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Behind the Scenes of 'La La Land': How The Sets Made The Movie Magical

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La La Land may have just tied the record for the most Oscar nominations ever (at 14), but for the film’s production designer David Wasco, this is his first nod from the Academy.

Wascowho shares most projects with his wife, set decorator Sandy Reynolds-Wasco—boasts a lengthy history with prominent directors such as Quentin Tarantino. (He served as the production designer on Pulp FictionInglourious Basterds, the Kill Bill volumes, and other Tarantino classics.)

However, after just one meeting with 32-year-old Damien Chazelle, the rising writer and director of La La Land, Wasco agreed to the film before even seeing Chazelle’s first hit, Whiplash.

Chazelle actually wrote the La La Land script far before Whiplash, but he waited for a bigger budget—$300,000 for set decoration and construction alone—to bring his extravagant vision to life.

The production design team enhanced a real-life California Oranges mural in Los Angeles.

While about a third of La La Land sets were constructed, every real-life location was touched or controlled in a way. Many scenes feature real murals across Los Angeles, but other murals were altered, added, and an entire city block was even painted blue.

In fact, inspired by backdrop paintings in Mary Poppins, Wasco and his team tracked down the painter to emulate the effect for La La Land. Just like Mary Poppins jumps into a chalk drawing, Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) often drive or dance into impressionist, Van Gogh-esque paintings.

The entire film feels like a painted work of art, moving from brushstroke to brushstroke.

“The story was almost written like a symphony. Damien drew a visual line for us that was not unlike music—the crescendos, the dark parts,” Wasco recalled. The musicality of the script inherently influenced the art of the film—scenes flowing from one painting into another.

“Damien always wanted us to keep a toe in reality but juxtaposed next to a magical realm,” Wasco explained. “He wanted a mix of something grounded with how LA is now—a little magical.”

Many scenes are literally set on a stage--if not in a concert hall, in a club or restaurant.

That magical quality is inherently what a musical has, as well—it transport the audience into the universe of the story, but viewers also remain conscious of the elements of stage production. Likewise, La La Land possesses the same self-awareness as a musical because, well, it's a movie-musical. As Wasco explained, Chazelle veered away from CGI and special effects to allow the audience to be aware of the "movie magic" behind the scenes.

For instance, when Mia and Seb float up into the planetarium, they are first hung on visible wires which gradually fade away as we become immersed in the story and fall into fantasy—just before the wires reappear bringing the characters back to the ground.

The planetarium scene—the biggest set of the film—drew most of its inspiration from Los Angeles' Griffith Observatory—and was even shot there in the foyer. But, because the real-life Griffith planetarium has been modernized, Wasco decided to build a set to include Griffith's original Art Deco embellishments. They also purchased a 12-foot projector from the 50s on eBay—by far the most expensive prop from the film, but one that the planetarium scene revolved around. 

Thus, the magic of La La Land is that it transports viewers to a timeless era—one that's so convincingly vintage-Hollywood that we often forget the story takes place in the 21st century. Centered on Los Angeles, the "City of Stars" but also the city of dreams for aspiring artists, the film embodies the enchanting quality of LA—a mystical feeling of a first-time tourist, a lightness in every step, a literal daydream where characters have the ability to float into the sky.

For Mia’s home, Wasco's team was inspired after discovering the Rose Garden Court apartments near Long Beach, which were painted pink from interior to exterior. They also stumbled along a Spanish-style penthouse where Ronald Reagan first resided before reaching fame as an actor. So, Wasco merged the two aesthetics to build a set for Mia’s apartment—a pink palace with Spanish archways.

Wasco frequently drew ideas from the cast and crew, as well. While his job doesn’t closely involve the actors, it was actually Ryan Gosling’s choice of convertible car that made it into the film. The composer, Justin Hurwitz, also worked closely with Wasco to hunt down and tune all nine of the film’s pianos.

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