Working Titles - Flashdance

  What a feeling. We reflect on the looks and the loves of the 1983 dance classic.

Brad Lanphear |  April 13, 2023

“First, when there’s nothing but a slow glowing dream that your fear seems to hide deep inside your mind.” Goes the opening line of both Flashdance the movie and “Flashdance.. What a Feeling” the song.Few movie theme songs have done a better job of summing up the emotional heart of the plot. Forty years on, you could make the argument that the song is more famous than the film itself. Which is quite an achievement because Flashdance is a certified classic. 

Richie, Alex, and Nick. Images via Paramount Pictures.

You can’t have a discussion about Flashdance without beginning with the music. Movies start with scripts then producers, directors, and all their supporting staff go to work making those scripts come to life. Somewhere along the way, composers get involved creating original scores which often include theme songs.For Flashdance, composer and so-called “Father of Disco” Giorgio Moroder was asked to write some music for the film based on the script alone. (You may know him from the song “Giorgio by Moroder” on the Daft Punk album Random Access Memories.)Nick imposing on the job.

Before filming even began, he came up with a raw version of “Flashdance…” that didn’t include any vocals. Director Adrian Lynne used it during filming to set the tempo of the entire production.The slow build synths exploding into uptempo drum and bass stands as a quintessential club anthem to this day, copied a thousand times over the past forty years. Irene Cara helped flesh out the lyrics, summing up protagonist Alex’s struggle to pursue her dream in the face of possible failure. Cara then blessed the track with her vocals and the rest, as they say, is history.  

She's a Maniac on the Floor

The iconic scene with the water splash.

Another staff member that helps producers and directors bring a film to life is the costume designer. In the case of Flashdance, that’s Michael Kaplan.It was only the third film he ever designed and he was following up his work on Blade Runner the year before. Kaplan would go on to design some legendary wardrobes for National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and Fight Club, among others.  

The two sides of Alex’s style. 

Kaplan was tasked with outfitting an energetic yet soft spoken young woman making her own way in Pittsburg, PA during the last gasp of the American industrial age.This being an 80s movie, our protagonist Alex is not only a fantastic dancer in peak physical condition but also a skilled at industrial welder. Combining these two skill sets provided Kaplan with the opportunity to build...

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