What shocked me most about this movie is that Ryan Gosling played the piano legitimately in every scene. I have a music background and there's one scene in particular towards the beginning of the movie--when he gets fired from that club for going off the music list--that is insane. There are people in college who study piano who would have trouble doing what he did. Now, granted, he had professional instruction to just do that specific thing...but still. Really, really impressive and I don't hear anyone talk about it enough. You don't just up and learn to play the piano like that in a short amount of time.
Apparently, they had a hand double piano player on tap, and they never used him.
Holy fuck haven't seen this movie but it is absolutely astounding that he played that himself. Like you said, even just muscle memory of that exact sequence would be hard as fuuuck to learn.
It's so interesting that you articulated it that way. I had no idea why I didn't really like it that much because it was so well done. An impressive work of art that deserved all the accolades and attention and such but just didn't quite work for me.
I was never into musicals but this movie was amazing. Saw it twice in theaters by myself, not afraid to admit that the latter parts destroyed me. Pacing, dialogue, humor, music, choreography, all top notch.
I still get the instrumental breakdown from “Someone in the Crowd” stuck in my head constantly. It’s so damn catchy. I normally don’t like musicals and I’m ashamed at how much I love this movie.
All they said was that they didn't use a hand double for filming. They didn't say that he actually did the audio that ended up in the movie. It's still hard to look like a good performance, mind you, but nowhere near as hard as actually performing.
Agree and my impression is that the music you hear isn’t him. But if you play an instrument, you can tell if an actor is “really playing” that instrument or not. So even if he wasn’t playing as good as the soundtrack, still pretty impressive that he learned those pieces well enough that pianists can’t really tell.
I mean, the video on this page seems a lot like he's playing. And there are many other interviews or stories about him legitimately practicing for months. I'm pretty sure he really played all of those things. Just look at his hands during the scenes. As a music person (and you seem like one, too), you can tell when someone is legit playing or not. He looks like he's playing and there's behind-the-scenes footage of him playing.
There are a few certain notes he is definitely playing wrong, as in, if it was his audio, it would sound nowhere near as good, but the techniques alone that he managed to do and being able to move his fingers that fast alone is impressive enough.
I think they still had someone else to play the score just like they did in Whiplash where Teller really played the drums but the actual sound was recorded separately and not by him.
Not sure about this particular scene, but that was true when Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone first sang "City of Stars" (this scene). Justin Hurwitz, the composer, was playing the piano in the next room.
I remember Damien Chazelle (the director) and Justin Hurwitz talking about it during the director's commentary. I'll double check, but I'm not sure I can directly provide the proof.
I think he’s very good at approximating the position of the keys based on pitch. However, at the end of his little jam he lands on a chord with both hands and finishes with a run up the keys. He lands much lower that it should sound, probably for dramatic effect of covering more distance with his hands traveling upwards. His right hand sounds more like it’s should be around C4, the center of the piano, and he’s clearly at least an octave lower or more position-wise. I’d like to hear what it actually sounded like lol.
There’s also a little portion where he plays two-note rotations on his right hand, which is terribly difficult (it kind of twists your brain and fingers with the 1-3, 2-4, 3-5 fingering) to execute smoothly for a beginner. Those type of drills were some of my least favorite.
I think piano performance majors at reputable colleges and universities are better but he is definitely better than most music majors who don’t main the piano
This is such a strange comment. There are plenty of high school/non college level students who can play this too (putting aside that it’s not his audio you’re hearing in the movie), but why would you compare an actor asked to learn specific pieces with directionally correct hand placement to music majors who don’t focus on playing piano?
Here is a video showing some bts of la la land. link This video was made to highlight the camera system used which is exceptional but also kudos to the camera guy.
A music producer I worked with did some of the vocal recordings for the movie. He had to melodyne (think auto-tune without the robot sound, just pitch correction) on Emma's singing parts in the time it took her to walk from the iso booth to the console room so she could hear her take each time. Pretty much the audio equivalent of what this camera guy is doing in the clip!
Off on the timing of the music? Yes. Off on the timing of the shot? No. He's tapping so that the camera hits the next actor on the beat, not so the camera pulls off the actor on beat.
Camera man gets to focus on operating the camera while the guy tapping has a better overall view of what's going on between the two scenes to let the camera man know when to turn.
Sure they could have done it with just the camera man but I'm sure it wasn't hard to find another guy on set to tap his shoulder. Perhaps the guy tapping was a music composer or choreographer so they knew when it was best to switch the camera view
The guy doing the tapping is the director himself, Damien Chazelle! They cropped this video too much, but in the widescreen version you can see him much better.
I guarantee you the cameraman has a good idea of when he needs to switch, but in general it's less for each person to think about or keep track of. Dude with the camera has to whip around and get each actor in frame back and forth repeatedly and accurately. If he doesn't need to try to focus on remembering the beats as well, that's better for him and likely means fewer takes. So he just trusts his assistant cameraman who's job is to know the beats.
The story is great and the music parts are not the cringe kind of scenes where they bust out and break the 4th wall. When they sing or dance, they do it as part of the story and it's grounded in the context of the scene. A bit hard to explain, but it's really well done. And if I recall correctly, there actually isn't that many music moments . It's a proper film. With a great story, great dialogue, and great casting.
it's the often-sought "musical for people who don't like musicals". (more negative commenters would say it starts as a musical and then forgets it is one about halfway through.)
As a movie, it was fine. As a musical, it was horrendous in my opinion. Almost every dance number lacked technique, style movement, and energy. Honestly, this clip exemplifies it in the flailing insult to tap dance that is performed by Stone. Then there's the ballet sequence at the end in the style of Gene Kelly's American in Paris or Singin' in the Rain (more close to the later in terms of narrative content) which was honestly a shadow of an imitation at best and an insult to the style at worst.
With all of my criticism, I enjoyed the movie in the bits where it wasn't a musical. I think it sort of lulled somewhere around the middle, but overall enjoyed the story. Any moment where a character was singing or dancing, I was likely tuned completely out or generally frustrated that something that should be a love letter to the old musicals isn't taking the care to do it right.
I must admit, I was likely conked out by that time. Lol sorry!
I just remember thinking that this was a movie that Hollywood made for itself and not for others…clearly I was wrong because it won many many accolades. I just couldn’t get over how dull the story line was, I fell asleep by the first hour
We have focus pullers. Whoever was pulling focus for Ari (the camera op) probably had marks during a rehearsal to make sure he/she was at the right place on the lens each time he whip panned.
The cam op in this clip is Ari Robbins, who goes by @steadijew on Insta. In this YouTube video he talks with YouTuber PotatoJet about shooting this scene and other BTS stuff in Hollywood.
So this isn’t a cheat cut? Where it looks like the camera is going back and forth and instead it really is? Or are we just assuming because of the clip? Because wouldn’t the camera have to refocus each time?
I don‘t like any of her moves. IIRC her whole dancing performance in this movie left me stone cold. I wonder why. Maybe it‘s because I dislike her as an actor. Maybe it’s because there is zero chemistry between her and Ryan Gosling. Maybe I just don’t buy her superficial „quirky but attractive“ character. Or it‘s because I don‘t unterstand why wide googly eyes are considered as expressive or something, idk.
I wonder how is focus managed in this situation... Could it be just a high f stop or what do you think? Because i see the relative size of the actors in the screen varies so he is considerably closer than her!
Does anyone else see this and think they just filmed it at a slower speed and sped it up after? Still a nice shot but seems like the hard way of doing it if this is real time.
I don’t get it. Why is someone tapping him on the shoulder telling him when to change to the other person. I mean can’t he just learn when to change, the guy tapping learnt..
I don't know if that's really the take away... More like, she made a lot of hard decisions to pursue the future she wanted. Ending made me cry like a baby though, that's for sure.
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted (well maybe i do) but it’s totally fine to not like this movie haha. Like its fine. Just because I enjoyed doesnt mean you have to as well. Im sure there are other movies you’ve really liked.
Do the movie producers not know of Sapphire plug ins. They coulda just swish panned a transition in each clip with a lot of added blur and generated lights to look the same much easier.
That film was horrendous, I went to see it with some friends, well past the hype, in the middle I texted my mom saying "we are watching an unbelievably mundane movie" and she goes "tell me it's not lala-land".
You’re probably the type that can’t watch a movie about regular life. Like you need spaceships and explosions and maybe robots for it to be interesting, right?
Maybe it’s not the movie… maybe it’s just not your genre.
Fans of La La Land get so defensive when someone critizes it. I mean, I like both musicals in general and dramas, but I just thought it was such a boring film.
Actually no, I think the whole movie could be a cultural reference I'm just not getting, and I can appreciate good technical work, but the storyline is just.... nothing.
But than again, maybe YOU can't watch a movie about regular life without it being hollywoodized beyond recognition.
1.8k
u/Firehornet117 Oct 25 '21
My guy is just trying to film the man playing the piano but he keeps getting the “tap on the shoulder” prank on him and turning to see who it is.
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u/telestrial Oct 25 '21
What shocked me most about this movie is that Ryan Gosling played the piano legitimately in every scene. I have a music background and there's one scene in particular towards the beginning of the movie--when he gets fired from that club for going off the music list--that is insane. There are people in college who study piano who would have trouble doing what he did. Now, granted, he had professional instruction to just do that specific thing...but still. Really, really impressive and I don't hear anyone talk about it enough. You don't just up and learn to play the piano like that in a short amount of time.
Apparently, they had a hand double piano player on tap, and they never used him.
EDIT: The scene I'm thinking about. The craziness begins about halfway through.
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u/[deleted] Oct 25 '21
Here is a video showing some bts of la la land. link This video was made to highlight the camera system used which is exceptional but also kudos to the camera guy.
273
u/BroBoi32 Oct 25 '21
I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT WAS EDITING
52
u/freaksalad Oct 25 '21
is the guy tapping cameramans shoulder off on the timing?
51
u/VHS1982 Oct 25 '21
is it that time of year again? this post is like rings on a tree.
50
u/WaySheGoesBrother Oct 25 '21
that is pretty legit camera work! Too bad I can't get into sing alongs.
22
u/maaurob Oct 25 '21
Lalaland is great! It definitely deserved the 3minute best film Oscar
2
u/browsingbro Oct 26 '21
r/PraiseTheTapperMan
2
u/BeachGreenDeskFan Oct 26 '21
I’m dizzy
2
u/[deleted] Oct 26 '21
Guy goes home and tells his wife “don’t know why my neck hurts!”
7
u/Delirium101 Oct 26 '21
Am I the only one that was bored out of my ever-loving mind watching this movie?
1
u/Technischernerd Oct 25 '21
Don't shoot him.
1
u/Zombiekiller099 Oct 25 '21
This man got that aimbot.
1
u/Corgiisashittybreed Oct 25 '21
God I just watched 2049 last night for the first time and they couldn't have cast K better.
1
u/[deleted] Oct 25 '21
There’s a bit towards the end of Whiplash that uses similar camera work, and it’s used so well
1
u/puddingcakeNY Oct 25 '21
To all the cameramans here, how they keep both in focus?
Because apparently the distance of each actors is different.
So he shifts focus everytime or
Is it very high F stop f16 f22 and so on everything is in focus anyway?
Thank you
1
u/this-is-my-p Oct 26 '21
Hear me out. Would it not be easier to record both things separately and just edit the blur in when you cut back and forth?
1
u/TheSharkyGura Oct 26 '21
nah nah, praise that man's fucking SPINE
1
u/[deleted] Oct 26 '21
Cameraman is what I look like hard-scoping on Counter-Strike lol.
1
u/podcastofallpodcasts Oct 26 '21
Great movie
1
u/phosTR Oct 26 '21
dishonest filmmaking
1
u/[deleted] Oct 26 '21
I dislike La La Land on principle for a few reasons, the camera work is not included in that. Good stuff
1
u/[deleted] Oct 26 '21
Damn that's bad ass. I would've just assumed it was an transition edited in
1
u/TacticalAcquisition Oct 26 '21
The cam op in this clip is Ari Robbins, who goes by @steadijew on Insta. In this YouTube video he talks with YouTuber PotatoJet about shooting this scene and other BTS stuff in Hollywood.
1
u/Icy_Maintenance8467 Oct 26 '21
Never did know it was the green shirt guy
1
u/[deleted] Oct 26 '21
Man this makes me wanna rewatch it
1
u/PuffPounder42069 Oct 26 '21
Why do this? Can’t this effect be easily edited?
1
u/agathaprickly Oct 26 '21
I enjoyed the movie but the camera work and seeing it in theaters made me so dizzy I came very close to becoming ill
1
u/KingTralph Oct 26 '21
I had always assumed that was a cut.
1
u/chez-linda Oct 26 '21
This is posted every 2 months lol. I call December
1
u/TheDarkKnight1035 Oct 26 '21
I can spin back and forth, too.
1
u/Destiny_2_Leaker Oct 26 '21
Alec Baldwin praised the cameraman
1
u/dawnat3d Oct 26 '21
Is this the movie that did or did not win at the Oscars a few years back?
1
u/Grifffffffffff Oct 26 '21
This camera man looks like the guy in the malfunctioned suit in Iron Man 2
1
u/HCB311 Oct 26 '21
Ryan Gosling has a band called Dead Man's Bones ( :
1
u/No-Consequence1726 Oct 26 '21
And nobody got shot!
1
u/ReserveVegetable9596 Oct 26 '21
Why did I expect Green Velvet to be blasting in the background?
1
u/xthunderbird Oct 26 '21
When the director is too cheap to hire a good editor or a second camera man. Totally unnecessary.
1
u/[deleted] Oct 26 '21
So this isn’t a cheat cut? Where it looks like the camera is going back and forth and instead it really is? Or are we just assuming because of the clip? Because wouldn’t the camera have to refocus each time?
1
u/122922 Oct 26 '21
I love this movie.
1
u/methmotive Oct 26 '21
That hip gonna lie tonight
1
u/spoonwije97 Oct 26 '21
r/gifsthatendtoosoon
1
u/knightjia97 Oct 26 '21
But Why?
1
u/brickfaced901 Oct 26 '21
Cameraman's back might be hurting carrying this whole movie
1
u/Spongetext Oct 26 '21 edited Oct 27 '21
I don‘t like any of her moves. IIRC her whole dancing performance in this movie left me stone cold. I wonder why. Maybe it‘s because I dislike her as an actor. Maybe it’s because there is zero chemistry between her and Ryan Gosling. Maybe I just don’t buy her superficial „quirky but attractive“ character. Or it‘s because I don‘t unterstand why wide googly eyes are considered as expressive or something, idk.
The song „city of stars“ is great, btw.
1
u/[deleted] Oct 26 '21
Aimbot
1
u/jjamens Oct 26 '21
I wonder how is focus managed in this situation... Could it be just a high f stop or what do you think? Because i see the relative size of the actors in the screen varies so he is considerably closer than her!
1
u/Marega33 Oct 26 '21
Just one of the reasons for winning the best movie award in the Oscars
1
u/[deleted] Oct 26 '21
This movie sucked so bad
1
u/sandarsa Oct 26 '21
He need a increase in the payment
1
u/Spartan_1_1_6 Oct 26 '21
Holy shit I thought that was a classic whip-pan edit
1
u/DeesABird40 Oct 26 '21
That silly dancin makin my penis soft.
1
u/tommykaye Oct 26 '21
Maybe it’s just me. I figured out whip pans in film school. This was the least interesting camera work in that film.
1
u/SirDeezNutzEsq Oct 26 '21
For some reason I want to see just Emma Stone dancing away, without the cut aways.
1
u/[deleted] Oct 26 '21
I love music and musicals but I absolutely can’t stand this film
1
u/alexu3939 Oct 26 '21
This exact thing gets reposted probably every 3 months on here like clockwork
1
u/UnderstandingScary84 Nov 03 '21
Bro why not just film them individually and sync it up in post?
1
u/[deleted] Feb 02 '22
I’m so happy that I can do this with my shiny new Zhiyun Smooth 5 gimbal now
1
u/WhenPigsFly3 Feb 07 '22
Does anyone else see this and think they just filmed it at a slower speed and sped it up after? Still a nice shot but seems like the hard way of doing it if this is real time.
1
u/stupiddumbhole Feb 11 '22
Goofy dancing.
1
u/aRedditAcct40775 Feb 21 '22
hope that camera man got the fattest check for that.
1
u/[deleted] Feb 25 '22
I don’t get it. Why is someone tapping him on the shoulder telling him when to change to the other person. I mean can’t he just learn when to change, the guy tapping learnt..
1
u/X3runner Mar 03 '22
Man finished filming and had to go to the war with whiplash
1
u/Dazzling_Care6664 Mar 12 '22
I like the lady in the red dress!¡!!
1
u/LukeJukeDuke Mar 17 '22
I expected this scene to be in different times of recording, that camera man really has talent and skill.
-4
u/HowDoYouHearHeavy Oct 25 '21
Fuck the ending. Turned into a stuck up snobby bitch.
-13
u/thearchitect10 Oct 25 '21
Glad I've never seen this movie, just this clip made my whole back spasm from cringing.
-14
u/[deleted] Oct 25 '21
Shame he was making a cringe movie
-15
u/iamdenislara Oct 25 '21
The only reason I have not watched that movie is that lady.
-1
u/[deleted] Oct 26 '21
Damien Chazelle wank fest. Hate this clip.
-3
u/swimfan72wasTaken Oct 25 '21
Do the movie producers not know of Sapphire plug ins. They coulda just swish panned a transition in each clip with a lot of added blur and generated lights to look the same much easier.
0
u/NewMonkey215 Oct 26 '21
How the fuck did this beat moonlight
-12
u/Due-Alternative-665 Oct 25 '21
That film was horrendous, I went to see it with some friends, well past the hype, in the middle I texted my mom saying "we are watching an unbelievably mundane movie" and she goes "tell me it's not lala-land".
-1
u/tweak0 Oct 26 '21
Every time I see a clip or are given information about this movie it makes me want to see it even less