Movie Trailer: “La La Land” directed by Damien Chazelle
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Origin: 21st century
Text Type: Movie trailer
Intended Audience: Age group 13–35+, used as entertainment.
The movie’s title, La La Land, is reference to both a nickname for the city of Los Angeles as well as a euphemism for a state of being out of touch with reality. The movie is shot in the heart of Los Angeles, where aspiring actress Mia serves lattes to movie stars in between auditions while dedicated jazz musician, Sebastian, plays in dingy bars in order to scrape by. Eventually, the two meet and fall in love, but, as success mounts, the dreams they worked so hard to maintain, threaten to tear them apart. The term “La la land” can therefore be viewed as being ironic, as the plot of the movie seems to shy away from this idea of ‘escaping reality’ once the characters must choose between love and their dreams.
Moreover, throughout the trailer the song The fools who dream is sung by Emma Stone. The line, “Here’s to the ones who dream, foolish as they may seem” is once again, referencing this euphemism, implying that only those who dream are able to enter this magical land. Further evidence is provided by the line, “she captured a feeling, sky with no ceiling, the sunset inside her frame”. Again, this is highlighting an entrancing world where the sky is limitless and ‘the sunset’ which usually is associated with beauty, remains within the individual. This provides an image for what a ‘La La Land’ would entail.
Furthermore, visuals of the trailer include Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling floating through a sky of stars, dancing through a completely yellow meadow and dancing on top of water. Once again, these images are rather dreamlike as such things wouldn’t be possible in a regular world. This therefore illustrates the surreal nature of the ‘La la land’. Moreover, as previously stated ‘La la land’ is also a nickname given the city of Los Angeles. La la land came from Hollywood. The place known around the world as the entertainment capital of the world. A place of fantasy and make believe (aka, a la la land!).
