Choreographer Busby Berkeley’s Contributions to Film...

Choreographer Busby Berkeley’s Contributions to Film Berkeley’s creations were not meant to focus on dance. He envisioned an overall moving pattern, which he created by using moving bodies. He made the art of choreography a technique of design and visual mathematics, and combined this with his knowledge of film to bring his vision to life on the big screen. The skill of this multi-talented man brought Hollywood musicals to their full potential, creating a high demand for dance in films. William Berkeley Enos was born November 29, 1895, in Los Angeles. He began his career as a choreographer in 1918 as a lieutenant in the army. Conducting and directing parades. He gained the ability to work with large masses of moving bodies to†¦show more content†¦His camera was said to have done the dancing. It was not the individual dancers, but his quick editing cuts, multiple angles and shots, and special effects that created the brilliant movement. Possibly Berkeley’s most memorable filming technique is his use of overhead angles. He even would drill holes in the ceilings of the studios so that he could make these shots possible. That is how he created his kaleidoscopic patterns that he was well known for. One of Berkeley’s greatest displays of choreography is the production of 42nd Street. With the popularity of musical films decreasing around 1932, Warner Brothers decided they needed a real spectacle to save the genre. They brought in Busby Berkeley to create it. It was a smash hit, and so Berkeley was given an impressive seven year contract. Between 1933 to 1937, Berkeley created the dance sequences for almost every successful musical Warner Bros. released. Some of his most well known productions were Footlight Parade(1933), Dames(1934), his extravagant use of 150 dancers in â€Å"Lullaby of Broadway† in the film Gold Diggers of 1935, Babes in Arms(1939), and his last film Take Me Out to the Ballgame(1949). The life of this genius came to a sad ending. Throughout his life, Berkeley drank a lot. He also loved his mother more dearly than anyone else in the world. The combination of these loves almost drove him to insanity. After an accident caused by his drunk driving that resulted in the death of