I’m not a big musical fan in general, though there are a handful of them I enjoy. I thought La La Land was all right, but I thought the opening scene was absolutely brilliant.
I’ve probably watched it 15 times on its own, about half a dozen times during one plane ride last year when I had access to the movie and just kept going back to the beginning of the scene.
Why? Not because I love the music or dancing so much (though I do enjoy it) but because the coordination involved to make this scene work is astounding to me. It’s a single shot (or seems that way) with so much at stake. When I watch it I think…. What if she had missed the backflip landing? What if the skateboarder had landed on the wrong beat? What if the guy on the bike had slipped off the hood of the car? Would they have to start all over??? So much happening and so much to orchestrate.
I was recommending the film (and the scene in particular) to someone recently, and I found this fantastic explanation of how it was done by choreographer Mandy Moore (not THAT Mandy Moore).
It’s a 12-minute explanation with a white board of details, and it’s worth the watch. Even my kids were intrigued by it. I’d love to try to accomplish something like this some day. So much Planning and Detailing and Scheduling. A huge headache and/but a dream come true if you could pull it off. #nerd
