‘In the Heights’ cinematographer Alice Brooks breaks down the film's reflection shot

In the Heights is a musical drama film directed by Jon M. Chu and based on the stage musical of the same name by Hudes and Lin-Manuel Miranda. In a recent interaction with Variety, the cinematographer of the movie Alice Brooks broke down a few of the key sequences of the movie. One of those scenes included the reflection shot in which, Usnavi, played by Anthony Ramos, is seen gazing out of the bodega window as he dreams of returning to his hometown. In the window is a reflection of a group of dancers.

Alice Brooks breaks down the reflection shot 

Alice said that she asked her gaffer to take lots of colour temperature readings and weather readings.  She and her team kept a journal of exactly what the light was doing outside the bodega at the particular time, and they were able to replicate those lights then when they got back to the sets and that technique worked seamlessly for her.

Brooks explained the importance of reflections in the scene and said that reflections played a prominent visual role throughout the movie. They had lots of reflection shots but this particular shot was the first main reflection shot in the movie. Brooks explained that there is another smaller one with Abuela Claudia (Olga Merediz) but it’s the first time you see dance in the movie, and she loved that the first time the audience saw dance in the movie is through the reflection.

Brooks further explained that they had to shoot the dancers on the sets because that bodega wasn’t built and they had to shoot Usnavi at the bodega. So the team shot the dancer's scene four to five weeks before they shot Usnavi’s shots. So it was a bit challenging for Alice and her team and she admitted that the scene was like  "knowing what our puzzle pieces were and how they were going to fit together."

In the Heights movie cast

In the Heights movie cast features actors like  Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gregory Diaz IV, and Jimmy Smits. The movie premiered at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival on June 4, 2021, and is set to be released in theatres in the United States on June 10. The movie received critical acclaim. Take a look at In the Heights trailer below.

IMAGE: STILLS FROM IN THE HEIGHTS