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INTRODUCTION
For this assignment, I have chosen the director Damien Chazelle, most well-known for his work writing and directing 2014s Whiplash and 2017s La La Land. Chazelle is one of my most influential directors due to his music background and recognisable militaristic style that was established with Whiplash, which remains my favourite feature of all time.
In this research paper, I would like to get inside Chazelle’s head, understanding his early and professional life, influences and filmmaking style in more depth as to be interpreted in my short film. Going into this stage of the assignment, I’m not fixed on a certain element of his work to represent so want to make sure I can draws from a wide breadth of his work in research as to establish common themes and develop my angle towards his work.
As well as writing a research paper dedicated to him and his style, along with cinematographers, composers and other creators he consistently works with, I will follow up with three independent research papers detailing the films he directed and wrote as case studies, these being Whiplash, La La Land and 2022s Babylon. Those will help me identify the recurring themes and differences in his work based on target audience. Throughout this paper, I will be referencing how this research fits into the wider context of my work.
Early Life
Chazelle grew up in Princeton New Jersey with his parents Bernard and Celia Chazelle. His influences in film making originate back to his roots with his families nationalities, an American-French father and Canadian-English mother. Already, Chazelle has drawn his methods and cultures from his various family placements. His parents are also both teachers, computer science at Princeton University and medieval history at the College of New Jersey. From this, I can infer that Chazelle had an intellectual upbringing that set him on his path to study film at Harvard University. Coming from a family of scholarly backgrounds causes someone to push themselves mentally also in attempts of psychological approval and self worth. Chazelle is a highly academic filmmaker who developed roots in music during his college career, competing in several jazz band competitions as a drummer. His drumming experiences became an influential point in his life, leading him to an infatuation with musical theatre, which he hadn’t previously likes, due to its stylisation and powerful music. Possibly also due to his heritage, Chazelle gained an interests in french new wave features as well as classic hollywood musical films such as Sunset Boulevard, Singing in the Rain and An American in Paris. Chazelle’s drumming experience with a harsh teacher pushing him to his limits to cause hard work later led to Chazelle’s award winning feature Whiplash, although his story was vastly fictionalised and push to absolute extremes.
From only looking at Chazelles early life in terms of heritage and life as a young musician, I can already derive the bones of his filmmaking presence. As a young musician myself, I can find parallels between his experiences and my own, influencing me to bring personal themes into my short film. Chazelle’s work is very focused on its musicality and rhythm, especially with montage sequences, which was my central draw to his work and likely the type of scene I will produce. Much like how Chazelle later focused on his childhood drumming experience for a feature, I will bring in my roots playing the clarinet and my experiences, keeping it an instrument I have a connection with but to the rhythm of Chazelle’s films. Chazelle differs from myself in his academic drive from an early age. This comes down to differing environmental upbringings with parental professions. In order to capture his style, I must take a more academic and calculated root with theming and precision of shots.
Career
Following his upbringing with multinational parents, Chazelle achieved at Harvard University studying film and developed a deep connection with his roommate Justin Hurwitz who would later write the scores and soundtracks for each of Chazelle’s major pictures. Most of his tuition was factually and theoretically based, causing them to create documentaries rather than our college’s approach with short films and free briefs. Chazelle and Hurwitz shared a passion for musical theatre and so chose to work together on a musical film shot in a documentary style titled “Guy and Madeline on a park bench” in 2009. This black and white musical featuring many of their friends was an early development of Chazelle’s signature metronomic and militaristic style, due to origins in documentary making. This musical was also influenced by french new wave styles and surrounds a plot set in Boston about the casual lives of young people.
Following studies, Chazelle moved to LA to begin writing for Hollywood, focusing on a few productions that all fell through. Out of frustration, Chazelle wrote his own original feature about the personal themes of hard work and obsession that went into his time drumming. The films was called Whiplash, after the Henry Levy chart of the same time that features prominently in the film’s soundtrack as one of the charts Fletcher’s Studio Band play. The genesis of Chazelle’s film was autobiographically so a difficult pitch for production companies from an unknown creator. Chazelle penned an 130 page script and 150 page storyboard which went through several redrafts to whittle down the story to focus on the extreme dynamic between student Andrew and teacher Fletcher, played by JK Simmons. To fund the film, they shot a short film version which they ended up taking to Sundance in 2013, winning the Short Film Jury Prize and gaining a reputation that funded the feature to be released in 2014 with Miles Teller arriving on the scene to play Andrew. After winning several awards at the academy, Chazelle and Teller planned on working together on an original musical, now Chazelle had credibility as a director and writer. Funding original productions from nothing is a hard feat to achieve but Chazelle proved that with dedication and hard work dreams are possible. His projects are for the dreamers and his ideology proves that.
Harvard University
JK Simmons
Emma Stone
In the next couple years, Chazelle moved forward with his original musical, with music from Hurwitz, casting Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, replacing Teller due to scheduling, as the leads. This production, La La Land, following two dreamers in Hollywood developing a connection but ultimately grappling with the juxtaposition of domestic and working life, a struggle everyone must face, especially the dreamers. This feature explores the normalcy of life in Hollywood, grounding this vast entity, as well as what it means to be a dreamer. This encapsulates Chazelle’s classic musical and french new wave influences along with more modern approaches such as Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction in terms of colour scheme and set design. La La Land went on to win several academy awards including best director, best actress, best cinematography, best original score and best production design, as well as a mishap involving best film.
Following success on a second original hollywood production, Chazelle was bought in to direct First Man, a biopic on the life of astronaut Neil Armstrong. This is a very different feature from his previous work due to his lack of musical procedures however this theme of dreamers and grounding harsh realities remained and became his draw to the film. His framing is vastly similar and rhythmic, capitalizing on the claustrophobic nature of the rocket capsule and spacesuits. However, this isn’t a feature I wanted to look into further as, unlike the previous, Chazelle did not write this so his impact on the production was primary.
Ryan Gosling
The First Man Poster
Margot Robbie
His next major original production was 2022’s Babylon featuring Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt taking on roles in the mid 20th century during the development of early Hollywood as synchronized sound became a possibility. The film incorporates several pre-existing shots from influential films such as The Jazz Singer and Singing in the Rain, concluding in an impactful intellectual montage, whipping through infamous visuals from cinema’s development over the years. Babylon sadly wasn’t as successful as Chazelle’s previous pictures most likely due to the 18+ rating, lengthy runtime and exhaustive plot. Although I am a fan of the film, I understand that Chazelle may have been over ambitious in his approach but there are sequences throughout the feature that should remain staples over the industry due to direction and casting.
By examining these three productions, I will be able to analyse Chazelle’s successes and setbacks in more detail to find where I should draw influence from him and where to hold back. As well as studying them here, I intend on further investigation and comparison case studies for each film (Whiplash, La La Land and Babylon) to decide which angle I’d prefer to take. Each film develops core concepts of musical influence but for differing settings and age certificates. From my initial analysis here, I wish to create a short film combining the montage styles of Whiplash’s rehearsal scenes and Babylon’s closing montage for the most inclusive age category of La La Land. In each case study, I will look into a scene that develops that aspect. Chazelle is a dominant film maker in my eyes due to his dedication and ambition to his craft. After been rejected in LA, he kept pushing with his original work instead. Additionally, Babylon may have strayed to far but proves Chazelle’s ambition and an audience willing to get inside his head for future features. His ideology of putting the dreamers first is admirable and creates a core theme for me to draw from of my short film.
Influences
As he is a more recently renowned filmmaker, Chazelle was heavily inspired by greats such as Alfred Hitchcock, Quentin Tarantino, French New Wave and Golden age musical films. Beginning with Hitchcock, Chazelle was inspired but the thriller styles and shot types, heavily impacting on Whiplash, making it a musical thriller. Bringing the intensity of Hitchcock’s psychological and pure horror ambitions twists Chazelle’s work into a blend of two genres that create a new perspective into the world of music. Chazelle spends some time, particularly in Babylon, filming in 4:3 aspect ratio to play around with Hitchcock’s methods of defining a space. On of the more influential Hitchcock films was Psycho in it's handling of tension before characters are killed. This variation of montage and long takes was elaborated on by Chazelle.
Moving on, Chazelle has been influenced by Tarantino in the ways of colour palette, largely seen in La La Land. His use of colour theory in costume, set design and highlights in post are strong and solid block colour to display characters mood and alert the audience to how they fit in to the world around them. The most influential film from Tarantino was 1994’s Pulp Fiction, infusing Los Angeles with a comic book like aesthetic but Chazelle changes his world to a land of dreams rather than a hive of gangster shootouts. Chazelle spent a long time analysing ‘the twist scene’ in the diner as a point of reference.
Chazelle grew up watching french new wave cinema, namely The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, a 1964 films by Jacques Demy. This melancholic film also inspired La La Land as it brings together the normalised world with that of a hollywood musical. This is also a case where the collision of worlds is expressed through the colour palette. La La Land essentially became a love letter to this film along with many other hollywood musicals.
These musicals strongly included Singing in the Rain, Sunset Boulevard, An American in Paris, many Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers musicals such as a Fine Romance and even Disney’s sleeping beauty for the dance in the stars within La La Land. All of these musicals are heavily romanticized with dream like positive atmospheres reflected in the palette and set design. Chazelle’s goal was to pay homage to this classic era and bring it to a modern audience, referencing aspects in certain scenes, such as Sebastian swinging round a lamppost in La La Land, and celebrate what they achieved. These also inspired Chazelle to use a mixture of true locations and static painted flat backdrops.
Moving forward to Babylon, Chazelle continued to reference this era but also developed even further back as the film elaborates on the beginning of synchronised sound in film. Due to this, Chazelle was heavily inspired by the significance of ‘The Jazz Singer’ and even creates his fictional characters to be involved the that story coming to fruition.
Overall, it’s the blend of thriller and golden age musicals that make Chazelle’s style what it is. To be successful in my short film influenced by him, I need to maintain a balance within my shot types and story to represent this collision of genres. My colour palette must also be specific to achieve this so I thought it best to look deeper into what Chazelle’s colour palette consists of, which I can take directly into my own work.
Pulp Fiction
The Jazz Singer
Colour Palette
Chazelle strongly uses clothing and solid colour to indicate emotions and themes. As characters, such as Mia and Sebastian in La La Land, develop closer, their clothing switches from contrasting primary colours to complementary tones such as deep purples and greens, blending their feelings together. Andrew in Whiplash goes through a similar transition, beginning the film along with his kit in a white t shirt, moving into studio band practice in blue and finally the concert in black, representing his fall in to obsession. I may be able to achieve a similar thing in my short film to emphasise my character’s short arc.
In terms of shooting and grading, the palette follows a similar progression, gaining intensity and saturation as the films progresses. Chazelle describes his palette as wooden due to its linear style that reflects the metronomic nature of the jazz in colour. This is especially apparent in Whiplash which uses a heavy yellow and red palette, shifting towards red for angrier scenes and elements. His use of natural colour theory to express mood is a fundamental aspect of Chazelle’s work that I must incorporate. In my FMP last year, when looking into Wes Anderson, I began to play around with characters wearing certain colours for moods so must amplify that approach for this project. Below are a selection of colour palettes Chazelle used for La La Land, Whiplash and Babylon.
Thinking of Babylon, this film had a slightly different approach than previous, due to its early 20th century period feel and celebration of the beginning of cinema. Chazelle’s palette is more fluid, using black and white elements to express the period and warmer red and gold scenes juxtaposed with monotonous LA landscapes to emphasis the highs and lows of a film making lifestyle at the time. My palette must strongly align with my themes and give a constant progression through the film. I believe I will take inspiration from my own time as a musician so will involve colours that reflect my mood towards it.
Cinematography
Linus Sandgren
Saltburn - Sandgren cinematography
Chazelle prefers working with film stock but made the choice to go digital during production on Whiplash due to the chaotic multi camera filming behind the band scenes. During La La Land, he was going to a classic 1950s atmosphere so shot in 2.55:1 CinemaScope to replicate that period. He believes there is a magic to traditional film stock filmmaking. La La Land was shot mainly with a Panasonic 35mm lens, occasionally moving to a 40mm anamorphic Panasonic made for this production. Sadly, this won’t be an option for me so, in going digital, I want to create a short film more closely aligned with Whiplash’s digital aesthetic in a montage of a live band. This is an area I wish to revisit for my FMP as La La Land’s cinematographer Linus Sandgren, who has also recently worked on Saltburn, is known for his camera movements and long takes.
In terms of the technical filming of Whiplash, Chazelle and cinematographer Sharone Meir used the following equipment:
Arri Alexa, Cooke Speed Panchro, Leitz SUMMILUX-C and Angenieux Optimo Lenses
Canon EOS 7D, Cooke Speed Panchro and Leitz SUMMILUX-C Lenses
Although I am unable to use these specific models, it is worth while knowing what Chazelle used to achieve his look. Personally, I have a Sony A73 but am aware the college owns a Canon model that I could use to carry out this production.
Additionally, it is important to examine what Chazelle and Mier were able to achieve with these lens. The shot types often take on minutes long one takes, whip pans and facial close ups to focus on emotion. All of Chazelle’s films are driven by a character dynamic and the music so each of his shots are focused on one of these two elements, pulling between them constantly in scenes to maintain pacing. By doing a montage in the style of Whiplash, I will need to maintain a steady balance of instrument inserts and character expression shots. Keeping a rhythmic edit to time with my chosen music is crucial in creating a piece influenced by Chazelle.
no time to die - Sandgren cinematography
Conclusion
To conclude, by evaluating Chazelle’s life story and creative techniques, I have a greater understanding of how to progress in making my own short film. My research has informed my decision to create an intellectual montage focused in music, using instrument insert shots intercut with a performer trying to play. Keeping a simple story that I can build on with my music choice and visuals is how I will achieve a worth while production. I am most fascinated with the final scene in each of Chazelle’s films so will take time looking into each of them and deciding which elements of each to pull from. To do this, I will also complete a series of notes while watching the films along with wider watching of some of these films Chazelle was influenced by.
Below are my research notes I made along the way to form this paper.
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