How Cinematic Technique Works Together to Create Meaning in La La Land: Cinematography in Underscoring the Theme of Romance and Love

Introduction

Written and directed by Damien Chazelle, La La Land is a romantic musical comedy-drama released in the United States in 2016. The film is mainly about Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), the two struggling artists who meet and fall in love while striving to achieve their dreams in the Hollywood industry. At the outset, La La Land employs various cinematic techniques to create a visually spectacular and emotionally riveting portrayal of love, ambition, and the pursuit of dreams. The film’s cinematography, in particular, emphasizes the film’s central theme of love and the difficulties of sustaining a romantic connection in the face of conflicting demands by creating an atmosphere of nostalgia and passion. Ultimately, in La La Land, cinematography evokes a nostalgic and romantic atmosphere, emphasizing the central theme of love and the challenges of pursuing a romantic relationship alongside one’s dreams.

Cinematography

La La Land incorporates cinematography to establish the most influential graphic configuration of romance and to immerse the audiences in Sebastian and Mia’s love story. Benthaus (284)claims that the film’s exquisite visuals created by Linus Sandgren, the cinematographer, result from meticulous cinematographic manipulation of elements linked to “composition, lighting, and camera motion” such as color, camera angle, season, and continuity. Besides, the clichéd romantic narrative in La La Land demonstrates that people have long turned to musicals and imagination to escape from life’s realities. Chusna (205) asserts that the composition harkens back to old-school Hollywood musicals, which often included dream sequences and other fanciful aspects, contributing to the film’s overall sentimental atmosphere. In that regard, the film mostly adheres to a chronologically linear narrative structure with a few notable exceptions, like the dream scene in which Mia and Sebastian dance among some of the stars.

The soft colors in La La Land create a nostalgic, passionate ambiance that highlights the film’s central love theme. Arthamevia (29) argues that Sandgren employs a soft color palette to generate a dreamlike, romantic atmosphere. The film’s opening sequence is a musical performance set in traffic congestion, and its bright colors and catchy tunes instantly hint at the film’s humorous and romantic undertones. Film critic Benthaus notes that the film’s romantic tone comes from the clothing’ pastel tones, the film’s pure blue sky, and the film’s golden sunsets (283). In essence, Sandgren’s choice of a soothing color palette aids in creating the film’s dreamy and romantic ambiance, which is crucial to the film’s underlying theme of love. 

Likewise, Chazelle uses long shots extensively throughout the film to give the story a feeling of flow and continuity while at the same time incorporating song and dance to keep up with genre conventions. To immerse the audience in the film’s atmosphere and the frantic energy of the city, the opening sequence, which contains a large-scale musical performance set amid traffic congestion, is filmed in one continuous take (Chusna 205). In the audition sequence, the camera stays on Mia while she sings her song with all her heart. The power of Mia’s ambition to make it as an actor is highlighted by the seamlessness with which the scene is captured on film (Chazelle). As well, Sandgren used tracking shots and extended takes to draw the spectator into the universe of the protagonists and heighten the feeling of closeness between them. Most noticeable occurrence of this is in “A Lovely Night,” the film’s trademark dance routine (Chazelle).

Sebastian and Mia’s nascent romance is kicked off with “A Lovely Night,” a song whose tone and atmosphere perfectly capture the ambiance of the season. The two characters, Sebastian and Mia, are seen returning to their automobiles after a party in Los Angeles when they come across a scenic overlook of the city lit up by night. Based on Benthaus (277), there is a nod to the movie “Rebel Without a Cause” in their first dance, which takes place in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park. Sandgren and Chazelle aimed to use the actual setting while adding a surreal quality with the help of blue lighting and the magic hour provided by the green streetlights. The observation inspired the choice of a secluded location overlooking Burbank as the setting for the dance scene, giving the impression that the dance might have taken place at any moment. In order to make the street lamps seem more modern and elegant, they were painted different colors. Chazelle maintained the film’s surreal tone by eliminating all dated elements, from streetlights to billboards. The film’s use of song and dance conveys emotion, focuses on love relationships, and celebrates the importance of following one’s aspirations, all of which are genre conventions. As a result, viewers of all ages and from all over the world could fully engage with the film.

The film’s denouement reinforces the film’s theme that La La Land is a haven for romantic idealists by showing the film’s main protagonists realizing their aspirations without risking their relationship. The film’s finale takes place five years in the future and is ostensibly told from Mia’s point of view since it concentrates primarily on her professional successes and travels with Sebastian in tow so that he may play the piano in jazz clubs everywhere she goes (Benthaus 277). It further demonstrates that they both had to make concessions for their relationship to succeed. However, this contradicts the cold reality confronting the two characters once the music ends. Relating to the cinematography techniques, camera shots in the final scene are seamless because it embodies magic, imagination, and dreams. A continuous stream of vibrant colors is shown to the spectator without breaks. The set that Chazelle designed allowed for the constant movement of the camera and the performers. As a result, the viewers’ sense of optimism and awe is restored. A dream in which the couple is finally united is shown to the audience. Unfortunately, Mia eventually married and had a kid with another man, shattering Sebastian’s dreams (Chazelle). From bright and poppy, the palette fades to a muted blue. Mia is depicted as a successful actress, while Sebastian works to open his jazz club; the audience’s melancholy is reflected in the dominant color blue.

In telling the narrative of the doomed lovers, La La Land successfully avoids falling into either trope or originality. The lack of dialogue between the two main characters leaves viewers wanting more, but the simple grin at the conclusion is a clever substitution. According to Arthamevia (52), seasons served as a timepiece, whereas incorporating color and cinematography piqued the viewers’ imagination. These equally serve to divide the picture and hint at the lovers’ inevitable separation. Many in the audience might have known what would happen, but they may be too caught up in the dream and the cliché for it to reflect.

Conclusion

Conclusively, cinematography plays a crucial role in the success of La La Land as a cinematic experience. Chazelle crafts a beautiful and immersive universe that celebrates the beauty of love and the pursuit of one’s ambitions via various techniques, such as extended shots, brilliant colors, nostalgic camera angles, season, and continuity. Viewers are immersed in Mia and Sebastian’s universe, experiencing the highs and lows of their love in a manner that is both aesthetically spectacular and emotionally evocative, all attributable to the camera. The film’s cinematography ultimately acts as a concrete monument to the perseverance of love and the significance of listening to one’s heart despite external pressures.

Works Cited

Arthamevia P, Ekalistya. THE POWER OF COLORS IN LA Lhttps://repository.unika.ac.id/30486/A LAND (DAMIEN CHAZELLE, 2016): A CINEMATIC COLOR ANALYSIS. Diss. Universitas Katholik Soegijapranata Semarang, 2022.

Benthaus, Elena. “The Transmission of Nostalgia and (Be)Longing in Popular Screendance, or Recollecting Damien Chazelle’s La La Land.” Cultural Memory and Popular Dance, 2021, pp. 275-288.

Chazelle, Damien, director. La La Land. Performance by Ryan Thomas Gosling, and Emma Stone, Summit Entertainment, 2016.

Choi, Sung-Min. “Healing Effects of Movie Narrative: Through Damien Chazelle’s Films, such as “La La Land”.” The Society of Korean Literary Therapy, vol. 58, no. 0, 2021, pp. 149-180.

Chusna, Imro’atul. “AMERICAN DREAM CONCEPT FOUND IN LA LA LAND MOVIE.” National Seminar of PBI (English Language Education), 2019, pp. 203-207.