La la land magic hour question?

[Marcus Friedlander]

Hey everyone,

So I saw La La Land and was totally stumped by how they pulled off one of their scenes. Hopefully someone on reduser can shed some light!

The scene in question is a performance scene between Gosling and Stone in the hills near Griffith observatory during magic hour. The shot is one six-ish minute long take of the two leaving a party, talking, then breaking out into song, then some more taking. However, during the entire sequence, the sun doesn't seem to move an inch, always staying just on the horizon, and the light levels do not change at all.

My first thoughts were that they shot that sequence on a stage or used some digital trickery like a sky replacement or something. But then I read the ASC article, and the DP said that they didn't do anything special for that shot, just shot it a bunch of times at magic hour and picked the one they liked.

So my question is, how did those six minutes feel so consistent? I get that a great colorist would be able to keep luminance levels consistent across the six minutes, but why did it feel like the sun was not changing either? Am I just crazy? Or does the sun really move that imperceptibly slowly during the late-summer/early-fall? (AND MORE IMPORTANTLY WHY DOESNT IT MOVE THAT SLOWLY WHEN I'M TRYING TO SHOOT MAGIC HOUR SHOTS IN LA????)

 

[David Mullen ASC]

It was shot after the sun had set so what you are seeing is the glow along the horizon, which lasted long enough for the take. Yes, probably as it started to fade, the colorist kept it more consistent, but you'll notice in the sequence that the sky is quite hot at one point in one area as they pan/track around but later it is less hot, so it was naturally changing.

 

[Marcus Friedlander]

Thanks for the response!

I was so focused on watching those hotspots while they were in frame I guess I missed their different luminaces when they went back and forth.

I'll watch it again and see if I notice it this time. Thanks!

 

[Bill Totolo]

Of course David is right on the money, as always.

Here's something I learned about the different phases of twilight:
https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/different-types-twilight.html

 

[Brody_B]

Its that beautiful LA smog, keeps the light golden and diffused even after the sun sets. hahaha

 

[Sabovic Adis]

6' is like 0.25°...

 

[Evan Prosofsky]

Remember there was also a BeBee light down the road keying them

 

[Chad Peter]

My god, that's insane. I thought for sure there was background replacement going on - but it looked so seemless. They must have rehearsed that scene to absolute death. Bravo.

 

[Marc Wielage]

Note that it was all shot on Kodak negative and digitally color-timed at eFilm in Hollywood by Natasha Leonnett.