It’s the “Big Apple,” the “city that never sleeps,” and the “city of dreams,” and for many creatives, New York City is simply home. Among the bustling streets and the non-stop hustle, creatives of all types set out every day in pursuit of their dreams. “New York Rhapsody,” an Adorama Original Film, captures that daily drive of so many.
The film, all shot in New York City, features a single day snapshot of the lives of three individual creatives. A wedding photographer, a filmmaker, and a musician show us the city and their craft through their eyes.
Already the recipient of multiple awards — including recognition from the Gold Movie Awards (UK), European Cinematography Awards (EU), Golden Gate International Film Festival, Vegas Movie Awards, Los Angeles Film Awards, Buenos Aires International Film Festival, and more — the film is set to a classic soundtrack that is the true heartbeat of the city:
On the notes of George Gershwin’s immortal “Rhapsody in Blue,” New York City wakes up and and begins the daily cycle of life, dreams, and their inevitable intersections. We follow three creatives as they hustle and fight against and within the rhythm of the city to chase their artistic visions.
Most say about New York: “You love it or you hate it!” It’s a city of contrast — of black and white — but many often miss its countless shades of gray.
To give you the behind the scenes look at the filming of the movie, we sat down with Sal D’Alia, the film’s director and content producer at AdoramaTV, and Andrew Trost, the cinematographer.
How did “New York Rhapsody” originate?
D’Alia: On a personal note, 2020 marks my tenth year in New York City. I wanted to make a love letter to the city, and something that would represent a bit of my journey as a professional, but that would also show the hustle and the passion of every artist in this city.
“Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin has always been my number one soundtrack for NYC, and my original plan was to shoot every day for one year, and then make a portrait of what happens in the city. As a content producer at Adorama, I wanted to focus the story on those creatives who pour their dreams into this city and try to make a living with their passion.
What first attracted you to “New York Rhapsody”?
Trost: Rhapsody was my first project as cinematographer for Adorama, and I was very excited to be a part of it. The brief I got from Sal was immediately intriguing: show the vibrancy of New York in as many stunning black and white images as possible. I really respond to being challenged, so knowing the bar was high was very exciting from the get-go.
After being interviewed and fully understanding the scope of the project in great detail, I was completely on board. Who wouldn’t want to travel all around the city to film in black and white?
The soundtrack is a character in itself throughout the film. Were there any challenges in pairing the music to the visuals?
D’Alia: I usually start from a script and move on to a storyboard, but in this case, I started from a music script and I created a storyboard that would match the beat and notes of the score. Editing was definitely crucial to make that work, but it was also important to try and time as best as possible some of the live action scenes. We couldn’t have music on set most of the time, so whenever possible, I’d ask the actors to try an action with different speed. After that, by adding more details and cutaway shots, I knew I could make the rhythm work in the editing. I listened to the score so many times that on set I knew most of the time how long each shot should be.
Trost: That ultimately comes down to Sal. I think this project was very clear in his mind before we started shooting, so even though the edit was a major challenge given how much footage there was, I think it mostly fell into place. He even had some B-Roll he had shot over the years that he wanted to use, so it was a good baseline to work from.
We also had a decent amount of prep time. We talked every day leading up to our first day of shooting, scouted as many locations as possible, and just constantly threw questions back and forth. Films are made in prep, and by the time you are shooting there are really only a few questions left, but that often comes down to taste. In nearly every location I knew our goals, and once we were rolling, it was just a matter of whether or not we caught the right moment.
Once I got a feel for the kinds of images Sal responds to, it was smooth sailing. In those circumstances you just trust that when a director says “we got it,” you really got it.
Approaching the three separate stories of Rhapsody — the photographer, filmmaker, and musician — gives us an idea of life in New York, under normal circumstances. How is New York City, this music, and the final video representative of the creative community?
D’Alia: I wanted to show different phases and aspects of a life of a creator. The filmmaker is a young hustler juggling three gigs in a day (something I did multiple times at the beginning of my career), the photographer is a young mother trying to balance her love for photography with time with her daughter, and the musician is a Wall Street broker making a good living but craving for more time on stage.
There are hundreds more stories like this, but I liked how these three represent so many artists today in NYC. When I shot the movie, I tried to catch the energy and the pressure of the city, and none of us would have imagined how much we would miss that energy in these days of quarantine. NYC was not made to have empty streets and people at home, and watching the movie today, you definitely get nostalgia, and are eager for things getting back to normal so we can go back to feed off that unique energy of New York.
Trost: What is fun about this project is that the city itself is the main character, and you can go just about anywhere and find a unique energy. Looking at this film right now makes me feel lots of different things: it makes me a little sad knowing we can’t experience life in this way right now, but more than that, it makes me hopeful for returning to that kind of lifestyle. Hopefully this film can exist as a bit of a capsule to remind us of what we’re aiming toward.
What is even more inspiring is that we only tapped a small part of what makes this city the best in the world, so hopefully it will inspire people to seek out those communities or create their own.
What were the different approaches for each of the storylines?
D’Alia: The three characters have very different backgrounds, economic situations, family statuses, but what unites them is the passion for their craft and the thrive for that energy, and in this city, that’s more than enough to be part of the same story. My approach was to balance out the ups and downs of that story — it doesn’t matter where you’re coming from, how much money you have in you bank account. If you are a creative in NYC, you are hustling, you’re not stopping, and you will never be done perfecting your craft, no matter how accomplished you are.
Gerswhin made a masterpiece with “Rhapsody in Blue” and I already had all the ups and downs on the music script, so I just had to balance the stories and make them all relevant and strong enough so that people could relate with it.
Trost: Since the city is the most important character, we didn’t really change our approach much between each storyline. Each person has a unique style, sensibility, and energy about them, which makes you shoot around them in different ways; find their best lighting and angles, etc., but they are much more the vehicles to flaunt all the little corners of creativity that exist here.
The approach to the entire piece was more important so it felt “whole” and composed. We tried our best not to default to anything too conventional with our framing. I think there are some inherent ways you can get a point or mood across, but everything comes down to finding flashes of a moment: Vanessa frustrated by her day job, Robin finding inspiration in his apartment, Chris frantically trying to make it to the next gig. In every case that meant letting the moment dictate the ideal approach.
What was the most challenging scene to shoot?
D’Alia: We shot all the live action scenes in five days so time constraint was the real challenge for us. Producers Paul Del Gesso and Irwin Suba, and Trost were key in the success of the production and how quick we were going through the storyboard.
The most complicated scene was probably the final concert scene with the musician. In few hours we set up a small concert with a live performance, stage lighting, and a real crowd, plus inserts with the filmmaker shooting the concert. We shot that scene at the D’Angelico guitars showroom, and finding the right location was extremely important for the shooting process.
Trost: To be honest, none of the scenes were particularly difficult to shoot. We were very well prepared and knew walking into each location what we needed to accomplish. Our producer, Paul Del Gesso, was very organized and helped keep us on track and on schedule.
I think the most overall difficult part of the project was just how many locations we had to shoot out in a matter of five days. Sometimes as many as three company moves a day. That can get rough on a crew especially in the middle of June. We lost a lot of time to rush hour traffic.
In terms of complexity, that would definitely be the concert. There were a lot of extras and light gags to coordinate, and with a small crew that can be pretty tough to keep everyone on the same page and working together. Still, it was a pretty enjoyable part of our day. Getting hit with challenges like that is what makes this job fun; it keeps you on your toes.
Finally, can you break down the gear used for this, and why you chose it?
Trost: “New York Rhapsody” was shot on the Arri Amira, which we chose not only for its reliability, but also how quickly you can change settings on the fly. We would constantly be changing frame rates between takes, and sometimes be in locations that were time-sensitive. Being able to swap frame rates or ISO at the flip of a switch was really helpful. Shooting specs were for the majority: 3.2k, ProRes 4444, Log-C, and monitoring a standard Rec-709.
For lenses, we chose Arri Master Primes. Obviously they are very beautiful lenses and optically as close to perfect as you can get. We liked that clean and sharp look for this project, as well as the inherent contrast they have. We didn’t want too much character from the lenses, since NYC has plenty of texture to begin with. The fast stop was also very helpful since we had some key scenes in dark locations or at night. We used the 16mm, 25mm, 50mm, and 100mm macro.
We varied our frame rates depending on what exactly we were seeing, but everything was shot at a high frame rate, anywhere from 48 – 200fps. We occasionally used 1/4 Black ProMist when a location wouldn’t allow us to use our hazer.
To operate, I used an EasyRig, Shape handles, and a TV Logic 5.5” monitor. Nearly 99% of the project was done handheld this way. Handheld was the only way to go for this project; we had so much to capture and such a small crew that speed was a priority. Sal monitored from either a 7” directors monitor or 17” monitor depending on our location.
For lighting, we always carried a couple Litemats, 1×1 bi-color LED, and a handful of Astera Pixel Tubes. Our crew was super lean, so running things off battery and minimal footprint was essential. There were many times I’d leave the camera to 1st AC Stephen Hicken to frame up while I would work on setting lights. The whole crew was small but amazing and put up with a lot of curveballs.
Additionally, we had a second unit shooting general b-roll throughout the city for two of our five days, which was led by Magid Metwaly. They had an Arri Alexa Mini, Fuji 19-90, and a very long shot list. That was extremely helpful to let us concentrate solely on the content involving our characters.
The grade was done at The Mill by colorist Josh Bohosky, who we really love working with. He knows our sensibilities and really adds a lovely finishing touch to everything we shoot.
To see it all come together, take a look at the full film below:
