Two weeks passed by and now Ian and his crew were working with a lot of enthusiasm. Since the entire movie and its hype was running through their veins, it was much easier to shoot scenes with no problem. Yes, sometimes since they knew each other too much, they'd crack up laughing, especially during obvious scenes and dancing. But the majority of the time, they were quite serious about every step they took and every word they recited.
Now they were trying to shoot the scene where Ryan meets Keith. Even though during the first few days, Ryan was absent and was only on the set from time to time, nevertheless the entire crew loved Ryan Gosling for how energetic he was.
On the other hand, Sebastian's character was somewhat similar to Ryan Gosling. Sebastian in La La Land was someone who is passionate, stubborn, and single-minded. Sometimes he even has trouble getting organized enough to achieve what he wants. But, once he sets his mind on a goal, he works whole-heartedly toward it. He can be a romantic too; he loves old Hollywood and he loves being able to share that magic with someone. But, it can be hard for Sebastian to find a balance between everything he loves.
With that being said, the focus is being moved to the sight in front of them. It was an Old type of Jazz club. The type of Jazz Sebastian loves.
"Action!" With that being announced, they all started to do their own thing.
Sebastian was playing the piano with full affection and talent. Much to Ian's surprise, this Ryan Gosling knew how to play the piano, and at that point even though the music was audible, Ryan played the piano perfectly and kept his fingers moving to the right corner while he stood up.
Yet again, the music didn't stop, he kept playing and playing while completing the music. The camera moved to meet Mia who was dancing with an elderly-looking set of women. They were all dancing in different styles. A couple was dancing in the background, and another couple was on the right to Mia who was just enjoying and free-styling.
It went on for a little longer, and then Ian gave a signal to move on to the special scene.
Ryan played a small part, then it focused on Mia's tap dancing.
Again the camera went to Ryan, back again it went to Mia,
For the last time, the camera focused on Ryan who kept playing, and Mia put her head back and did the last steps of the dance. Her feet kept touching the ground one by one and the shoes played an important part in the tap dance. She moved her hips rhythmically and kept dancing. Her facial expressions were on point, just like someone who is enjoying the music and the rush of dancing.
In the original world, Mia was played by Emma Stone. An actress whom everyone loved. In her favor, she studied dancing as a child as well as a year of ballet. Stone moved to Hollywood from Arizona at age 15 with her mother and struggled to get an audition, often being dismissed after saying just a line or two. She reportedly drew on these experiences for her character Mia in the film. Likewise, there were many connections between the actors, actresses, and the original director of La La Land.
The music gained steam, her movements an outpouring of her happiness, she kept on dancing. Sebastian kept his eyes on her and kept playing.
The crowd is thin, there's hardly anyone here watching -- but Mia and the musicians don't mind at all. They're playing for themselves... It's pure, unadulterated joy. A few more keys while the music picks its ending hype...and the song comes to an end.
"Cut!" Ian said shortly afterward. They all clapped and Mia was breathing heavily.
"Next, is… The kissing scene of you both, are we ready? Mia remains breathless from all the dancing, I want to see love and passion in your eyes."
"..... Action!"
The song played and Sebastian was still playing according to the music with a smile. The camera then focused on who else was playing, the trumpet, guitar, drums, and others. They also showed how an old man who was sitting in the club was enjoying while showing how his fingers moved in the air following the music.
The music ended when the camera was focused on the trumpet and Sebastian with a smile stood up from the stool. It shows how everyone was happy and how they clapped. A girl who was in the air while dancing was brought to her feet by her partner and of course, they were professional dancers. The clap was one of pure joy.
Then the camera moved to Ryan's face as he was smiling ear to ear and he walked down to Mia while clapping. And then, a man who was wearing a coat and an old hat shook his hand signaling it was a good show. The man straightaway went to take over the piano.
Sebastian who was smiling came down to meet Mia, while she tried to kiss him, he swept her off her feet and hugged her.
Mia kissed his ear in love and she took herself back to look into his eyes.
"I love you," She whispered but it wasn't clearly audible due to the music in the background.
"I love you, too," He repeated after her, and then they were supposed to give each other a quick kiss. But, Ryan burst out laughing with Mia following right after.
"Cut!" This made Ian laugh in joy, too. "What happened? Was it too hard to keep up with the romantic mood?" He joked.
"Everyone went silent, whyy?" Ryan kept laughing while keeping Mia down on her feet. Everyone else was supposed to be dancing and continuing the party while they had their little moment, but the eyes were on them. Since it was the first attempt at the shot, everyone was interested in it for no specific reason.
"You got us there for quite a while, we thought it's going to be a memorable kiss that will remain lifelong worthy in Hollywood," Mason joked.
"It should be quick, yet loving, back to where we were," Ian said and they all started from where they stopped.
[...] After the kiss, it was the moment where Keith and Sebastian met each other while introducing Keith to Mia.
Keith was played by John Legend. But here, Ian was able to find a black American who was around 33 years old, tall, and with fierce eyes. Alec Ruth was a B-grade actor who was kind, humble, and loyal to his words. Although he had two more films to participate in in the meantime, he pushed back the scheduling of the shootings and joined Ian listening to his instructions.
Alec knew directors like Ian were rare in the industry. What made him understand that was how Ian talked to him. At the bottom of his mind, he knew he could count on Ian whenever he needed help, that was what Ian said knowing Alec respected the thoughts of people. Also, who wouldn't want to work with Ian?
"So you guys will be seated at this table. Alec will come, Sebastian knows him, Sebastian must look shocked and annoyed. Because Alec is not someone who he wanted to see, are we ready?" Ian asked while getting replies such as yes, sure, and a few applauded to give encouragement.
Since the cast and the people on set were somewhat big, they all tried to keep each other motivated. Of course, some had dozed off sleeping, and two were glued to their phones, but the others were fully focused on the set.
[Alec's point of view]
This was the first day he would be acting in La La Land. After getting to know plenty of people during their shootings and all, he was entirely cool with the environment. The director was kind and forgiving, he thought.
In his career, he had come across so many directors who basically annoyed the living hell out of actors and actresses. But he realized that the top directors were much more pleasant compared to directors who are still finding their way.
While the latter wants to get to the top, the first type of directors enjoyed what they did more than half of the time.
"Action!" He heard Ian giving the command.
He saw how Mia and Sebastian held hands while smiling at each other and kept walking. To be honest, he was slightly jealous of Ryan for receiving the main role even after being lower ranked than him. But after seeing how hard Ryan was trying, he was no longer feeling jealous. He silently thought he deserved it and even helped him through some parts whenever he was struggling.
Mia and Sebastian sat at the small wooden table while it shook a bit due to how speedy they came at it.
"Sebastian," Keith entered and Sebastian looked at him, uneasiness covering his face.
"Keith," Sebastian said just above a whisper.
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