La La Land (2016) — "Another Day of Sun" freeway opening
See our character’s iconic-scene parody →In an opening where drivers get out of their cars on a jammed freeway to sing and dance, the camera rises and falls among the cars and captures it as if in one continuous take. Borrow it when you need the excited energy of an everyday space turning into a stage in an instant.
According to Wikipedia, director Damien Chazelle wanted to shoot musical numbers in a single take, as in the Fred Astaire era, and this opening was also shot on an LA freeway like one tracking shot.
To recreate it: Generate the song in 4-second pieces, but write the camera movement direction in the same sentence in every clip so they join like one cut.
According to Wikipedia, Chazelle wanted the dance shot to show the dancers from head to toe.
To recreate it: Write dance moves with 'full body visible, head to toe' so the AI doesn't cut off the feet.
In an IndieWire interview, cinematographer Linus Sandgren said he first thought of a Steadicam but switched to a Technocrane because of the sloped ramps and the center divider, and Mandy Moore explains that they also shot on a truck carrying a jib.
To recreate it: For a crane feel, give one clip just one up-or-down movement, as in 'crane shot rising over the cars'; cars and people get less smeared.
According to Sandgren, the crane's shadow kept showing in the bright sun, so they split long shots into several shots and hid the cuts inside whip pans, and still made it feel like one cut to the audience.
To recreate it: Put a fast whip pan in the same direction at the end of the previous clip and the start of the next, and cut on the blurriest frame.
Sandgren said this scene was shot under strong LA sun, so each shot had to be shot at almost the same time of day, with steady sun.
To recreate it: Put the same sunlight sentence, such as 'harsh midday sun, hard shadows', in every clip prompt to match the light direction between cuts.
According to Wikipedia, the film was shot not digitally but on 35mm film with Panavision anamorphic lenses.
To recreate it: Adding 'anamorphic lens, horizontal lens flares, oval bokeh' creates sideways-stretching light blooms and a cinematic wide feel.
According to Wikipedia, it was shot in a 2.55:1 aspect ratio to look like a 1950s CinemaScope musical.
To recreate it: Generate in 16:9 and add a 2.55:1 letterbox in editing, placing the people in the middle band of the frame from the start so they survive the top and bottom being cropped.
Cinematic multi-shot sequence, 15 seconds total. Shot 1 (4s): crane shot rising over a traffic jam on an elevated highway as a young woman in a yellow dress steps out of her car and starts to sing; Shot 2 (4s): steady full shot of drivers in bright clothes dancing between stopped cars, ending in a fast whip pan right; Shot 3 (4s): whip pan arriving from the left, blur settling on a young man in a blue shirt leaping off a truck's tailgate; Shot 4 (3s): crane shot rising high as hundreds of dancers on the stopped cars strike a final pose. Consistent highway and cast, midday sun, saturated colors, anamorphic 35mm look, joyful mood.
If the camera never breaks until the song ends and follows the dance from head to toe, the audience feels the actors did it from start to finish, and that thrill sets the tone of the film. In reality, strong sunlight cast the crane's shadow into the frame, so it was shot in several takes with cuts hidden inside whip pans, but to the audience it still feels like one cut.
Crane shot rising slowly over a long traffic jam on a curving elevated highway ramp under bright morning sun, colorful cars bumper to bumper, a young woman in a yellow dress steps out of her car and starts to sing; bright hard sunlight, anamorphic 35mm film look.
Full shot, head to toe, of a dozen drivers in bright colorful clothes dancing in sync between stopped cars on a sunny elevated highway, jumping onto car hoods; framing holds steady, then a fast whip pan to the right with heavy motion blur in the last half second; anamorphic 35mm film look.
Whip pan arriving from the left, the blur settling on a young man in a blue shirt leaping off a truck's tailgate as dancers spin around him on a sunny elevated highway, colorful cars behind; bright hard sunlight, saturated primary colors, anamorphic 35mm film look.
Crane shot rising high above the elevated highway as hundreds of dancers standing on the stopped cars throw their arms up in a final pose, the city skyline in the hazy distance; bright midday sun, saturated colors, anamorphic 35mm film look, ultra-wide 2.55:1 framing.
Cut between the whip-pan blur at the end of Shot 2 and the blur at the start of Shot 3, hiding the cut with a whip-pan transition (both moving to the right). Lay the song from the start and choose the cut positions on the accents of the choreography (beat sync), putting a whoosh sound effect on the blur. Finally, add a 2.55:1 letterbox.
In group dances, AI easily scrambles the number of people and their moves, so in each cut describe clearly only the actions of one or two leads and leave the rest as background. The original also joined several shots with whip pans, so with AI, put a whip pan in the same direction at the end and the start of 4-second clips to link them (Whip Pan Transition). The original had to shoot every shot at the same time of day, so put the same sunlight sentence in every cut, and match the remaining color differences in editing.
Wikipedia — La La Land · IndieWire — La La Land cinematography, Linus Sandgren