Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2008 June 20

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June 20

Animal actors

Clearly, real animals are often used in TV shows, films, live plays, etc. And, sometimes, they are listed in the end-credits. I was wondering. Are these animals considered "actors" just as human beings are? I assume that they get paid for their, umm, "work". But, like human beings, are they entitled to have their names appear as an end-credit in the TV show or film? Or is that simply a nicety that the producer allows? Are these animals in any way entitled to "benefits" or do they work under any set of rules, much like SAG dictates how human actors are treated in the industry? I was curious if anyone knows anything about this sort of thing? Thanks. (Joseph A. Spadaro (talk)

They are called "animal actors" in the industry and the agency or individual who provides the animal is paid for the animal's use. (Usually, the animal will be hired with a trainer who will also be paid.) Credits are a different matter. Human cast and crew are credited based on general agreements between their respective unions and the production company involved in the film. (For instance, the Writer's Guild has rules about which writers must be credited, where the writing credit falls in the credits, etc.) Contractors, on the other hand, are credited based on the contents of the contract. Animal agencies are considered contractors. So it depends on what the contract says; in some cases, the animal itself is credited in the cast list and the trainer in the crew list, while in other cases the trainer and agency are credited but the animal isn't credited at all. And of course in older films animals were rarely credited at all. --NellieBly (talk) 03:45, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, that was very helpful and informative. (Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 01:52, 21 June 2008 (UTC))

Cantonese Opera

Is 大戲, or Cantonese opera, in A flat Major?68.148.164.166 (talk) 05:54, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Listening to the audio sample in that article, I don't think it's reasonable to say it's in a major key. It sounds like it's in some Chinese scale really, probably pentatonic. Hopefully a Chinese music expert will be along. 79.66.20.219 (talk) 15:53, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

movie credits question

This has puzzled me for years....why is it that at the beginning of a movie or television program, as the names of the actors appear on the screen, the last name to appear also lists the character name that the person is portraying? For example it will list (these are just made up names) something like John Doe, Suzy Q, and then finally it will say "Luo Smith as Papa Jones." I have always wondered why this is common practice...is it because they are trying to give the person a little extra for their name appearing last? Does it have something to do with age, etc? thanks! 10draftsdeep (talk) 18:48, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Sometimes a big actor or star is invited to perform a supporting role. They do not have a major part in the movie, so after the credits for the other supporting actors are shown the "star" is credited with the role they are performing to show they are not among the bunch of supporting or minor roles, but have a special role. JessicaN10248 19:03, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

That's a great question! You might be interested to read this Wikipedia article: Billing (film), as it specifically mentions what your question refers to. The article states, in part: An actor may receive "last billing", which usually designates a smaller role played by a famous name. They are usually credited after the rest of the lead cast, prefixed with "and" (or also "with" if there is more than one, as Samuel L. Jackson was in the latter two Star Wars prequels). In some cases, the name is followed by "as" and then the name of the character. This is not the case if that character is unseen for most of the movie (see Ernst Stavro Blofeld). (Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 20:31, 20 June 2008 (UTC))

Singing "R" in Italian Opera

I've been listening to Puccini's Tosca a ton lately and I just got the thought---what do opera singers do if they can't roll their "R"'s? I know I can't (that's why I took French!) and I know a ton of people who can't either. So what do they do when they come across the rolled "R" in Italian opera? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.219.143.150 (talk) 20:10, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

They're coached by professional voice coaches, so there are possibly some tricks of the trade. But if all else fails, the voice is the first priority, and if that's good enough to compensate for poor diction, poor acting ability, or other imperfections, that will usually get them a gig. Our own dear Dame Joan Sutherland was renowned for her audiences not being able to understand a word she sang, even when she was singing in English. I exaggerate, of course, but she did have a problem. It never stopped her career, though. The Italians dubbed her "La Stupenda", so they didn't seem to mind. -- JackofOz (talk) 22:21, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Ricky Martin song

I'm trying to find the name of a song by Ricky Martin that has the following lines:

No puedo más

Yo ya estoy harto de jugar a amar

donde estarás

no se si el amor que busco existirá

David Pro (talk) 22:21, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

It's "Donde Estarás" from the album A Medio Vivir. David Pro (talk) 22:28, 20 June 2008 (UTC)