“La La Land” jumps into different areas of Mia Dolan and Sebastian Wilder’s life, which gives us a hopeful glimpse of Mia and Seb’s fate together. These star crossed lovers had met through traffic on Interstate 105 by chance and eventually, though their friendship blossomed into a relationship that wasn’t all peachy. Their story is illustrated carefully through vivid artistry, which takes you through a sentimental rollercoaster as certain colors and music impel you to consider different aspects of the film.  

Damien Chazelle, director, met Justin Hurwitz, composer in college at Harvard. Their friendship grew as they bonded over music and eventually made “La La Land” together. When composing for “La La Land”, Hurwitz was inspired by, “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” (1964) and “The Young Girls of Rochefort” (1967). Hurwitz sufficiently combines art from movies like these, adding his magical twist to the music. The music he created emphasizes and parallels the emotions happening on the screen. The film’s soundtrack has a pleasing impact on the audience. The well known melody, “Mia and Seb’s Theme”, foreshadows what happens with Mia and Seb’s relationship. The melody begins with uncertainty, proceeding to a lushful sound, and ending back to uncertainty. 

“La La Land” is known for its music, but the color component is another prominent detail Chazelle wants the audience to correlate with the emotions. The film begins with color analysis on the notorious congested Harbor Freeway, with actors and actresses dancing and singing out of their cars, wearing colorful outfits that imply liveliness. Progressively, we see the most iconic scene where Mia and Seb dance along the dark blue sky with twinkling lights against Mia’s bright yellow dress that collectively expresses freedom. These notable examples draw the audience to consider the colors to provoke an emotion about the scenes, deliberately calculated by Chazelle while feeling like you are there with them. The incorporation of colors stimulates the mind, making the movie feel like you are on a roller coaster with the characters. Chazelle also used foreshadowing and dream sequencing to create an unexpected yet exciting plot leading up to the end that further illustrates the perspectives of Mia and Seb’s story accompanied by color and music. 

With all of the focused elements of music, color, and plot, the story smoothly moves and stimulates emotions. Chazelle and Hurwitz put ample effort into the movie to keep the audience engaged. Out of reflection, Mia and Seb had their separate aspirations; Mia had hoped to pursue her acting career. And for Seb, it was having a jazz bar of his own. After finding out what had happened in the end, there was an adequate sense of closure to their story despite the couple’s ups and downs.