Watch the intricate rehearsals for La La Land’s opening number

Go behind-the-scenes of La La Land’s opening salvo…

This Sunday the 89th Academy Awards takes place in California and the final straight is in sight for many of the hopefuls after the long slog that is awards season. There will be many wonderful and important films descending on the Dolby Theatre at the weekend but leading the pack is Damien Chazelle’s La La Land which, for many, is the “one to beat” at the ceremony.

Acclaimed across the globe, the film has now grossed over $339million and is nominated for a record-equalling 14 Oscars at this year’s event including Best Picture, Best Director (Chazelle), Best Actor (Ryan Gosling), Best Actress (Emma Stone), Best Original Screenplay and two for Best Original Song. One of the songs now nominated, the film’s opening number “Another Day of Sun” wasn’t nominated but was undoubtedly one of the most challenging sequences for director Chazelle and his team to choreograph and shoot. Indeed such was the meticulous nature of the number than Chazelle shot the sequence on his iPhone first to get the camerawork just right.

USA Today has debuted a look at the footage from one of the rehearsals from the number which Chazelle shot in a parking lot to get it absolutely perfect. Check out the video below to see for yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2YJkjaJ8pg

On the sequence and iPhone shooting, Chazelle said:

“We were able to secure the highway location for half a day a few weeks before shooting… We all went in feeling pretty confident because we were quite happy with how the iPhone (video) had worked out. And the dress rehearsal was a total disaster. The crane could not move the way an iPhone moves… The choreography looked different, the slant of the freeway created a lot of other challenges. Everything was just tricky. We had to go back and regroup and make some adjustments.”

La La Land is in cinemas now.