Honestly, movie trailers usually suck. They’re basically just two-minute checklists of every plot point, every explosion, and every punchline, leaving you with that weird "I've already seen this" feeling before you even buy a ticket. But then there was the La La Land 2016 trailer. It didn't do any of that. It felt less like a marketing asset and more like a fever dream or a late-night memory of a jazz club you’ve never actually visited. It was a vibe.
If you remember the first time "City of Stars" started playing over those saturated purples and blues of a twilight Los Angeles, you know exactly what I mean. It wasn't just a teaser. It was a promise that the Hollywood musical wasn't dead, just sleeping.
The Teaser That Broke the Internet Without Saying a Word
Most studios are terrified of silence. They think if there isn't a "braam" sound effect every five seconds, the audience will scroll away. Lionsgate took a massive gamble with the initial teaser for La La Land. There is zero dialogue. None. You just get Ryan Gosling’s gravelly, untrained, yet strangely perfect whistling and singing.
It starts with that shot of Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Gosling) walking past a mural of old Hollywood legends. It’s meta. It’s nostalgic. It basically tells you everything you need to know about their characters without a single line of exposition. They are two people obsessed with a version of the world that doesn't exist anymore.
📖 Related: Who is Gasquatch? The Truth About This Blaze and the Monster Machines Legend
I think that's why it stuck with people.
We live in an era of sequels and "content," but this trailer looked like art. It focused on the chemistry of the leads, which, let’s be real, is the only reason the movie works. If you put two actors with zero spark in those same primary-colored outfits, the whole thing would have felt like a high school theater production. Instead, it felt like magic.
Why the Music in the La La Land 2016 Trailer Was a Masterclass
Justin Hurwitz is a genius. I’ll say it. The way he and director Damien Chazelle used the La La Land 2016 trailer to introduce the film's musical motifs was brilliant. Most people don't realize that trailers are usually cut by third-party agencies, not the director. But Chazelle's fingerprints were all over this.
The rhythm of the editing follows the piano.
The "City of Stars" teaser was followed later by the "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" trailer. That second one was a gut punch. It focused entirely on Emma Stone’s face as she sang about her aunt jumping into the Seine. It was raw. It showed the struggle of the "starving artist" trope without making it feel like a cliché. It’s probably the reason she won the Oscar, honestly. That one shot in the trailer convinced everyone she had the range.
The Visual Language of the Teaser
Color is a character in this movie. The trailer didn't shy away from that. We saw:
- The bright yellow dress against the blue twilight.
- The green neon of the "Lighthouse" jazz club.
- The stark white of the Griffith Observatory.
These weren't just pretty pictures. They signaled to the audience that this was a "Technicolor" experience in a digital world. It reached back to movies like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and Singin' in the Rain, and people who loved those classics felt seen.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Marketing
There’s this weird misconception that La La Land was an instant, guaranteed hit. It wasn't. Original musicals are notoriously hard to sell. Ask anyone who worked on In the Heights or West Side Story (2021). Those were great movies that struggled to find an audience.
The La La Land 2016 trailer succeeded because it didn't try to hide that it was a musical. It leaned into the artifice. It showed people dancing on cars on a freeway. It showed them floating in a planetarium. By being unapologetically whimsical, it filtered out the people who would have hated it anyway and grabbed the hearts of the dreamers.
It was also released at the perfect time. 2016 was a... complicated year, to say the least. People were tired. They were cynical. Then this trailer drops, showing two beautiful people falling in love while the sun sets over the 405. It was the escapism we desperately needed.
The Evolution of the Trailers
If you go back and watch the various versions, you’ll notice a shift. The first teaser is all about the dream. The full-length theatrical trailer, however, starts to hint at the reality. We see the arguments. We see Sebastian's frustration with his "serious" jazz career. We see Mia's failed auditions.
This is where the marketing was truly honest.
It didn't just promise a happy ending. It promised a story about the cost of chasing your dreams. The song "Audition" is literally about people who "bring on the rebels, the ripples from pebbles." It’s an anthem for the losers and the weirdos. By including those snippets, the trailers managed to ground the fantasy in a way that felt relatable. You might not be a jazz pianist in LA, but you probably know what it feels like to want something that feels out of reach.
A Legacy of Aesthetic Influence
You can still see the DNA of the La La Land 2016 trailer in TikTok edits and YouTube montages today. It popularized a certain "sad-happy" aesthetic. It made jazz feel cool again to a younger generation. It even influenced how other studios marketed "prestige" films, moving away from loud trailers toward more atmospheric, music-driven pieces.
Key Technical Takeaways for Filmmakers
If you're looking at why this specific marketing worked, it comes down to three things:
- Focus on the Hook: The melody of "City of Stars" is an earworm. They used it as the foundation of everything.
- Minimalism: They didn't over-explain the plot. They sold the feeling.
- Contrast: High-key colors mixed with low-key, melancholic music. It creates emotional friction.
Actionable Steps for Reliving the Magic
If you’re feeling nostalgic or just want to see what all the fuss was about again, here is how to properly dive back in:
- Watch the Teasers in Order: Start with the "City of Stars" teaser, then move to the "Audition" trailer, and finally the theatrical one. You’ll see the narrative arc of the marketing itself.
- Listen to the "Chomsky" Demo: There are early versions of the soundtrack available online that show how the music evolved from simple piano sketches to the orchestral swells you hear in the trailer.
- Check Out the Influences: Watch The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Once you see the visual parallels, you’ll realize how much the La La Land trailer was a love letter to French New Wave cinema.
- Analyze the Editing: If you're a creator, mute the trailer and just watch the cuts. Notice how they synchronize with the hidden beats in the music. It’s a masterclass in pacing.
The La La Land 2016 trailer remains a high-water mark for film promotion because it treated the audience like they had a soul. It wasn't trying to sell you a product; it was trying to invite you into a world. A decade later, that world still looks pretty good.