La La Land 2016- Damien Chazelle

La La Land 2016- Damien Chazelle

La La Land explores the theme of romance like a typical musical film whilst exploring the struggles of a relationship due to aspiring dreams of the two protagonists.

Setting it apart from other romantic musicals. Chazelle creates two separate stories and struggles for the protagonists. At the beginning of the film, they are presented as two separate characters with their own struggles, seen as they are the first characters introduced, this is a clear sign that they will be joined together later on in the film. This film differs from typical romantic musicals as it focuses more on the personal struggles of the characters rather than the relationship between the two characters. Rather than progressing the relationship, the aspirations of the characters are progressed.

The relationship is presented through the lighting. The lighting presents the deep connection that Mia and Seb have. During the moments they have together that represents them. For example: When Seb plays their song. When this happens all lighting around them dims, and one spotlight focuses on each protagonist. The use of this singling out effectively highlights how infatuated the couple are. It also emphasises the importance of the moments they share together are.

The musical scenes are constantly panning, they are rarely cut. This is effective in portraying the smoothness of the type of music and the dance. The use of a pan creates an open aspect to show the amount of space that is covered when dancing and singing. In some musical scenes, there are some elements of Singing In The Rain. Some of the set is painted in a similar style to that of singing in the rain. This is effective in highlighting the “golden age Hollywood” aspect that Chazelle was aiming to achieve in La La Land. The painted scenes are also reminiscent of the Jazz era that Seb misses so much . Despite being a modern musical, Chazelle effectively brings back the “golden age Hollywood” to La La Land.