW: She was not 16 when they were filming the movie... She was 18; she was chosen to be Christine when she was 17.
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Post by Angel on Feb 24, 2006 3:32:15 GMT -5
Amen. IMO, she's a girl with a nice contemporary voice, but not cut out for Christine.
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Post by creampuff on Apr 25, 2006 15:30:13 GMT -5
Honestly, I did not like Emmy. She looked beautiful, but that's about it, and there are other actresses who are just as pretty and would look just as good on film.
I have to disagree on the 'subtle' acting thing. Her acting was no subtle, it was just bad. She knows what she's 'supposed' to be, but saying 'okay, I'm entranced' is *not* going to get the feeling across. I was not sucked in by her performance.
As far as her voice, for a while, I conditioned my ear to tolerate the movie soundtrack. Then I listened to actual singers, and I burned it. Actually, I cracked the CD, but still.
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Post by Angel on May 3, 2006 1:40:09 GMT -5
My main gripe about her acting skills was really in her facial expressions (or lack thereof). To me, it seemed: generally happy = smile; generally sad = pout; being seduced = close eyes; anything else = blank.
Okay, that's a bit harsh, but honestly. Although her face during the last part of 'The Mirror' never fails to amuse me.
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Hi-chan
Childhood Sweetheart
Raoul & Christine Forever ^_^
Posts: 47
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Post by Hi-chan on May 4, 2006 20:55:53 GMT -5
My main gripe about her acting skills was really in her facial expressions (or lack thereof). To me, it seemed: generally happy = smile; generally sad = pout; being seduced = close eyes; anything else = blank. Okay, that's a bit harsh, but honestly. Although her face during the last part of 'The Mirror' never fails to amuse me. No, seriously! She really needs to work on acting. Her singing, I think, is fine. I've got no prob with it. I may not really dig her voice and it may annoy me at times, but oh well...it's like, her acting is...ugh. When I first saw the movie, Emmy's acting didn't really impress me at all. For this exact reason. It's like...she's practically emotionless and has the same look constantly glued to her face. When she's upset, she should look upset. Instead, she kinda doesn't and it looks, in my opinion, rather pathetic. Example, the "Twisted Every Way" scene. Oh, goodness...I can't help but laugh at her in that scene. XD She's supposed to be so frightened and distraught, and you ALMOST hear it in her voice (tho' she sounds rather pathetic), but then, it's like...she's not...  And the mirror scene...the thing that always gets me is that after the Phantom sings "Look at your face in the mirror...", right before the scene cuts, you see Emmy's reflection in the mirror and you clearly see her mouth forming the words "Angel of Music". Then the scene cuts to a close up and she's all like "0.0" Blank stare, no singing, no emotion, no NOTHING. What in the world is that? That never ceases to confuse and annoy me (tho' Angel, it is rather amusing, isn't it? XD). It makes me wonder if the producers wanted her to do that. I know she's supposed to be in a trance, but, come on. That was a bit too much. They could have at least had her sing...since, you know...she's supposed to be singing... She may have been my first Christine, but I can sit here and list a million things I thought she could have done so much better. |
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Post by Angel on May 5, 2006 3:35:50 GMT -5
I never really looked at her reflection in the mirror scene ... I'll watch out for it next time. I suppose I can understand a bit of warped symbology behind having her 'sing' in her mind, but it is I bit weird that she lip-synchs the first bit and not the rest ... bleh, now I've confused myself. (Happens easily, no?)
Honestly, Emmy just doesn't cut it for me in a lot of ways, although her singing does annoy me more than her acting. Aie. However, I do really like how she mouths 'I love you' to Raoul before doing her 'Pitiful creature etc'. Unless the director put that in, and then I thank the director. Okay, I should stop rambling.
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Hi-chan
Childhood Sweetheart
Raoul & Christine Forever ^_^
Posts: 47
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Post by Hi-chan on May 6, 2006 0:14:09 GMT -5
However, I do really like how she mouths 'I love you' to Raoul before doing her 'Pitiful creature etc'. Unless the director put that in, and then I thank the director. Tee. ^_^ That ROCKS. But, you know...I always have this sick little inside joke of mine: her mouthing "I love you" to Raoul, and then goes and kisses the Phantom, kinda makes her a "sorry little two-timing tramp". lol. Yeah, I have a sick twisted sense of humor.  |
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Post by Jaycee on May 6, 2006 14:57:19 GMT -5
I think that was her idea, someone said it wasn't in the script, buit maybe the director did ad it in last minute or something. But about her expressionlessness, my friend and I call it her "massive array of ditzy faces". There's the horrified ditzy face, sad ditzy face, happy ditzy face, stupid ditzy face, and awed ditzy face. The only problem is, it's impossible to tell which is which because the difference between them is pretty small! The only obvious one it the horrified one, which is at the end and during the swordfight.
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Hi-chan
Childhood Sweetheart
Raoul & Christine Forever ^_^
Posts: 47
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Post by Hi-chan on May 6, 2006 20:07:41 GMT -5
How about that classic look of fear she had when the Phantom threw the rope around Raoul's neck in the final lair scene? I thought it was her one of her (very) few geniune expressions of emotion.
Not to mention it was pretty priceless, too! XD Lol. (Yah, I'm evil.)
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Post by Jaycee on May 8, 2006 19:15:19 GMT -5
Yeah, but she still managed to make it look ditzy! That's the one I call horrified ditzy face.
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Hi-chan
Childhood Sweetheart
Raoul & Christine Forever ^_^
Posts: 47
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Post by Hi-chan on May 8, 2006 21:58:39 GMT -5
XD lol. Exactly. That's why it was so priceless. ;D
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But I'm actually more interested in other opinions - so please, share!
The poor thing hadn't really sung since she was what, twelve? And then with one lesson was expected to sing Christine - one of, if not the most extensive and challenging vocal parts in musical theatre?
