The Mary Sue: Whether you’re a fan of the movie or not, you’ve got to admit that La La Land has at least a few catchy tunes and some inspired dance numbers straight out of classic Hollywood musicals. As you might imagine, there’s so much planning and preparation that goes into the creation of those huge dance numbers, and thanks to director Damien Chazelle and his iPhone, we get to take a peek into the full rehearsal for La La Land‘s opening number.
10 comments:
I am not an individual who has seen La La Land. With all the hype surrounding the movie, I became to engrossed in the drama surrounding the motion picture to make a decision. It seemed that everyone I talked to either loved the movie or down right hated it. That combination frightened me too much to invest $10.50 in the venture. Despite not seeing the movie, I can’t agree more with the author of this post that says there are multiple great songs and inspiring choreography. This video is an example of just one of those dances. Yes the dancers are talented. Yes the footwork is well done. But above all these things, I think it is interesting to point out how engaged and excited the performers are. Yes it is a fun dance, but the performers look like they are having amazing time, not only as an act but as an individual as well. This is a very important aspect of collaboration and the rehearsal atmosphere that we can take from La La Land.
I am not one to judge La La Land as a whole as I have never even seen the original but I enjoyed the camera shots a lot. Especially the huge trick at the end, the smooth transitions and incorporation of camera angles entranced me. I can’t even begin to image the difficulty and paperwork behind closing off a freeway for a movie. Not to mention the pressure and stress to complete everything in perfect harmony. The differences between the rehearsal and the actual scene became a spot the difference game I found wildly entertaining. Seeing more of the behind the lens process draws me closer to the T.V. and Film industry and I can’t help but want to be a part of it. The scene in the movie was so entrancing and it takes so much talent to create such a small part of such a huge project.
Article Rating:
8/10
Notes:
Don’t be a stick in the mud, be a tree, it’s harder to pull out.
Wow I remember wondering how they filmed this scene when I saw the movie in theaters. How wild that this article was posted on the blog. The level of synchronicity and attention to detail that is required from the dancers in order to make this scene happen is unreal. Additionally, the cameramen must be extremely sure of exactly what happens at exactly what moment so that they know when to turn. The article mentions how the scene has the feeling of being one continuous shot, and I would definitely agree with that. When I saw the movie, I never noticed the camera changing, and I only noticed it in this video because I was specifically watching for it. I also want to know if they actually did shut down a highway to film this scene, and if they did I want to know how difficult it was to get this accomplished. Obviously, they don't have the means to do that every time they want to rehearse, which is why the parking lot is used. It was also interesting to watch the two videos side by side and compare how some of the movements changed in the actual scene, and how the rehearsal space had rehearsal highway dividers.
I saw the movie and loved it for the most part and I sort of wished there were more numbers like this in the film. It was the only number with the whole ensemble which felt really classical and musical theatre-y. For one, the article says that it felt like one long take, but I'm pretty sure this was actually one take. If not they hid it really well. I remember seeing the Hitchcock movie Rope which was a done in one continuous shot except for when they needed to change the film. It's hard to imagine how difficult a one shot film would be, or the complicated La La Land dance for the performers, cameramen, and director. Some directors like to sketch out how the composition of their scenes, and it would be so tricky to do that for a continuous dance number or a whole movie. I wish the article did go more into depth about how they shot the freeway scenes- what was blocked off and when, how much was edited, the arrangement of the colorful cars, etc. Maybe another article will go more in depth.
Although I do believe this movie is well made, I did not like it in its entirety. I think there are many aspects of the movie that are lacking. However, this behind the scenes footage definitely makes me like the movie more than when I originally saw it. Seeing the perfectly timed choreography in tandem with a real rehearsal space full of cars was so impressive! Nonetheless I still did not like the movie as much as some people did. I was lost was by the style of the musical. I felt like they were trying to emulate Singing in the Rain and all the traditional golden age movie musicals. I had no problem with that. Where my confusion lied was the moments where they took you out of the world by having an absurd thing happen. I'm not talking about singing, or a woman jumping out of a cake, but like dancing on the moon. Why? Although musicals are "other worldly" in the sense that people break into song and dance for no reason, even dream sequences still abide by the rules of the world. So it was in those moments that the film lost my vote, it was just too hokey, even for a movie musical.
Although I was one of the people that fell on the La La Land spectrum of hating it, it was mainly out of fault for the music and the plot line in the script and the text itself. However, with that being said, this video clip of the filming process is still highly impressive! I actually wish I could learn more about the other shooting processes for some of the other scenes in the film. It's always interesting seeing articles posted on here about things relating to film and TV since Carnegie Mellon is so theatre centric in it's basis. This article now makes we want to further research how other movies have handled shooting large scenes like this one and others in La La Land. I wonder if the Les Mis movie ran into similar problems with their big scenes which were also shot under the similar pretense of having the actors, scenes, and songs being filmed live instead of having the footage being filled in with the prerecorded soundtrack in the editing room post shoot.
I always love seeing behind the scenes like these. It is cool to get an inside look on the hard work and many iterations that go into these big productions. I think one of the coolest things about this article was that it mentioned the camera crew and how coordinated they had to be as well to get this one long take. When I was in highschool we did a one shot video that went through the entire school. I remember seeing the camera crew go by and being amazed at how rehearsed they seemed. There was one person with the camera connected to their body and people around that person making sure the their path was clear or that they were going the right awayh and not bumping into anything. Overall, what really makes a successful production in the hard work and great coordination of all aspects of the project.
Well, the title says, “La La Land Opening Number Rehearsal Video Will Make You Want to Listen to the Soundtrack Again.” In my case, they were right. It is not like I have not heard the soundtrack many times before - I listened to it walking on my way to school this morning- but there is something about seeing the footage of that scene that compels me to have it playing. Now it is on while I write this comment. I am so happy they the scene that was recorded was the opening. Sitting in the theatre watching it for the first time gave me happy-chills, if that is an actual thing. I usually am not a fan of this type of single-shot,panorama photography, but it was actually a large contributor to an enjoyable experience in this film. I felt like I was really there. In this colorful, musical world.
La La Land had some really magical scenes and some wonderful homages to the great musical classics, and although I can recognize the magnitude of how hard it was to artistically craft this scene, I thought it was useless in the context of the film. It was a complete diversion from some of the subtleties of the rest of the film and made me think “why do we need another flashy anything goes type musical” right as the film started. The rest of the movie obviously made up for it but the cheesy dancing, the upbeat tempo, the colorful primary costumes, and the sunny utopian picture of Los Angeles were too much for me to handle in those first integral moments. With that said, the ability to track this whole shot with all of these dancers from one camera was an incredible feat that was just as choreographed as the moves of the performers.
To be honest I saw La La Land and didn’t think it was amazing; of course I appreciated it’s beautiful stylization and design elements, and it’s homages to classic Old Hollywood. I think in any other time I would have been more than happy to watch a movie “musical” about the power of art and love, but I think in our current state of the world it just seemed a little indulgent and escapist. That being said, I don’t think you can argue that it wasn’t a beautifully put-together movie, including this now-iconic opening dance number. I always like seeing the behind-the-scenes clips from blockbuster movies such as this, because it brings it down to a level you can understand while also, somehow, putting into perspective how detailed and grueling their entire process must have been. The cinematographers were cleverly able to turn a parking lot into a highway in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and coordinate careful camera movements to transition smoothly from one dancer/singer to another in a simultaneously theatrical and cinematic way.
Post a Comment