La La Land essay
La La Land Essay
In La La Land Cinematography is extremely important as it can be used to show the power or struggle of a character's journey and how they feel instead of blatantly showing it.
The final scene is the perfect example of how important Cinematography is and how it can affect a story the scene begins with a long shot which zooms in to him playing the piano as the lighting fades, this dark surroundings may reflect how alone and isolated he feels due to being reunited with Mia, seeing her with a different man, then a spotlight shines down upon him representing how he feels under pressure to perform well as he wants to impress her. This is followed by a reaction shot of Mia where the cinematography mirrors the cinematography in the previous shot by having a long shot zooming in as the lights fade this visualize the connection still between Mia and Seb and how they still love each other even after 5 years. Then there's a sudden reverse close-up shot back to Seb which zooms out quickly this shows how fast the time has gone since there meeting in the restaurant so long ago the zoom out then stops when they have returned to the first scene Seb and Mia met mirroring the shots from the earlier scene, however during the tracking shot of Mia Seb doest ignore her and instead kisses her as the camera revolves around them suggesting that they are tangled up in love and lost in a love spiral. then when the spiral ends it transitions into a long shot of the two holding each other the restaurant start snapping their fingers this is an intertextual reference to Gresse, then as the couple leave the restaurant the camera follows them this shot transitions to a match cut of them running through there house, but the camera closes up on a poster of hands playing the piano which is then met with a match on action shot of a pianist in the jazz club where Seb and Mia are on a date. the set then changes to the set of Mia play but unlike the real play where no one showed up. Now the cinematography changes as after this point a large section of this scene are taken in one shot adding verisimilitude to this very fantasy sequence, this makes the segment feel like a story because of the cinematography juxtaposing the sequence of events, this mirrors how Seb represents reality throughout the movie and Mia represents Fantasy.
This segment is full of intertextual references to other older musicals such as Singin' in the Rain, Funny Face, American in Paris, Le ballon rouge, Les Parapluies Cherbourg, on the town and Broadway melody of 1940. the reason for a large number of references is because of Damien Chazelle being heavily inspired by old musicals.
The one-shot sequence involves lots of sidetracking shots with some long shots which pan over them. there is a close up of a globe representing how they have travelled, this is a reference to Indiana Jones.
The scene then abroaches its end as we are given a mid-shot from behind while they watch their lives together unfold on an old-style movie screen referencing their romantic date to the movies. Sadly the scene ends with Seb and Mia mirroring the events which Mia and her husband took to get to the club showing how happy their life could be. But as they kiss reality kicks in and we return to an extreme close up of Sebs handshaking this is the revelation that the whole sequence we just watch was made up and the camera pans to his face.
I had an active viewership to this scene because I was intreated by the character development through the movie and the cinematography in this scene is so important because it captivates the emotions between Seb and Mia; this increases a viewers enjoyment of the film and for me, it helped me sympathise with Seb as a character as the majority of the shots he was in was grounded in verisimilitude and made him feel more real, unlike Mia's scenes.
The colours in this scene are very vibrant and childish showing the fantasy in this scene however the start and end of the scene are very dark colours showing how fantasy is not real and reality will always catch up with us.
In conclusion, I think that the Cinematography is the most important part of this movie as it grounds the movie in reality.
In La La Land Cinematography is extremely important as it can be used to show the power or struggle of a character's journey and how they feel instead of blatantly showing it.
The final scene is the perfect example of how important Cinematography is and how it can affect a story the scene begins with a long shot which zooms in to him playing the piano as the lighting fades, this dark surroundings may reflect how alone and isolated he feels due to being reunited with Mia, seeing her with a different man, then a spotlight shines down upon him representing how he feels under pressure to perform well as he wants to impress her. This is followed by a reaction shot of Mia where the cinematography mirrors the cinematography in the previous shot by having a long shot zooming in as the lights fade this visualize the connection still between Mia and Seb and how they still love each other even after 5 years. Then there's a sudden reverse close-up shot back to Seb which zooms out quickly this shows how fast the time has gone since there meeting in the restaurant so long ago the zoom out then stops when they have returned to the first scene Seb and Mia met mirroring the shots from the earlier scene, however during the tracking shot of Mia Seb doest ignore her and instead kisses her as the camera revolves around them suggesting that they are tangled up in love and lost in a love spiral. then when the spiral ends it transitions into a long shot of the two holding each other the restaurant start snapping their fingers this is an intertextual reference to Gresse, then as the couple leave the restaurant the camera follows them this shot transitions to a match cut of them running through there house, but the camera closes up on a poster of hands playing the piano which is then met with a match on action shot of a pianist in the jazz club where Seb and Mia are on a date. the set then changes to the set of Mia play but unlike the real play where no one showed up. Now the cinematography changes as after this point a large section of this scene are taken in one shot adding verisimilitude to this very fantasy sequence, this makes the segment feel like a story because of the cinematography juxtaposing the sequence of events, this mirrors how Seb represents reality throughout the movie and Mia represents Fantasy.
This segment is full of intertextual references to other older musicals such as Singin' in the Rain, Funny Face, American in Paris, Le ballon rouge, Les Parapluies Cherbourg, on the town and Broadway melody of 1940. the reason for a large number of references is because of Damien Chazelle being heavily inspired by old musicals.
The one-shot sequence involves lots of sidetracking shots with some long shots which pan over them. there is a close up of a globe representing how they have travelled, this is a reference to Indiana Jones.
The scene then abroaches its end as we are given a mid-shot from behind while they watch their lives together unfold on an old-style movie screen referencing their romantic date to the movies. Sadly the scene ends with Seb and Mia mirroring the events which Mia and her husband took to get to the club showing how happy their life could be. But as they kiss reality kicks in and we return to an extreme close up of Sebs handshaking this is the revelation that the whole sequence we just watch was made up and the camera pans to his face.
I had an active viewership to this scene because I was intreated by the character development through the movie and the cinematography in this scene is so important because it captivates the emotions between Seb and Mia; this increases a viewers enjoyment of the film and for me, it helped me sympathise with Seb as a character as the majority of the shots he was in was grounded in verisimilitude and made him feel more real, unlike Mia's scenes.
The colours in this scene are very vibrant and childish showing the fantasy in this scene however the start and end of the scene are very dark colours showing how fantasy is not real and reality will always catch up with us.
In conclusion, I think that the Cinematography is the most important part of this movie as it grounds the movie in reality.
Comments
Post a Comment