hollywood melon man

Damien Chazelle comes from a prestigious school and majored in film at Harvard University.

My father graduated from Princeton University with a degree in computer science, and my mother graduated from Yale University with a degree in history, so the family has a strong cultural atmosphere.

Because his parents liked to watch musicals from the golden age, Damien Chazelle fell in love with the musical form since he was a child, and it was more nostalgic and retro.

Damien Chazelle worked hard for his movie dream and finally became famous with "Whiplash".

He also wrote a film review for "Chicago" directed by Gilbert Jr., analyzing why the film is one of the best musicals.

Then he resolved to make an equally outstanding musical himself, but he ended up collided with them.

Damien Chazelle could only sigh that geniuses think alike, but he did not lose heart. Instead, he prepared his new movie "The Big Apple", which was recently invested by Lionsgate.

When he learned that Gilbert's "La La Land" had finally entered the filming stage, he recommended his good friend Justin Hurwitz to Gilbert.

After listening to several of the composer's jazz pieces, Gilbert Jr. immediately hired the young composer to compose songs for the film.

Justin Hurwitz did not disappoint Gilbert Jr.'s expectations and had composed more than ninety songs before the filming began.

The English name of the film is "La La Land", and this title is not chosen randomly.

The onomatopeia "La La" was originally used to refer to the sound made by a crazy person or nonsense.

So the phrase La La Land came about in the 1970s, and one usage of it was to refer to people with fantastic ideas.

Another way is to refer to a magical place where any dream can come true. More specifically, it is a nickname for Hollywood in Los Angeles.

During the early preparations, Gilbert Jr. repeatedly emphasized the retro texture of the film.

He repeatedly studied the overall tone of the film with the photography team, and the camera scheduling also referred more to the works of musical masters from the golden age of the last century.

Eventually, Gilbert Jr. decided to use the widescreen film technology that was popular in the 1950s, but this technology was soon replaced.

Simply put, this photography technique is to compress the image onto a 1.33mm film with a ratio of 1:35 during the process of shooting a film.

During screening, it is stretched to a ratio of 2.55:1 and projected onto the screen, making the film look more magnificent and spectacular.

The technology was short-lived, lasting less than twenty years before it was replaced by Panavision, a more advanced widescreen technology.

But many classic musicals, including Rebel Without a Cause, which is mentioned in the script, were shot using this ancient technique.

But this technology has been extinct for half a century, so Gilbert Jr. and the camera crew searched and experimented repeatedly, and finally chose Panavision's 35mm film and shot with an aspect ratio of 2.55:1.

However, the most difficult part for the film is how to complete the large-scale mobilization of actors and complete the filming of the film.

Gilbert Jr. said to the two leading actors: "I hope the first dance of the film will come as soon as possible, because the form of musicals is no longer popular.

This way, if the audience doesn’t like the first song and dance, they can leave early.”

Scarlett Johansson disagreed: "I don't think anyone would do that because it's your movie."

Ryan Gosling agreed: "I read the script, and we rehearsed, and it's going to be a great movie."

It was definitely great, but it was a bit of a torture to shoot. In order to allow the crew to adapt to the rhythm, Gilbert Jr. performed a difficult scene in the first scene.

A song and dance scene on a highway was shot using a long lens without losing a single frame.

In order to shoot this scene, the crew obtained the consent of the Los Angeles City Government and blocked a section of the highway. For this scene, dozens of actors from Broadway made a lot of preparations, practicing for more than two months, then practicing in the parking lot for a week, and finally officially filming on this highway.

With such complex scheduling, shooting is naturally very difficult.

The crew shot more than a hundred takes on the highway in three days, and finally selected three sets of the most satisfying shots.

However, although it is called a long shot, the film actually has two hidden transition shots, which creates a visual long shot effect.

After this scene was finished, it was the turn of the two protagonists.

Gilbert also has special designs on the cars of the two protagonists. The heroine Mia drives a Toyota Prius. This car is the most popular car in Los Angeles. The reason for its popularity is simple: it is cheap and fuel-efficient.

The car the crew arranged for Mia was an old model from 2012, a second-hand car that didn't even have a headrest.

According to Naomi Watts, having a car means Mia is actually doing OK. You know, when she came to Los Angeles to pursue her dream, she couldn't even get a taxi and had to walk home.

The protagonist Sebastian's car is also very interesting. It is a Buick convertible sports car produced in 1982, which is a notorious failed model in Buick's history.

The economic situation and personalities of the male and female protagonists can be felt from the condition of the two cars, so their first meeting was quite unpleasant, and they even gave each other the middle finger.

It seems that watching past Hollywood love movies, it can be found that most couples’ first meeting is basically not pleasant.

This kind of meeting pattern between the male and female protagonists in romance films, who are happy enemies, has become popular since the golden age of Hollywood.

The earliest one was in the 1934 movie "It Happened One Night", and the most classic one is "Roman Holiday" starring Audrey Hepburn.

It remained a classic drama structure until the 1990s when chick flicks became popular.

The director's ingenious conception of the drama and the exquisite setting of the shots made the actors feel the unusualness of this film.

Except for the two leading actors Ryan Gosling and Scarlett Johansson, none of the other actors have worked with Gilbert Jr.

But when they were immersed in the filming of the movie and completed each scene smoothly, they found that the way great directors shoot movies is so elegant and romantic.

In order to help the actors get the feeling of a musical, Gilbert Jr. made a vinyl record of the music composed by Justin Hurwitz and played it on a phonograph on the set.

Such retro and professional qualities usually allow actors to get into the state very quickly.

As the highlight of the film, Scarlett Johansson brought out all her hard preparations and strived for perfection in every scene.

Inspired and driven by her, Ryan Gosling's performance was also the reason, and the two of them had a wonderful chemical reaction.

As the first day at the beginning of the film, the two actors actually have separate roles. Mia, played by Scarlett Johansson, is exhausted after a failed day.

Sebastian, played by Ryan Gosling, also faces difficulties. His family does not support him in pursuing his dreams and makes him return to reality.

The two met in a restaurant in the evening, where Ryan Gosling was playing the piano.

It is worth mentioning that Ryan Gosling played the piano all by himself without using a stand-in.

Gilbert Jr. originally prepared a stand-in for him, but after three months of practicing five to six times a week for two hours each time, Ryan Gosling was able to play it perfectly.

This is talent and dedication.

Who among the brothers can do this? (End of this chapter)