POOL PARTY!

As we head into the hottest month of the year we thought we’d offer some relief from all the sweat and sun that awaits us. And what better way to do that than a dip in the pool?

Author

Tyler Clark
July 03, 2023

Good morning Consumers. This is please consume, the film newsletter that will never pay full price for Peacock.

As we head into the hottest month of the year we thought we’d offer some relief from all the sweat and sun that awaits us. And what better way to do that than a dip in the pool?

We’ve compiled a list of our favorite scenes around a pool and while they aren’t all sexy, summer fun, we guarantee they’ll all be at least somewhat refreshing.

So grab your doughnut floats and water torpedoes and dive head first into Pool Scenes Week!

In The Heights (2021)

In The Heights is a fun little movie based on a play written by Lin-Manuel Miranda that sort of rode off of the success of Hamilton.

While never quite reaching the emotional highs of Hamilton, storywise or lyrically, the film is enjoyable in an “I like watching good looking people dance and sing” kind of way.

However, In The Heights contains a pool scene that’s perfect for discussion this week. So let's get into it!

Pool Party

The pool scene in the film is a huge dance number that actually takes place in the water.

It follows Usnavi, played by Miranda regular Anthony Ramos, as he and his friend dream of what they’d do if they were to hit it big in the lottery.

It’s so delightful to see dancers splashing in unison and flipping into the water as they long to escape the monotonous life they lead. It offers a cheerful break in a film filled with the hardships of an immigrant in New York.

The scene also includes lots of different dance styles that originated in New York. Break dancing, which is from the Bronx, is featured in the locker room scenes, and in the pool, there are dancers performing FlexN dance moves that came from Brooklyn. This mesh of influences is reflective of the neighborhood our heroes live in, which is largely Dominican American immigrants.

No Fun in The Sun

While the scene may look fun and refreshing, in actuality, the shoot was brutal.

The crew had only 3 days to shoot the nearly 6 minute long scene containing 500-700 extras, which is a very short amount of time, especially for a musical number.

To make matters worse, it was cold and rainy for most of the shoot.In an article for Vulture, Anthony Ramos remembered “it was hard, it was gray, it was raining, and the water was cold.”

If it was raining hard, they had to pause shooting because you could see the rain in the pool, and if it thundered, they had to get out of the pool for 30 minutes and unplug everything electrical.

The cold was also hard on the dancers. It was difficult for them to stay in the pool for long periods of time and still be able to have full control of their bodies while they were freezing. Water was constantly being splashed in their eyes as well and they had to keep them open so it wouldn’t look like water was getting in their eyes.

In the end, to make the scene actually look sunny, they had to color correct the sky to look sunny. They also had to shoot day for night on the last day because they had to cram and stay late to finish the shoot.

It was worth it though. The scene makes a fantastic centerpiece in a film full of really fun dance numbers. It’s just a blast to watch!

Today’s Scene