iz

I’m always gonna love you.

I’m always gonna love you, too.

Damien Chazelle is known for using long, uninterrupted takes in the film, but he also uses at least one sequence spooled backwards. In the last scene at the planetarium Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone fall out of the air and perfectly into their seats, then kiss, and the camera zooms in for a closeup before the fade. The sequence was shot backwards: starting in black, zoom out to the kiss, telescope out to the two-shot, then wide shot, then Stone and Gosling are lifted out of their chairs, and then the entire sequence is run in reverse. That’s how they land so perfectly and effortlessly in their seats: they don’t “land” at all. They are already sitting, the zoom in is actually a zoom out, and so on. (x)

Just as they reach the door, and as David steps out, Mia turns and looks back at Sebastian. He looks at her. Their eyes lock. A hint of a tear in both… And, ever so subtly, for just a fleeting second, Mia smiles. It’s the kind of smile you could miss if you blinked — but it’s enough to signal to Sebastian that she recognized the melody he played, and that she still remembers it, and still thinks of it to this day… Then she walks out the door. Sebastian glances at his fellow musicians. Then, he nods, and they launch into a new chart.

People love what other people are passionate about.