Week 1
In week 1, we were informed that a film will need to be selected for our initial research and further development. Among these films, i chose ‘La La Land’ as an inspiration for my design. The reason that i decided to select this film is because of its unique architectural scenery, though the film is set in modern ages, some old-fashioned architectural interiors are still displayed. As Edinburgh itself is a historic city, this combination of retro and modern suits well with the design that i am developing.
Film choice <La la land>
After selecting a satisfactory film, i began my initial research. The research was divided into five different parts, respectively are the time period, the spatial arrangement, the key props, the colour palette and the materials.
Because dates are not directly mentioned in the film and the director is constantly trying to introduce items that was usually appeared in the ’50s, the time period research confused me a lot. But after a deeper research, i notice that at the start of the film, the director mentioned that the film is presented in CinemaScope. CinemaScope is a shooting technique that was used for creating widescreen films in the ’50s. In this case, with the old-fashioned items and outdated technique, i could generally confirm that the retro elements are the director’s personal interest and the films is set around 2016 (it’s release time). With the time period confirmed, i started to research the domestic interior features of that time. Some representative features like the relaxing interior colour, open living space and the introducing of new lighting were included in my research slides. (Here’s a link that explains what CinemaScope is : What is CinemaScope? Definition and Examples for Filmmakers)
The time period research slide
The spatial arrangement in this film is also intriguing. When i first started to research this topic, it seems like not much can be extracted from this film. But as the research continues, i realize that one common spatial feature existed in many scenes, it is ‘the stage-like interior’. As many stories and emotion changes in the film are being displayed in the form of operas, the interiors often have at least one long narrow hallway as entrance and one big open space as a stage. This interior feature can provide an open and free living space for domestic interiors and create a special cozy atmosphere. For explaining this arrangement, i visited the website of one shooting location(Griffith Observatory) and downloaded a plan of the site. With that plan, i created a simple 3D model in SketchUp.
The spatial arrangement research slide
Just like the time period, the key prop is a confusing part. As the strongest existence that runs throughout the movie is the character’s dream and passion, it is not possible for me to materialize them. Hence, i found a representative that can be the film’s key prop – the piano. The two characters first know each other because of piano piece, and their relation ends with a piano music. These scenes shows the importance of the piano as it is an item that strongly related to their dreams.
The key item research slide
The colour that the director used in interior spaces is one of the most interesting thing in the film. Though many colours in the palette is dark, with a proper arrangement, the interior space of some scenes is still live and dynamic. This can be useful for my further design development.
The colour palette of specific part of the film
The last part of the research is the material and textures. When doing this research, one scene caught my attention. In a domestic space where the character is playing a piano, a slightly transparent curtain separated him from the background. This curtain not only separated the piano space with the living space, it also allows light to travel through. This separation provides a relaxing atmosphere and a separation that allows people to move freely, which can be practical in a hotel design.
The material research slide