Mise-En-Scene in Casablanca

The lighting used by Hitchcock also serves to portray Madeleine as a fantasy woman, using the lighting to highlight her face. As Madeleine passes by Scottie in the restaurant she is bathed in a soft light which makes her all the more noticeable against the backdrop of a dimly-lit restaurant. Furthermore, as she passes by him, she is shown in a full body shot in the center of the frame, which Hitchcock uses to create an overwhelming sense of romance. Here, Madeleine is the desired object clearly separated from her mundane surroundings. The viewer is aggressively confronted with Madeleine’s image and this allows us to be swept up in the romantic fantasy along with Scottie. The lighting used in this scene actively draws the viewer to her features and ensures that all attention is on her. The audience are enticed and seduced by her and this stretches to Scottie as well as we can see that he is drawn to her and has to make an effort to be covert.

The mise-en-scene used in Bonnie and Clyde is what created the classic film we enjoy today. While the film editing in this film was revolutionary to the entire industry, that isn’t what viewers remember. According to the book, Film Art, “Many of our most vivid memories of movies stem from mise-en-scene.” In this film, the mise-en-scene is an important as that quote suggests. It is responsible for a variety of the most essential aspects of the movie. Bonnie and Clyde implemented mise-en-scene to describe characters, promote symbolism and solidify motifs throughout the film.

      Ilsa is one of the most enigmatic figures in this story. She is torn between her passionate love for Rick and her vows of marriage to Victor. She is deluded by her confusing feelings for her husband, “..she looked up to him, worshipped him, with a feeling she supposed was love. He opened up for her a whole beautiful world full of knowledge and thoughts and ideals.” She loves him as a “heroic father figure.” Her inescapable love for Rick causes her to completely surrender her will to his judgment. She offers to willingly sacrifice herself to him in a loving, but adulterous relationship. Her shameful decision violates her high ideals, honor, and sacred vows of marriage. In the end, although Rick’s decision brings her great unhappiness, and severs her from the man she passionately loves, she yields to it and accompanies her husband back into their unfulfilling relationship.

Component 2: drama responding required to choose a video clip and discuss the three dramatic elements that appeared in that video. Dramatic elements are the techniques to design the dramatic presentation, atmosphere, verbal or non-verbal interactions, mood and emotion to grab the attention of audiences (Dinham, 2017; ACARA, 2017). I have selected to view the video clip "The Secret Garden: There's someone crying" (Movieclips, 2012). After observing, analysing and evaluating the video clip critically, I have decided to explore the characters, voice and movement.

Many believe that as a society, cultural norms and morals have changed with the times. However, it can be argued that although many new innovations have brought mankind into the 21st century, the same values have remained. Humans cling to things that throughout the generations have influenced our everyday lives. As an audience in 1942 to today’s audience, three things have remained the same; the love of a good romance, war time issues, and loyalties. This essay will compare what the audience in 1942 saw in these cultural norms to the audience today within the movie Casablanca.

Nevertheless, it seems that they represent American society in the 1940’s. The character of Rick portrays an unconventional hero who tries to stay outside of everyone’s business, but in the end it is him who saves Laszlo’s and Ilsa’s life. This reminds me of the role of America during WWII. At first, the United States tried to stay out of the war, but when they were forced to react after Pearl Harbor, they got involved. The film also refers to this when Rick asks his friend Sam if he knows what time it is in New York. Before Sam can reply, Rick says that it must be December 1941, which was the time when the attack against Pearl Harbor occurred. Ilsa, on the other hand, represents the role of American women. She is described as the most beautiful woman that has been seen in Casablanca. Her appearance reminds me of the typical image of an ideal American girl – blonde, pretty and conservative. She tries to act in a moral way when she finds out that her presumed dead husband is still alive and she leaves Rick at the station in Paris. This reminds me of how women were treated during the 1940’s. It was their responsibility to take care of the family business, but in the end men would have the final decision. Ilsa tries to get the transit-visa from Rick, but she tells him to decide what she should do next. Rick sends her away with Laszlo and restores the perfect family union between Ilsa and Laszlo. Another

1. What is the setting for Casablanca? How does the film establish this setting? If you were creating a theatrical production of the play upon which the film is based, how would you establish the setting on stage? The setting for the movie looked as if it was around the 1980’s. The movie has a sort of mellow feeling to it because of how calm all the actors and actresses are performing. If i were to do a theatrical performance on this i would have set all the scenes in a way where it would fit the 1980’s attitude, such as clothing and accent.

Side lighting sculpts the contours of Julia’s pain inflicted face. She remains in semi-darkness as she stands silently in her unforgiving industrial environment. Rusted objects and train related machinery surround her, furnishing the scene with a sense of devastation and ruin. The glowing light from the windows in the background highlight her dislocation. The warmth of the light is something inaccessible, as she quivers in the darkness.

In Napoleon Dynamite (Jared Hess, 2004), the character known as Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder) is quite a unique fellow. His quirkiness and eccentricity are what make him as a character; they are the primary traits of his personality. Keep in mind, however, that he is not the only odd character in the film, but he has his own peerless way of defining himself separate from any other character(s). This effect is achieved through certain cinematic techniques that director Jared Hess utilizes in order to bring out Napoleon’s persona in ways other than simply “guessing” who he really is. Rather, these techniques “explicitly imply” certain character traits; they are like clues that allow one to see the

Being one of the world’s most popular art forms, it was inevitable that these archetypes would find their way into film as well. In this essay I will argue that the

In the film Casablanca they show various different aspects of American culture during the wartime forties. These things are cumulated in the films sole American, whose name is Rick. However this film not only shows the culture of Americans but also shows a look into what Americans viewed the war as. The values of people and what was considered obtuse for society are ever changing, and you can see this as plain as day within the movies and films of the time. Casablanca is an amazing example for this because it is special in the fact that it’s the only play written during the time that was never played but was instead turned straight into a movie. Now let’s take a more in-depth look into the movie and how it’s connected to the people who were meant to watch it.

In the scene where John and Alicia are stargazing three-point lighting is used and the background is blurred. The focus is all on Alicia and John because that is what John is focused on. The three-point lighting helps them stand out from the background and makes them brighter then the rest of the scene. This helps show John and Alicia’s developing connection. There are many times is the movie when low key lighting is used and it helps bring attention to different things throughout the movie. For example when it’s first used, is in the scene where John is writing equations on the window. The camera moves outside to show John writing and you can only see John and his window. The whole background is dark creating a singular focus on John writing equations. Another scene that is mentionable is when the doctor is telling Alicia about John’s schizophrenia. When Alicia and the doctor are standing outside of John’s room in the mental ward, the only light is coming from John’s room. The technique illuminates what they are talking about and show are Alicia is “in the dark” about John’s

Casablanca, to me, is a very unique artifact to study. I think that studying this artifact, is very creative and engaging. One thing that sticks out to me relating Casablanca, is the lighting, as mentioned in a group’s project. When watching film, I tend to overlook the lighting, but when seeing the project, it made me think differently. Every movie filmed has a purpose for every scene, there are no accidents. One scene that stuck out to me was the scene with Ilsa and Rick. In the scene Ilsa looks as if she is glowing , she lights up her area of the room, and lights up the front of Rick, while behind him is dark. In my opinion this scene is symbolizing how Rick is in a dark place, hence the dark lighting behind him. When Ilsa walks into the room, it's like a new Rick appears, which is more brighter. I think it is safe to say that this is no accident at all as far as coming from the producers. In my opinion I think this scene would not be as effective if the lighting was not like this, the message may be completely different. This scene makes me think of a part of my favorite tv show Pretty Little Liars. In Pretty Little Liars, the main antagonist of the show “-A” is revealed. When -A is revealed, the lighting becomes very dark, and there is a sense of darkness, or horror. This lightning fits the scene very well. When this character, who is terrible to the other characters anonymously, is finally revealed, it would not be beneficial to have bright lighting, or a sense of light. Just like the scene from Casablanca, both of these scenes would affect the viewer differently and make them think of these scenes as something different.

The third chapter will mainly discuss Woody Allen?s The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) to examine how a theme about cinema-goers reflects a desire from the filmmaker and the audience. The film fabricates a fantasy where the protagonist of a film called ?The Purple Rose of Cairo?, Tom Baxter (enacted by Jeff Daniels), ?steps? out of the film during a screening. He joins Cecilia (starred by Mia Farrow), a frustrated waitress and aggrieved wife who has watched this film countless times, and starts an adventure in the real world. Confronting the chaos caused by Tom arbitrarily leaving the screen, Gil Shepard, an actor who impersonates Tom, comes to persuade Tom to return to the film, while pursuing Cecilia at the same time. In the end, Cecilia chooses to stay in reality but ends up alone due to Gil abandoning her for his career in Hollywood.

Today, there are a lot of movies shot in the spy genre. The special effects amaze with its inimitability and with each film are becoming brighter and more exciting. In this paper I want to analyze one of the most impressive and most of the first films about spies "Casino Royale" filmed by Martin Campbell and compare it with the eponymous book written by Ian Fleming, which soon served as the plot for the film. In such way it will be seen how the spy genre have been changed for decades. “Casino Royale” is one of the first Fleming’s novels and it was released with the absence of big success in 1953.