Component 1a: Hollywood 1930-1990 (Comparative Study) – Contexts

“Compare how far your chosen films reflect their different production contexts.”

Planning:

Introduction – Overview of how Casablanca was influenced by the context of the ‘Golden Age of Hollywood’ and the studio system it was produced in, and the same for Bonnie and Clyde and the ‘New Hollywood’ alongside the French New Wave and the 1960s as a whole.

Talk about ‘Ricks introductory Sequence”, particularly focusing on the cinematography and sound design, editing and representation. Talk about how this is a result of the Studio System and Classical Style and WW2 contexts. For Bonnie and Clyde, talk about how the opening sequence differs from the Classical Hollywood Style in its jarring close ups with lack of establishing shots, but compare in the way that the lead stars are presented. Make sure to compare each element of each film, i.e cinematography or performance, to examples of the same element from the chosen sequence of the other film.

Comment on how the ‘Leaving Rick’s’ sequence is shot, how the characters/actors are represented, and how the editing and sound design are incorporated to create a seamless feel to it. Then, compare this to the ‘Meeting Family’ sequence, focusing on this scenes blatant differences to Classical Hollywood and similarities to the French New Wave.

Conclusion – Focus in on how the objectives of the directors changed between the times that both films were made. Consider that in the 1940s, it was about sleekness and seamlessness, keeping attention on the story and the actors, whereas in the 1960s filmmakers inspired by the French New Wave wanted to defy conventions and produce casual, low budget films.

Version 1:

Casablanca and Bonnie and Clyde reflect the social, cultural and institutional contexts they were made in to a large extent. The former was made in a time period where focus was placed on the story, helped to be communicated through seamless editing and smooth, unnoticeable cinematography, the latter inspired by foreign film movements that placed emphasis on going against convention and utilising casual, cheap film production.

Casablanca was made during the ‘Golden Age of Hollywood’ where the Classical Hollywood Style, a method of filmmaking that focused on remaining unnoticed to the audience and entirely serving to communicate the story, was dominant. This can be seen in the camerawork of ‘Rick’s introductory sequence’, which begins with a typical long shot to establish the location for the audience, then cutting to a close up of the cafe’s sign to bring their attention to the specific location of the scene. The camera then smoothly tilts down and follows behind a group of customers entering the cafe, a moment in which the gliding movement done with only two cuts so far is used to immerse the audience in the environment, further done by the doorman holding the door for the camera and a waiter acknowledging it. On the contrary, Bonnie and Clyde was made after the collapse of the Hollywood studio system, after which theatres, no longer directly owned by the production companies, had the freedom to show new, foreign films. This led to a rise in filmmakers inspired by the French New Wave, such as Arthur Penn and Warren Beatty, who incorporated the style of filmmaking from the New Wave, which emphasised a casual approach to making the film, often being self-aware and provocative. This can be seen in the opening sequence of the film, which immediately begins with an extreme close up of Bonnie’s lips, without the preamble of an establishing shot, jarring the audience. This opening shot also immediately sexualises her, alongside the later use of sexual imagery done through the coke bottles and Clyde’s gun, which is felt suggestively by Bonnie. This reflects the increasing acceptance of sexual imagery in America in the 1960s, which Bonnie and Clyde includes often, therefore bypassing the Hays Code, which Casablanca adhered to by avoiding violence or sexual imagery. The rest of the opening scene in Bonnie’s bedroom plays through tight close ups of her face, obstructing the room from view and emulating her feeling of being trapped and constrained, deliberately avoiding the classical convention of establishing where the scene takes place. Therefore, both films reflect their production contexts, through their approach to conveying information to the audience, to a large extent.

The sound design in Casablanca in ‘Rick’s introductory’ sequence is smooth and unnoticeable to the audience, the composed diegetic sounds of Sam playing and people talking growing in the mix as the camera nears him and those crowded around him. This, alongside the constant background ambience of conversations in the cafe and the way these subtly subside in the sound mix when the audiences attention is being focused on dialogue, serve to immerse the audience in the film and keep their attention on the story and the setting it takes place in. The films also cuts, in Classical Hollywood Style, as little as possible, utilising smooth, subtle camera movements and carefully choreographed actors to show what is of importance in frame, such as two people talking, and only cuts to bring us deeper into the cafe, keeping the audiences attention away from the technical aspects of how the film is made. Bonnie and Clyde, in it’s opening sequence, has an undertone of faultiness in how it was made, as when Bonnie first speaks, the diegetic dialogue is loud and jarring. In contrast, when they speak outside, the dialogue sounds distant and muffled, hard to make out. This prevents the audience from becoming completely immersed in the dialogue of the story. The films also goes against Classical Hollywood convention of showing the action by avoiding showing Clyde commit the robbery, remaining outside as he goes in with a gun. This purposefully denies the audience the pleasure of seeing the action, inspired by the French New Wave style of focusing on the characters and their personal journey rather than just the crimes they commit, although the consequences of their actions and the violence they commit do play a key role in the film. Therefore, both films reflect their production contexts to a large extent through their approaches to cinematography and sound design.

The influence that the Hollywood Star System had on Casablanca can be seen in the ‘Leaving Rick’s’ sequence. Here, the cinematographer ensures that Ingrid Bergman, a popular star that Warner Bros. Had a contract with, looks as glamorous and beautiful as possible. She is presented is close ups, such as when she talks to Rick, by herself, to keep the audiences attention on her, in which the side of her face she preferred is shown, catch lights in her eye give them a lively sparkle, and the careful composition of the light on her face presents her as elegant, fragile and flawless, if unrealistic, in her appearance. Bonnie and Clyde strives for a more naturalistic beauty in the opening sequence, where Faye Dunaway in shown simply with makeup to present her as a more relatable and real, though still a renowned film star, protagonist for the audience to follow, as in the French New Wave style of real, typically working-class protagonists fighting against the establishment. In Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart is introduced to the scene in a low-angle shot, presenting him as a physically larger character, framed by an overhead arch, centre frame, to keep the audiences attention on him. Bonnie and Clyde simply shows Clyde from above, without a close up or carefully composed frame to signify his importance. He is also portrayed as a flawed protagonist in the film, evidenced by his limp from losing a toe in prison as he approaches the store to rob it. On the contrast, Rick seems constantly in control of the situation, carrying an air of causal calm about him at all times. This shows that both films reflect the contexts in which they were made to large extents, through their approach to representing the actors and focusing the audiences attention on them.

In Casablanca’s Leaving Rick’s sequence, the camera carefully rises and falls when the actors do, such as when Lazlo sits and it pedestals down to track him. Actors are carefully choreographed to keep our attention on certain significant things in frame, such as when Renault turns and calls for a waiter, revealing one, distant and unimportant in the background, but still there for the audience to see who he is speaking to. This smooth and seamless camerawork allows for the scene to continue on for some time before cutting to get closer to the characters, keeping the audiences attention on their conversation rather than the editing. Bonnie and Clyde, on the other hand, uses distracting editing in its ‘meeting family sequence’, such as the sudden and inconsistent slow motion shots when the kids roll down a hill, then having reached the bottom by the start of the next shot, and the non-temporal cut from one shot of Bonnie throwing sand to her hugging her mother in the next. These unusual and non traditional approaches to editing are disorienting for the audience, also done through the strange, hazy filter the scene is shot through, giving it a dream-like, surreal quality. This scene also features many sudden moments of eerie silence, such as when it cuts to Moss stood on the hill, which makes the scene feel imperfect in its production. Another way the films reflect their production contexts is in the approach to shooting on sets or location. Casablanca was made during the Hollywood Studio System, where the big eight film studios owned sets which they would display in films through shooting on superficial locations created through lavish set design. This is evident in Casablanca, as Rick’s expansive, lively, exotic and bustling cafe is designed meticulously in such a way to allow the camera to move through it, conveying the story and the expensive, detailed set. Bonnie and Clyde, in the style of the French New Wave style of filmmaking, favours a naturalistic approach, and shoots on location, evident in how the background of the picnic area is a decaying, abandoned industrial site, reflecting the backdrop of poverty during the Depression Era, but shot in rural Mid-West America, where some areas were still recovering financially from that period. Therefore, through their approach to editing and shooting on locations, these films reflect their production contexts to a large extent.

Both films reflect the production contexts that they were made in to large extents. In Casablanca, it is clear through the smooth cinematography and sound design, lack of editing, high emphasis on the stars, and shooting on superficial, constructed reality sets, that it was largely a product of the Classical Hollywood Era, which sought to keep focus on the story and the stars. Bonnie and Clyde was heavily influenced by the French New Wave and the rising acceptance of sexuality in the 1960s, which is seen through the films flawed, distracting editing, jarring and disorienting cinematography, unfitting sound design and naturalistic approach to presenting its stars and shooting on real locations, where they adapted to the environment to film.

Unconventional Auteur: Bonnie & Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967)

Bonnie & Clyde is a product of the inspiration that Arthur Penn, Warren Beatty and Dede Allen took from the French New Wave style of filmmaking. This took a causal, freelance approach to filmmaking with no strings attached by conventional means of editing, cinematography, acting, dialogue and narrative. As a result, the film is edited in a way that brings our attention to the editing, as often the film will cut to the same image further on in time, and other times characters are further on in time after a cut, delineating, to an extent, from typical continuity editing. It also takes a new approach to camera work, often using handheld cameras and shaky camera work. The actors are unconvincing, and the dialogue is often written in a way that sounds unconvincing and undramatic.

Warren Beatty, the actor of Clyde and the films producer, had a large hand in the films final product. He chose the actors, the director, oversaw the script and wheeled the film into production in the first place. He took ideas from the French New Wave, and oversaw the film to ensure that it would contain imperfections. He also wanted to play Clyde as a morally grey character who killed, robbed, and suffered from impotency, going against the typical convention of a basically flawless, handsome, dashing male movie protagonist. He and Penn wanted the film to be as realistic as possible, shooting on location and using natural lighting, such as when the cloud goes overhead on the field as Clyde chases Bonnie. They wanted the film to be un-theatrical and wished to avoid creating any beauty in the film through cinematography, romance, or any way in which the film was made.

Dede Allen, the films editor, also took inspiration from the French New Wave. Her approach to editing was to avoid conventions, instead utilising apparent and often jarring methods. One editing technique popularised by the French New Wave was hard cuts, which are used in Bonnie & Clyde. Another is non-temporal editing, as often characters will be moving on one shot but much further on in time when the next shot appears, making the moment unnatural and the movement of the actor and editing of the scene jumpy and sometimes slightly jarring, alerting the audience to the films production. As did Penn and Beatty, she aimed to avoid any sort of conformity or comfortable typicality in the film that audiences were used to from other’s, using editing techniques that had an undertone of being unfinished/unpolished.

Arthur Penn took inspiration from the unconventional, unique style of filmmaking in the French New Wave. He incorporated this into Bonnie & Clyde in the overall product of the film feeling unfinished and different, clearly made with the aim of feeling different to other, more traditional films with strict narratives and forms of editing, cinematography, etc. He did this through making sure that the script felt off with its unnatural, for a film, dialogue that emulated real, un- orchestrated dialogue, similarly to the natural lighting and camera work affected by the hilly landscape it was filmed on, such as camera inside the car shaking as Bonnie and Clyde pulling up to see Malcom at the end of the film.

Beatty (centre) had a large part in the presentation of Clyde as a flawed protagonist, but also the overall production of the film with inspiration taken from the French New Wave style of filmmaking.

New Hollywood: Bonnie & Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967)

After the collapse of the Hollywood studio system and cinemas became free to exhibit films of their own choice, including foreign and independent films, directors were left with more freedom to experiment and produce films as they wanted, leading to a dramatic rise in auteur productions that began largely due to the heavily innovative and radically different way that Bonnie & Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967) was made. The film utilised temporal cuts that did not adhere to typical, seamless continuity editing, and presented new themes of sexuality and crime set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, blending dark comedy and brutality not sen often in film before. Arthur Penn had the freedom to take inspiration from the French New Wave due to the collapse of the Hollywood studio system and the subsequent ending of strict narrative conformity and unnoticeable editing to keep focus on the story.

Penn, Beatty and Allen all took heavy inspiration from the French New Wave, exhibited in America due to the increased freedom of cinemas to exhibit foreign films. The French New Wave was a new and innovative style of filmmaking from France that had placed emphasis on ‘outsider’ characters and how they perceived and interacted with the contemporary urban environments they lived in, often influenced by social deprivation and real social issues that existed at the time. The movement also favoured a casual, new approach to film making, with often handheld camera work, low budgets, hard cuts and non-continuity editing. They also experimented with portraying more realistic depictions of society, characters and themes that surrounded the story what had not been outwardly shown before under the Hays Code, such as violence, used in Bonnie & Clyde in a comedic setting, crime and sexuality. The film is shot on location using naturalistic lighting, politically motivated and a realistic character driven story.

Bonnie & Clyde was made in the backdrop of the 1960s, a period where typical American values were being reevaluated and the population were mor accepting of how the characters in the film were portrayed. Having morally grey characters was more likely to happen in the 1960s than the 1940s, and this also goes for the sexual imagery (included in the first shot, no less. Also e.g., when Bonnie is embarrassed by the by Clyde taking his shoe off in the street) nudity (which is involved in the first scene), violence shown in graphic detail through blood and squibs, the (almost) sex scenes, common nature of guns and robbery and kidnapping and murder in the plot, even the implication that Clyde is homosexual. It’s anti-establishment attitude( e.g Clyde shooting the bank’s sign), youthful and criminal protagonists resonated with younger audiences. An example is how Malcom punishes Moss for getting a tattoo, dismissing the protagonists. He is portrayed as a villain in the film, and is resonated with young audience members who wanted to dissent from their parents.

The brash attitudes and immoral choices of the characters were more acceptable in the 1960s, including Clyde’s arrogance and Bonnie’s smug attitude.

Bonnie & Clyde Close-Up (“Ballet Of Death” Sequence)

Overview:

In this final scene, Bonnie and Clyde go shopping and enjoy a day out together before noticing a pair of cops and driving away. During said drive, they notice Malcom, C.W Moss’s dad, and stop to help him with what he claims is a flat tyre. After he leaps under his truck in fear, Bonnie and Clyde realise that this is a trap, and make for each other before being brutally shot down by a group of police with rifles hidden in the bushes beside the road. The cops investigate the two’s bodies, confirming that they are dead.

Key Elements:

Cinematography –

Unlike other scenes in this film, the final sequence is mostly done via stationary camera that smoothly glide to track the characters. The scene begins with Bonnie and Clyde centre frame to bring our attention to the, and the camera smoothly crabs left to follow their journey to the car. It tilts up to show Clyde and then tilts down to track his sitting into the car. He and Bonnie and kept in frame constantly to keep our attention on them here. She is even kept in frame from over his shoulder. Reaction shorts are also used as he drops his lens. Inside the car, he and Bonnie are shown close together to signal their emotional connection. When Clyde asks about getting ice cream, he points at the parlour, which is in frame but in the background as the focus is on them. A close up is used on Bonnie’s doll as she describes it, showing us what to pay attention to. Reaction shots are also used as Moss looks out the window at the events unfolding.

The camera gets tighter between the couple as the sequence goes on, showing how close they are to one another now. It is tightest on them as they eat the pear together, showing their emotional connection through physical proximity. Shot reverse shots are used as they drive up and speak to Malcom, such as him waving and them pulling over to talk to him. Despite this, the camera shakes inside the car as they pull up, and canted angles are used due to the camera being placed on a small slope to show the car pulling up. Reaction shots are used constantly towards the end of the scene, showing Malcom’s fear of being shot, and Bonnie and Clyde’s realisation that they are about to be killed. Through the finals shot of the couple lingering on their bodies, the film forces the audience to confront the tragedy of the situation and the brutality of the scene. The camera smoothly glides over to track the movements of the people walking up to the car, keeping our attention on them, the brutal scene that they have caused, and their reactions to it.

Sound –

The lack of non-diegetic composed music in this scene, including the typical blue gras music that accompanies the car scenes in this film, created tension and builds a sense of tragedy in the tone of the film.

Editing –

There are rapid shot reverse shots towards the end of the scene, building tension and showing the realisation of the characters of what is about to happen, signalling it to the audience. This rapid use of redaction shots is unlike normal continuity editing, edited instead almost as a montage. The use of slow motion forces the audience to confront the brutality of the killings for longer. They are not shot in the face though, as the film still wants to present it’s attractive, glamorous movie stars, who are made to appear as such throughout the film.

Mise-En-Scen –

Bonnie and Clyde wear bright clothing to bring our attention to them and present them as more innocent. The pear they eat serves as sexual imagery to represent how they are closer to each other now, and more trusting of each other, also implying that Clyde has gotten over his hesitance to move forward in his relationship with Bonnie. This makes their brutal end more tragic. The blood used to show gunshots make the final scene more brutal and shocking to the audience, forcing them to confront the violence and the consequences of the character’s actions.

Performance –

Despite their previous behaviours in the film, Bonnie and Clyde here are innocent, youthful and happy, Clyde acting clumsily and Bonnie giggling and fawning over him. This makes their deaths more sympathetic and tragic, eliciting an emotional response from the audience.

Context:

Representations and Aesthetics:

Despite their criminal career, brashness, smug attitudes and aggressiveness before this scene, Bonnie and Clyde are presented as more innocent characters here. Clyde makes the jokes, and Bonnie aughts gleefully at them. The cops are presented as the villains, the lead one wearing black, their faces grim and the group of them shown shattered glass, distancing the audience from them.

Auteur:

The amount of blood in this scene, though unconvincing, is brutal for the 1960s.

Bonnie and Clyde Close-Up: Meeting Family Sequence

Overview:

Clyde catches Bonnie, who has snuck away from the gang and ran into a dying wheat field. She says to him that she wants to see her mother again, and Clyde agrees despite the risk, and in the next scene Blanche, Buck, Bonnie and Clyde enjoy a family re-union at an abandoned industrial site. There is an air of tension to the scene which culminates when Bonnie’s elderly and disapproving mother confronts Clyde and questions his plans and the safety eh van provide for Bonnie. His charm does not work on her, and she finishes by saying “You best keep running, Clyde Barrow” and leaves the couple alone by the site.

Key Elements:

Cinematography –

At the beginning of this scene, the style of filmmaking swaps between conventional American commercial filmmaking and the French New Wave style which influenced Arthur Penn’s direction. The scene is filmed on long lenses in the French style, and the camera movements following Clyde and improvised, causing the movement to be rapid, sudden and disconcerting to the audience. However, as Clyde runs next to the car, the camera filming moves backwards on a rig to produce a steady image, mo vying to show Buck as Clyde leans in to talk to him. An extreme wide shot is used as the actors improvise, running across the field. As the lighting cannot be controlled, because the film was shot on location in the French style, the shadow in this wide shot is no longer there when the scene cuts to a closer shot lol Bonnie running. Even in this wide shot though, the camera cranes upwards to follow the movement of the actors up the screen, a more traditional style of Hollywood filmmaking. In the closer shot, a what leaf obstructs the foreground, a sign of shooting on location rather than on a controlled, choreographed set.

Bonnie’s mother is shown in separate shots to everyone, showing her isolation and disapproval. During this picnic scene, the camera shoots through a car windscreen to serve as a filter that makes the image more grainy and giving the scene a dream-like quality. This is also done through washed out colours and far-away telephoto lends shots used for close-ups, such as the one with Bonnie’s mother, separating her from an incoherent, blurred background and adding a strange, incomplete feel to the shot. It gives the scene an other-worldly like atmosphere, adding a surreal quality to this entire sequence and making it feel more profound. This atmosphere serves as a metaphor, as the meaning behind the character’s’ expressions and the heavenly and strange atmosphere to the scene signifies that Bonnie and Clyde will die. This confusing lens the scene is shot through also prevents the audience from seeing clearly the fact that this scene takes place in a hidden industrial wasteland. This is symbolic of the direness of the characters’ situation, showing that they have to hide to survive, and also signifies the distractions Ned happiness they get when they are seen spending time together and playing in the pit. The location is shown through an establishing wide shot at the start of the scene and one at the end of it, a more conventional American style of cinematography.

Bonnie’s mothers’ words of “You best keep running, Clyde Barrow” are made to look more prophetic by the use of a long lens which isolates her from the background and the close up isolating her from everyone else, although this final conversation is done in traditional Hollywood style through shot-reverse-shots, close ups and over-shoulder shots.

Sound –

Editing –

The dissolve cut to the picnic scene is an example of traditional American commercial cinema editing. However, the scene with the family swaps between slow and normal motion and missing frames shots disconcert the audience to create an abstract and dream-like quality in the French New Wave style. There is also a moment of discontinuity when Bonnie;s mother is looking at Clyde in one close up and then down in the next.

Mise-En-Scen –

The dying wheat field serves as a metaphor for the fact that Bonnie and Clyde are destined for death. This is also signified in the funeral-like clothing that the characters are having a family reunion.We see how Bonnie’s character has changed through her lack of bright makeup and her more serious demeanour here.

Performance –

Blanche and Buck seems to be regretful, signifying that they know that Bonnie and Clyde will die, similarly to Bonnie’s mother’s sad demeanour, as opposed to Bonnie’s unsure expression and Clyde’s (and the children’s) clear ignorance. We see that Clyde’s boyish charm does not work on her mother as it did Bonnie at the start of the film, allowing for the mother so speak some actual truth for the first time in the film. In the final shot of the scene, Bonnie and Clyde are isolated, Clyde seeming confused and Bonnie worried, oscillated in a wide shot by being kept far away from Buck and Blanche who are clearly upset, foreshadowing the clear end of Bonnie and Clyde. It also leaves the entire gang alone in frame, showing their isolation from everyone else.

Context:

Representation and Aesthetics:

Auteur:

We can see Bonnie’s clear concern at the prophetic nature of her mother’s words, whereas Clyde is clearly ignorant to the dire reality of his situation, earning the disapproval of Bonnie’s mother.

Bonnie and Clyde Close-Up: Botched Heist Sequence

Overview:

In this scene, Bonnie and Clyde pull of their first bank heist with the help of their new recruit, C.W Moss, as their getaway driver. The best goes to plan, except when they get outside they cannot find the getaway car since Moss has parked it away from the bank. Chaos ensues as the bank’s alarm goes off and the public begin to converge at the scene. Eventually the couple find the car, but Moss struggles to pull out, causing a wreck and he reverses and accelerates into two other cars. They begin driving away, but a bank worker latches onto their car in pursuit of them. Clyde responds by shooting the man in the face, causing a violent scene as the man tumbles from the side of the car to the ground and Bonnie, Clyde and Moss drive away as people chase and shoot at them and the firefighters arrive.

Key Elements:

Cinematography –

An extreme long shot establishes the scene from under a roof awning. This makes the film look as if we are observing something by accident, adding a sense of realism to it. When Bonnie and Clyde enter the bank and take out their guns, Thayer are framed within a frame through a glass window to draw our attention to them.

As the car escapes, the scene mirrors the initial getaway scene, here without the jovial, jaunty music played before, taking a more serious, dramatic tone after the act of violence committed by Clyde.

Sound –

The sequence begins with a J cut from Clyde in bed transitioned by a loud car beep to establish the new location, which is also done through an extreme long shot with the crossroads outside of the bank centre frame.

Editing –

The scenes of the robbery in the bank and Moss outside are parallel edited to raise tension and signal to the audience that something bad is going to happen in a more conventional way of Hollywood filmmaking.

Mise-En-Scen –

The buildings shown look old and abandoned, showing the backdrop of the Depression and signalling that the south is in an economic decline. As the film was shot on location, the filmmakers choose to film in the Southern states to portray an area suffering the impacts of the Great Depression.

Bonnie wears a beret, a small nod to the inspiration taken by the filmmakers from the French New Wave.

Performance –

The extras in this scene were civilians asked by the filmmakers to serve as extras to add to the sense of realism and truthfulness prevalent in the French New Wave style of filmmaking.

Context:

The scene within the bank is largely improvised, striving for a realistic depiction similar to a documentary or unscripted sequence of events not played by professional actors.

Representations and Aesthetics:

When the pursuer chasing Bonnie and Clyde’s getaway vehicle is shot in the face by Clyde, we see an close up of the impact it creates. A large spray of blood against an agonised face is extremely violent and shocking for a mainstream film in the 1960s. The violence is shown centre frame and close up, even cutting back to it in an unnecessary and brutal shit reverse shot between it and the man who did the act, forcing the audience to confront it and the brutal actions of the protagonists, who we like and are attached to, but we have to face the consequences of their actions. It does not ruin them, but cements them as flawed ‘anti-hero’s’, displaying in graphic detail for the time the consequences of their actions.

Auteur:

Warren Beatty (left) had a massive hand in the films final product as its producer, portraying Clyde as an imperfect protagonist, differing from typical Hollywood strong male leads at the time. He also helped create the films shoddy but realistic dialogue, often improvised, and influenced its feel as an imperfect, casual, fun and low-budget production, heavily inspired by the French New Wave.

Bonnie & Clyde Close-Up: Opening Sequence

Overview:

Bonnie Parker lies naked and clearly frustrated by her boredom at home. She sees a man outside trying to steal her mother’s car, who she confronts. She quickly falls for the man and walks into town for him, asking questions about him and where he’s from. He shocks her by revealing that he has been released from state prison for armed robbery. She provokes him to rob a store to prove that he did so, which he promptly does, forcing the couple to giddily flee the town in a stolen car together. The man reveals that his name is Clyde Barrow.

Key Elements:

Cinematography –

The film intersperses the opening credits worth real photographs taken from the Great Depression era of the 1930s, grounding the film in the real life time period and economic climate it takes place in. Film camera shutter clicks are times with he cutting of photos and credits to further establish the olden time period. The names of the actors fade to a red font, foreshadowing violence. Pictures of them in character further grounding these characters as real people. A lack of non-diegetic sound here immerses the audience and gives the film a documentary film, also due to the real images shown here.

The film does not follow the conventional Classical Hollywood Style of introducing the location of the new scene is set in to the audience through an immediate establishing shot, instead opening on an extreme close up of Bonnie’s lips, immediately sexualising her. This shot is disorienting for the audience due to the lack of context to buildup to it. The camera pans to show her reflection in a mirror, done with a hand-held camera, new technology at the time that had been embraced by the French New Wave for its casual apparel and easy use. Making films for a low profit utilising a small budget with low cost equipment. The camerawork feels improvised with not pre-planning or choreography, instead filmed in the moment, similarly to the performances and dialogue. The entire sequence is shot through close-ups os Bonnie’s face, keeping the environment hidden to the audience and therefore going directly against the Classical Hollywood Style, instead concentrating on conveying her frustration and boredom over the location. This is seen in how the camera rises up to an extreme close up of her eyes looking off screen at nothing in particular. When this happens, the camera misses the focus point, and we can see it re-focus onto her face, which makes the cinematography feel improvised and causal, taking inspiration from the French New Wave style of filmmaking,

Clyde and her are shown in shot reverse shots through a netting over her bedroom window. This is not removed to improve the clarity of the shot for the audience, instead obscuring the view. This is because, in the style of the French New Wave, the filmmakers always shot on location instead of on set because it was cheaper and gave the films a sense of realism. This also results in no control over the lighting of the scene, seen in how Clyde is in shadow when peering into Bonnie’s mothers’ car. The film was shot on location in southern states since they were the poorer ones in the 1960s that had not yet fully recovered from the Great Depression, and so still looked economically damaged. Zoom lenses are used in the film to captures the action from a distance and reduce the need to stop and start the shooting constantly for new shots.

Despite the story being largely about crime, we are not shown the robbery here, as the film primarily focuses on the relationship between Bonnie and Clyde, a pair of people who rob banks. The film denies the audience the pleasure of seeing the action, which they expect to see, to instead keep their attention on the emotional connection between the two protagonists. As the two escape in a stolen car, inside the car we see a projected backdrop, but outside it the film was shot on a real location in rural Souther Texas.

Sound –

When Bonnie confront Clyde outside, the dialogue is poor quality and very hard to hear, both due to the strongly southern accents and the poor sound quality. This is because the film was short on location, and so the dialogue said while shooting is what we hear, and isn’t added or clarified/improved in post-production.

The majority of the sequence contains only diegetic sound as the films was shot on location, adding to the sense of realism and truthfulness prevalent in the film and how it is made. As the couple escape, a jaunty upbeat bluegrass banjo tune plays to give the scene an excited, jovial and care-free feeling, reinforcing the tone of the film, a love story with a backdrop of crime. It also shows how much fun the two have while/from robbing places.

Editing –

Mise-En-Scen –

Bonnie being shown behind the bars of her bed is symbolic of her feeling imprisoned in her home.

As the two walk though the street together, we see the paint on the walls peeling off, and a quiet and empty street. This shows the backdrop of poverty in the story, but what location shown is real due to the film being shot on location, typical of the French New Wave style of filmmaking.

Performance –

In her room, Bonnie’s movement are random and seemingly in-planned, adding a sense of realism and improvisation to the scene. Her accent is deeply southern instead of an artificial Mid-Atlantic accent to portray a more realistic representation of the regional accent and the characters in the film.

As Clyde walks across the road to rob the store, we see he has a prominent limp. This links to his story about him chopping of two of his own toes in prison to get off of work detail, portraying him as a mysterious and flawed character, and Warren Beatty method acted to achieve a sense of realism in the film.

Context:

F.D.R campaign posters are plastered on walls to immerse the audience in the 1930s time period, alongside the decaying town which establishes the impact of the Depression on society.

Representations and Aesthetics:

For 1967, this is a borderline offensive and at least a risky way of presenting a leading female role. It is provocative and suggestive, establishing Bonnie as a rebellious character in the 1930s and edging what can be permitted to be shown in a film by the Hayes Code. This can also be seen in how flirtatious she is with Clyde, and the phallic imagery used in the coke bottles and Clyde’s pistol, sexually suggestive imagery considered edgy in the 1960s. The film also presents Bonnie’s beauty in a naturalistic way, showing her without much intervention or artificial beauty created through the use of lighting to highlight or enhance her features.

Bonnie is a bored, uneducated waitress living in a small, quiet town. Clyde is an ex-convict bank robber. As is characteristic of the French New Wave, the film follows two real people living real lives, making the story (somewhat) more relatable for the people watching it.

Auteur:

Dede Allen allowed for the film’s sound design to be deliberately shoddy as she took much inspiration from the French New Wave style of filmmaking and editing. Robert Pentonville and David Newman made the dialogue feel real and I provided, which it largely was, to add to the sense of realism in the film. The director, Arthur Penn, and Warren Beatty, the producer, both made the film feel authentic and realistic in its style through a deliberately poor quality for a Hollywood film.

Arthur Penn: Copycat Auteur

Some directors in America had been inspired but the various methods of the French New Wave, such as focus on realism, hand-held camera work and improvised dialogue. The focus on serious plots had fallen after the decline of Hollywood, and the French New Wave galvanised some young American directors to take a more causal, relaxed and fun approach to filmmaking. This inspiration also culminated in rapid shifts in the tone of the film and abrasive/rough editing.

David Newman and Robert Benton were both screenwriters who had no particular style of screenwriting, or a focus on any particular genre, tone or motif. There was no recognisable aspect of their scripts that associated the film with the screenwriters. They took inspiration from the French New Wave in their approach to fun, causal film script as with often improvised dialogue or realistic dialogue. For example, they were both inspired by the unconventional relationship between the characters Patricia and Michel in Godard’s Breathless (Godard, 1960) In fact, Bonnie’s poem in the film mirrors the exchange of letters between Jim and Catherine in Jules et Jim (Truffaut, 1962) When writing the film, French New Wave director Francois Truffaut screened the film Gun Crazy (Joseph Lewis, 1950) as he had loved it. This also led to Warner Bros. Advertising the film as a violent crime genre film and star vehicle. It was the two scriptwriters who brought Penn onto the film when Truffaut himself could not.

A director who took inspiration from the French New Wave was Arthur Penn. He was a director who made his name through Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967), and was not recognised for many other productions. He was a director-for-hire who did not have any recognisable motifs of his own, instead taking his ideas from the French New Wave style of directing, with a focus on realism and deliberately casual way of filmmaking. He favoured shooting on location with small production teams, many of his films displaying American myths/culture, Classic American genres and ‘outsider’ characters.

Dede Allen is considered an auteur Hollywood director, taking inspiration from the French New Wave and stylising jump cuts used for emotional effect, audio overlaps, placing continuity editing at a low priority and instead focusing on expressing the body-language of characters through cutting and conveying the plot in a nuanced way.

Warren Beatty, the actor who played Clyde Barrow in the film, also produced it and made up contributed attributions to the script through their improvised dialogue. He had wanted Clyde to be presented as a flawed protagonist, an anti-hero, and played the character that way. As producer, he made contributions that made the film what it was, an imperfectly produced film taking heavy inspiration from the French New Wave style of filmmaking. He hired Newman and Benton, selected most of the cast and oversaw the script’s development. His role in production reflects the rise of ‘star-auteurs’ in the 1960s, for example Jack Nicholson, who also directed and produced films.

Escaping The Eight: The French New Wave

While the Hollywood studio system was in decline and studios were having to search for new and interesting ways of conveying stories and making films, the filmmakers in France were experimenting with new and radically different methods of filmmaking. A group of young Cahiers Du Cinema writers/editors had began making films to contrast the perception of film as a high-art that adhered to a pre-existing, strict narrative convention. This resulted in new, low-budget productions that fox used on being deliberately poorly-made and brining the audiences attention to the production of the film itself, serving as fun, entertaining but often involving deeper themes, such as Jean Luc Godard’s repetition of reference to high-art in his films.

New French directors such as François Truffaut and Agnès Varda were focusing creating new, radical films that went against established conventions such as narrative linearity. This led to the rise of auteur directors like Godard, whose films became recognisable. These directors rejected the post-war “Tradition of Quality” in French Cinema which fell back on the comfort of old traditions emphasised old works over new and innovative films. These filmmakers sought to go against the safe adaptations of classical literary works and instead utilised low-budget equipment and deliberately poor-writing to create fun and poor-quality films. Godard, for example, considered the convention of narrative linearity oppressive and deterministic. They were inspired by Classical Hollywood and Italian Neo-Realism, adding their own contemporary, avant-garde styles of direction.

The French New Wave was most popular between the late 1950s and early 1960s. Most of these directors were born in Paris and grew up their in the 1930s, therefore their films related to the youth growing up in that city, such as through the representation of fashion, parties and urban-life.

American director Arthur Penn commented that “young people understood this movie instantly. They sae Bonnie and Clyde as rebels like themselves. It was a movie that spoke to a generation in a way none of use had really expected.” Anastasia & Macnow, 2011.

These directors used low-budget equipment such as hand-held cameras and film stock that required less light. This resulted in films with discontinuous editing, poor sound design and un-convincing acting. Questions raised but not answered in the film would raise narrative ambiguity through the combination of subjectivity and realism. Long takes, the use of jump-cuts and a sense of minimalism in the films were a result of a lack of stock to shoot with. The 180 degree axis would be broke, characters would step out of their roles to address the audience directly, rapid scene changes and improvised dialogue.

Waving Goodbye: New Hollywood (1961-1990)

After the Paramount v.s U.S case in 1948, the 8 major Hollywood studios lost the legal right to control all the aspects of a films financing, production and distribution. This led to the decline of the Hollywood studio system, as the studios could no longer hold a monopoly on the film industry and theatres could choose what films to show. This allowed for increased access to the market from independent filmmakers and foreign films, such as ones from France. This led to increased competition between the studios, which in turn forced them to seek out more competitive and new types of films to guarantee them being shown by the cinemas.

The competition was intensified by the rise of the middle-class in America in the 1950-60s and the subsequent increased spending money Fiordland luxury items like radios and the newly created TV. Therefore, the rise of TV’s increased rapidly after 1950, and the studios had to compete with them as most audiences would rather have stayed at home rather than to travel further from the suburbs and pay to watch a film at a cinema. Therefore, the cinemas began to produce wider and more impressive screens to attract audiences to travel and pay to see new films there.

The increased market created through the new found freedom of cinemas to choose what to show, allowed for independent filmmakers to create more interesting and unique films that did not follow typical film narrative or convention. This meant increased freedom amongst filmmakers to make what they wanted, such as the increased possibilities to create films inspired by those from France.

Therefore, while the studios were tying to produce bigger and more entertaining films to draw in bigger audiences and therefore larger profits, independent films were being made by independent directors to produce films for more niche audiences that would be big enough to support these lower-budget films.

Before the decline of the studio system, very few foreign films were shown in the U.S. After the decline, there was increased space for films from places like Europe to be shown in Americans cinemas. This allowed for the recently formed French New Wave movement that had been formed by young, enthusiastic filmmakers from France who wanted to create new, fun, “improperly” made films that defied traditional film conventions, such as all focus being placed on the story. The increased screenings of these films in America led to some American filmmakers taking inspiration from them, and the increased need for the studios to produce better, more competitive and new films, allowed for films like those in the French New Wave, films like Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967).

Arthur Penn, the film’s director, was active in the 1960s, making films that focused on the darker aspects of American society, particularly crime, following protagonists who were criminals on the run. He took heavy inspiration from the French New Wave movement and is largely associated with New Hollywood. He utilised radically different styles of filmmaking from the conventions established in the 1940s, shooting scenes in completely different ways, and deliberately editing, writing and shooting the films in a way that brought audience attention to the actual creation of the films, such as moment where sound randomly cuts out or a shot cuts to the same shot, just further on in time. This took heavily from the French New Wave, which focused on creating low-budget, fun and entertaining films.

Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967)

Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967) follows two young people, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, who travel Texas and rob banks. The film follows their rampage across the county as they gain new members to their ‘Barrow Gang’, showing us their ethics, methods and relationships with each other, and are eventually cornered and shot down by the laws.

The film was made by Arthur Penn, who took inspiration from the French New Wave movement in Europe, where young and enthusiastic filmmakers were defying traditional forms of filmmaking by utilising low-budgets, cheap equipment and actors and going against traditional forms of filmmaking. Therefore, Bonnie and Clyde takes from many of the techniques popularised in France at the time, containing many (all deliberately) badly edited scenes, rough audio, bad acting and poor scriptwriting. Despite this, it is a completely linear narrative.

I found the film entertaining but confusing in it’s purposeful rough quality and almost ‘anti-film’ methods of conveying the story. There is no effort to immerse the audience in the story, and so the passage of time is hard to gauge and the plot feels fast and disjointed. I rate Bonnie and Clyde ★★!

Unconventional Auteur: Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)

Warner Bros. Was known for producing gritty, social realism crime dramas set in urban settings and typically following an experienced, dry detective, typically on a case involving murder or disappearance or kidnapping. This is what they were recognised for, and what audiences came to see, alongside the stable of stars they had, such as Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.

Because of how crucial the actors were to the success of a film, the studio made efforts to boast them in advertising the film and in the film present them as more important, glamorous, important and larger-than-life. This is why Bergman is presented as glamorous and beautiful in Casablanca, and Rick is presented as gruff, weathered and experienced, as the audiences came to see the stars play their usual character types.

Because the unique selling point of Warner Bros. Films also being an attraction for audiences, they typically stuck to it in their films. This involved film noir tropes, like dark lighting, Smokey environments, characters who drink unhealthily, pessimistic attitudes, social issues, murder, shootouts and film noir fashion aesthetics, such as trench coats and fedoras.

Jack Warner, the head of Warner Bros. In 1942, was an interventionist in favour of joining the war in Europe. He wanted to produce a film that was pro-interventionist. Hal B. Wallis, the films producer, was also a republican in favour of preserving traditional American beliefs and values. Therefore, Casablanca is a romance film set in the war, and serves as an allegory of the war and America’s involvement in the war. Michael Curtiz, the films director, had focused on the ‘human-side’ of a story, typically following underdog, beaten-down heroes in his films, usually fighting against an upper, oppressive force, dealing with issues such as social injustice, oppression and exile, such as in Casablanca. Arthur Edeson, the director of photography, had built a career in portrait photography, which accounts for the emasculate presentation of the actors of importance and fame in Casablanca. The composer, Max Steiner, limited himself with how much his music held the attention of the audience, instead keeping the focus on the emotions meant to be evoked in the audience and presented in the film, which he would communicate through the music.

Jack Warner’s name is credited first and foremost in Casablanca, establishing his crucial role in the production of the film, which he wanted to serve as a pro-interventionist film. It was the work of Wallis, Curtiz, Steiner, Edeson and the stars that made the film what it was in the end, a patriotic romance film set in WW2.

The Golden Age Of Hollywood: Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)

In Hollywood during the 1930s, many different film genres were becoming popular. These included musicals, historic and biblical epics, comedies and so on. Because of the highly competitive studio system at the time, the big 5 major film studios all had a unique selling point for their films, for example MGM focused on bright, colourful and glitzy, glamorous musicals.

Warner Bros. Focused on gritty crime and gangster films, centred around social realism. This can be seen in their big star, Humphrey Bogart, who was known for not being a conventionally attractive film star, and was instead known for his rugged looks and weathered face. Around this time in Hollywood, particularly done by Warner Bros., the film noir movement was becoming popular. These were films centred around themes of pessimism and fatalism, typically characterised by gritty crime dramas following a weathered and burdened detective, smoking a cigar, sipping whiskey, wearing a trench coat and fedora while soft jazz played in the bar where they brooded over a tough case.

Because of Warner Bros.’ Focus on social realism and film noir, there are many aspects of Casablanca that reflect this, such as a brooding, pessimistic protagonist with an affinity for alcohol and cigarettes, much of the film being set in a dim and smoky bar/cafe, dim lighting, an elegant damsel in distress, corrupt police, and a (brief) murder mystery.

The studios at the time also boasted their stable of stars, glamorous and popular actors that would often serve as the pivot on which the film made money or not. The studios would plaster the faces of their biggest stars on posters, their names in big, bold letters. Stars, for this reason, would often play a caricature that they played in all films they were in, almost like they were playing themselves. Humphrey Bogart, for example, always played the gruff, weathered, pessimistic Rick, as that was what the audiences paid to see. The stars themselves were always presented in the most glamorous, eye-catching light in the films too, as the studios knew that they were what attracted most audiences. This is why Ilsa and Rick are presented the way that they are in the film.

Around the time that Casablanca was being produced, war had broken out in Europe, with France being occupied by Nazi Germany and England being pushed out of mainland Europe by Nazi Germany. Due to prevalent isolationist attitudes in America at the time, America had been refusing to get involved in the conflict, remaining completely neutral, as Rick does at the start of the film. Jack Warner, the head of Warner Bros. At the time, was an interventionist who believed that America should be getting involved in the war on the side of England and France and fighting against Germany. He wheeled Casablanca into production because he wanted there to be a film that was in support of a patriotic entrance into WW2 as the saviours of Europe and the victorious, powerful nation of America.

Black and white technology was old and commonly used by the 1940s, and colour was still a new expensive and unpolished/unperfected technology. Therefore, Casablanca was shot in black and white, as that technology had been perfected over decades of use and was viewed as a mature, beautiful way of filmmaking.

The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946) is another Warner Bros. Film noir movie starring Bogart as the lead, a private investigator.

Casablanca Close-Up (Closing Sequence)

Overview:

Key Elements:

Cinematography –

The scene begins with a mid-shot of an airport worker, tracks his movement outside, then rests o n the car pulling up, tracks the movement of the people walking out, then pulls our further to a five shot to show the worker that Renault is speaking to. This is the perfect example of Classical Hollywood Style, preventing the need for cutting by using carefully planned actor choreography and smooth, gliding camera movements to keep the audience immersed, keeping their attention away from how the film was made and keeping it only on the story and the characters.

Instead of using shot reverse shots, a close up of Rick and Ilsa is used to prevent the need for cutting, keeping the audience immersed in the moment and emotionally invested in it, and also showing Rick and Ilsa’s emotional connection and intimacy in that moment. Very shallow focus is used here to show that nothing else matters in the moment.

A close up of Ilsa keep or focus on her emotional reaction to what Rick is saying. It does this again by pushing in on her face as her and Lazlo leave to bring our attention to her emotional state, making us understand the emotional importance of this moment in the film and making us sympathise with her. Rick is also lit more similarly to Ilsa in this scene, which shows that they have moved past their hatred for each other, and that Rick has become a better person.

Editing –

Shot reverse shots between the plane leaving and the Nazi arriving raise tension as the audience link is the two together and understand that Lazlo and Ilsa have nearly left, but now Rick is about to be arrested, as Renault has explained through exposition that he will, and Rick told him to as soon as the plane left. Faster shot reverse shots between Rick and the Nazi raise the tension between them, and an over the shoulder shot from behind the Nazi looking at Rick shows that Rick won the quickdraw. Shot reverse shots between Renault and Rick as Renault explains the death of the Nazi to his men raises tension, and shows an emotional connection between the two and a deliberate decision on Renaults part to help Rick.

Sound –

As Rick and Ilsa say their emotional goodbyes, As Time Goes By plays to add emotional subtext to the scene. The non diegetic composed score picks up to an intense and dramatic moment as we the the Nazi driving quickly to the airport. As the film ends, the composed score rises to a grand and powerful crescendo to signify the importance and victory of the moment.

Mise-En-Scen –

Performance –

Context:

Lazlo’s dialogue is patriotic, rousing and moving, a result of this film being an interventionist piece. Rick is presented as a noble American hero by offering the Nazi three chances to do as he says, and only shoots him when the Nazi also draws a gun. This is symbolic of America finally getting involved in the war after being reluctant to for so long. Renaults decision to drop his Vichy (French allied with Nazi Germany) water bottle into a bin and kick it to show his anger and him being finished with the Nazis. Ricks saying that now is a good time to start being a patriot, and Renaults agreement, are symbolic of the need for America to join the war.

Representation and Aesthetics:

Auteur:

An over the shoulder shot here shows what the protagonist is looking at.

Casablanca Close-Up (“Play it, Sam” Sequence)

Overview:

In this sequence, Rick sits alone in his cafe at night, drinking in the dark. Sam begs him to leave, but Rick refuses to, waiting for Ilsa to return. Sam decides to stay, and upon being told to by Rick plays As Time Goes By. This evokes a flashback from Rick, which shows that he and Ilsa used to live in Paris together near the start of the war, and were deeply in love. However, as the Germans marched into Paris, they fled, which plans to leave together. However, Rick is abandoned at the train station, receiving a note from Sam written by Ilsa apologising, saying that she cannot leave with him. We cut back to the present, in the cafe, and see how grief stricken Rick is over the loss. Ilsa then enters and pleads Rick for help, but is met with butter indifference from him.

Key Elements:

Cinematography –

The sequence begins with a mid shot of Rick, him pouring a drink to immediately establish that he is drunk. This mid shot shows that he is the centre of this scene, and dolly’s out to reveal Sam walking through to discover Rick. Rick is shown in dim light, his face only shown by a dim key light. This reflects his dark and depressed mood, and shrouds his character in mystery as-well as making him appear more rugged and weathered to us. Later on, we see the extreme contrast between him and Ilsa, whop wears bright clothes, has smooth, light skin, and is shipowners in deep focus with much light shining on her. When Sam and Rick talk to each other, both are shown in a two shot. When Rick ins monopolising to himself, it is through a close up to signify his emotions and bring the audience physically, and therefore emotionally closer to him.

In the Paris flashback, a projection is used behind the actors as the film was actually shot on location. During this flashback, there are many more close ups of Ilsa than there are of Rick. This brings our attention to her, putting us in Rick’s position of looking back on the past, thinking of her, and brings our attention to her glamorous presentation as-well. The lighting on her is done to make her seem much more elegant and beautiful, delicate and fragile than Rick. When she is distraught at having to leave Paris, we see a close up of her, not Rick, to keep our focus on her emotions, her presentation, and the meaning of her words and her eyes, made eye-catching by the catchlights in them, establishing an emotional connection withy the audience.

During this sequence, certain things that were mentioned already in the film have significance, such as As Time Goes by, the Labelle Aurore cafe, and “Here’s looking at you, kid”.

When Ilsa enters the cafe, a literal blast of light comes in with her two instantly bring our attention to her, show her innocence compared to Rick, and make her appear more angel-like. She is also centre-frame, making her entrance even more dramatic. As she speaks to Rick, she is shown in light, symbolising her purity and his lack of it.

Editing –

We cut to a close up of Rick as Sam stars playing, because the film wants to focus our attention in on whoever is speaking or most important in a moment, which here is Rick. This highlights his significance to the story, and shows us his facial expressions to make his emotions clearer and thereby establish an emotional connection with the audience.

In a moment that deviates from the Classical Hollywood Style, the scene fades to reveal a flashback to Paris, breaking the linear narrative for a scene. We dolly closer to Rick here to show that he is thinking of it, looking back on the past. Throughout the happy moments of this flashback sequence, the camera cross-fades between shots to evolve the feeling of happiness, and show how much Ilsa and Rick enjoyed their time together. Real war footage is used in this flashback to immerse us in the war and set the film, in a real setting and time, and making the events shown contemporary. An actual sign is used to show that they are entering Paris, allowing the audience to make the connection between the German’s entering and Rick and Ilsa being there.

Sound –

The music soars into a crescendo as the flashback stars, paying the French National Anthem to evoke themes/feelings of patriotism and establish the new setting of the story for the audience. The music reflects how the film wants the audience to feel, so when Rick and Ilsa are happy together the music is upbeat and lively. When Rick sees the note left by Ilsa, the music soars up into a dramatic and sad crescendo. As he leaves the station with Sam, it drops to a horn-based, angry and tragic moment. This is finally done as Ilsa leaves Rick’s cafe in tears and Rick drives through himself, and a more tragic and pessimistic As Time Goes By plays.

Mise-En-Scen –

Sam wears much darker clothes compared to Rick, to show that Rick is a more important character here. In the Paris flashback, the film shows us that the characters are in Paris through the music, set design, and the stereotypical French items in frame, such as berets, striped shirts and strings of garlic.

As Rick stands at the train station, he is presented in a trance coat and hat, a classic film-noir outfits used as a reference to his other film noir roles and to make him seem more masculine. In contrast, Ilsa’s outfit as she speaks to Rick in his cafe, in the present, is carefully done and made to make her look delicate and beautiful.

Performance –

Context:

Ricks ability to unrealistically tell how far away the approaching tanks are sacrificed realism for the provision of context to the audience. This is also seen in how exposition heavy the script is to reveal important contextual information to the audience.

Representations and Aesthetics:

Auteur:

Rick is shown in darkness with the bottle clearly visible next to him, showing us his coping mechanism, and his emotional state through the lighting. The mid-shot brings our attention to his defeated and agonised expression.

Casablanca Close-Up (“Leaving Rick’s Sequence)

Overview –

In this scene, we see that Ilsa and Sam have a past, and are connected through the song As Time Goes By, and Sam, for some reason, wishes for Ilsa to avoid Rick. Rick and Ilsa are reunited, although in the film this is the first time that we see them together. Rick is also introduced to Lazlo in the process. He and Ilsa reminisce over memories we, the audience, do not yet know of in full detail, making their history mysterious and intriguing the audience. Lazlo and Ilsa leave as there is a curfew in Casablanca.

Key Elements:

Cinematography –

Ingrid Bergman believed that one side of her face looked better than the other, and this affects how she is presented in the film, mostly from one side of her face more than the other, to maintain her presentation of an elegant, glamorous film star. This is also seen in how she is often presented in mid shots or close ups. In these, unlike closeups of Rick and male characters in the film, she is in focus whereas the background of the shot isn’t, bringing the audiences focus in on her.

To bring her reaction to our attention, a drawn out close up of Ilsa is used to show her emotional reaction to the song, As Time Goes By. This makes us connect and sympathise with her, manipulating them to evoke an emotional reaction to the film, and it keeps our attention on her presentation.

When Rick enters the scene, he is framed within a frame by an arch overhead through a low-angle shot as he walks into the light, making a dramatic entrance to signify his importance and status as a large star in the Warner Bros. Stable of actors.

As Renault and Lazlo enter the shot of Rick and Ilsa looking at each other, the camera pans to track their movements and set up a four shot, keeping them all in frame. It shot reverse shots between close ups of Rick and Lazlo to signify the importance of their small interaction, showing that both men have reputations that precede them. The actors are choreographed so that everything in frame that matters is visible to the audience, such as when Renault look back to call a waiter, and Lazlo has moved out of the way for us to see who Renault is speaking to much farther back in frame. The camera slowly and smoothly pedestals down as the actors sit, bringing us into their conversation. Then it cuts to a 3 shot of Ilsa, Renault and Lazlo to sin gift what Renault is saying to Ilsa. An over the shoulder shot from behind Ilsa looking at Rick brings our attention to their interaction and signifies its importance, and Ilsa is when in a close up to show her glamour and beauty, shown from the side with an above key and fill light illuminating her soft face and makeup. The key light on Rick is dimmer, so that more of the left side of his face is in shadow, presenting him as more mysterious, masculine, weathered and experienced. To prevent cutting between the 3, Ilsa, Renault and Lazlo are shown together in a 3 shot to allow us to look at whoever is speaking in a single moment, and who to. The camera rises again as they do, and the waiter is shown just between Renault and Lazlo. It finally drops again as Rick sits after the others have left and dolly’s into a mid shot of him, bringing our attention to his expression and again signifying the importance of his mysterious past relationship with Ilsa. He all but looks at the camera to display his emotions to the audience.

Editing –

The conversations in this sequence are done in Classical Hollywood style, shot reverse shots done to show who is important in a certain moment, such as Sam when he pleads Ilsa to leave Rick alone. For most of this conversation, the camera faces Ilsa through an over the shoulder shot from behind Sam, to bring our attention to her glamorous presentation.

Sound –

When Rick notices Ilsa, a sudden and deep note in the non-diegetic composed score signifies her importance/connection to him, catching the audiences attention and intriguing them in the history of the characters.

Mise-En-Scen –

Alongside her bright costume and pristine makeup, Ilsa is decorated by elaborate jewellery, one on her outfit and her earrings too. These reflect light in small, dazzling items of the frame, catching Ilsa in the audiences eyes more and complementing the catch lights illuminating her eyes.

While Rick has a classy and pristine suit, his skin is more wrinkly and rugged than Ilsa’s, and he is typically shown is less light and in deep focus close ups to make him stand out less than her.

Performance –

Humphrey Bogart almost always plays the same person, himself, making him more solidified and recognisable, even iconic as a star in the studio stystem, which Warner Bros. Wished to coast in this film through his dialogue, presentation and actions.

Context:

The studio makes efforts to utilise the set of Rick’s cafe to its fullest. It is an expansive and highly designed and detailed set, so about two thirds of the film take place in it. Camera movements and actor choreography are carefully done to make the set clear and immersive for the audience.

The film is a romance film as well as an interventionist piece. Therefore, it tries to affect the audience to evoke emotions and pull on the heartstrings. At its centre, it is melodramatic, and the script and production are done to manipulate the audience and make them feel certain things. This can be seen in this sequence through the dialogue, which is romantic, poetic and melodramatic as Rick and Ilsa look back on their past, and through the non-diegetic composed score, which has a somber, dramatic tone that is meant to evoke sadness in the audience to make them connect and sympathise with the protagonists of the film.

Representations and Aesthetics:

Auteur:

The camera has tracked the actor movement by panning right with the, and where Lazlo is stood now he will move to reveal a waiter behind him, who Renault calls over. The actor choreography and camera movement combine to reveal everything that is important to the story and audience to see in a frame.

Casablanca Close-Up (“Lazlo and Ilsa” Sequence)

Overview:

This scene introduces Victor Lazlo and Ilsa to the film, who enter Rick’s cafe to meet with an ally of Lazlo’s cause. While there, they meet with but are bothered by Captain Renault and the German Major, who interrogates Lazlo and arranges a meeting for the next day. Lazlo stands his ground, but Ilsa is clearly worried for his safety.

Key Elements:

Cinematography –

As Lazlo and Ilsa enter the cafe, the camera tracks their movement, crabbing to the left to keep our focus on them. It does this as hey move through the cafe, coming to rest on Sam to show his concerned reaction to seeing Ilsa, signalling to the audience that there is a connection there. It does this also by showing a closer shot of Ilsa, focusing our attention on her concerned reaction. In close ups of Ilsa, she is in focus whereas the background is only in soft focus, unlike with the other characters, to keep our focus on her and present her as more beautiful.

As with the other sequences, in Classical Hollywood style, the carefully planned camera movements bring the expansive and detailed created set to our attention, immersing us in the environment. It also prevents the need for extensive cutting and distracting the audience from the story and dialogue. The choreography of the actors goes along with the camera movements, keeping everything essential in frame, and moving between different types of shots without much cutting. We see this with how the camera moves up and down as Lazlo is spoken down to by the German Major, and the camera tilts up slightly to keep our focus on Lazlo as he stands up to the oppressive forces against him. When Ilsa and Renault are talking, the scene shot-reverse-shots between them, and when four people are talking in one shot, the face of the person who isn’t, Ilsa, is not shown.

Editing –

Sound –

Editing is kept to a minimum and is all in service of the story in Classical Hollywood Style, but follows typical shot-reverse-shot fashion to show dialogue in a way that makes it digestible, not distracting the audience but directing their attention to what is important in a conversation at a certain moment, such as when Lazlo speaks to the secret resistance member, and it cuts between them to show whoever is talking in the moment.

The diegetic sound of Sam’s piano playing rises in the mix as Lazlo and Ilsa near him, immersing the audience in their position and the environment of Rick’s cafe. When it is more faint in the background, it melts into the rest of the sound mix, keeping the dialogue audible but preventing the scene from becoming silent, keeping the audience immersed in the cafe.

Mise-En-Scen –

Immediately the contrast between Lazlo and Ilsa is set, as Lazlo wears a white suit, but Ilsa wears a white dress which is much lighter and more eye-catching, brining our attention to her. This presents her as elegant, beautiful but more fragile than Lazlo.

Performance –

Lazlo is stoic and almost emotionless compared to Ilsa, who we see tearing up often, with clearly concerned or upset expressions. This presents her as more fragile and innocent than Lazlo, but also intrigues the audience as to her past relationship with Sam and Rick, which she makes clear when she sees them, hears or asks about them. Her accent is also Mid-Atlantic, a fictional accent that was popular in Hollywood at the time to act as a universal accent between American and British.

Context:

Warner Bros. Had a stable of actors which they wanted to exhibit to the audience to make most use of, similarly to the sets they use in this film. In this, the audiences attention is brought to Ilsa by her light dress, attractive presentation and the focus of each close up being on her. She is presented as the famous, glamorous film star that she was in real life.

Representations and Aesthetics:

Ilsa is presented as elegant and graceful, with flattering make up, catchlights to make her eyes more captivating and bring our attention to them, establishing an emotional connection with the audience, a captivating outfit and lighting that brings our attention to her. It makes her seem beautiful, but also more fragile and delicate than the males in the film, who are presented are more gruff and less soft. This also symbolises Ilsa’s innocence in contrast with characters like Lazlo and Rick. It also plays into Warner’s intent to create an interventionist film, portraying Ilsa, symbolically, as the weak, vulnerable and delicate European countries at risk of more aggressive, stronger powers. She is also presented like this to make her look glamorous and beautiful for the cameras, attracting audiences to see the film and boasting Warner Bros.’ Stable of actors.

The Nazi officer is portrayed as self-important, smug, proud, formal and entitled, whereas the French Chief of Police, Renault, is more polite, gracious and informal.

Auteur:

Despite her not being centre frame here, our attention is on Ilsa, due to her light dress and carefully done and elegant make up.

Casablanca Close-Up (“Rick’s Introductory” Sequence)

Overview:

This scene takes place 6 minutes into the film, and introduces us to the protagonists place of business. It establishes the seedy and lawless nature of the cafe, immersing the audience in the world the protagonist rules over, showing multiple different illegal activities and exchanges that set an image of what life is like for many in Casablanca. At the end of the sequence, we are introduced to the protagonist, Rick, although he says nothing, and his actions and appearance are the only indicators of his character here.

Key Elements:

Cinematography –

This sequence is a perfect example of the subtlety of the classical Hollywood style, beginning with a long shot establishing the location, then cutting to a close up of the sign to direct the audiences attention and contextualise the scene. The camera then tilts down and follows a group of customers into the cafe, where the doorman holds the floor open for the camera and a waiter greets us, immediately immersing the audience in the environment. The camera glides smoothly around the set in a rare method for filmmaking in this time period. It is possible here because the set has been built and the actors have been blocked precisely to allow for the film to be made and for the location to be seen perfectly by the audience.

A wide shot displays the vast and complicated location crabs along the room, tracking the movements of a distant waiter, bringing us deeper into this location, where eventually the waiter leaves the frame and the camera smoothly glides down into a close up of Sam. We then cut to a new location, and the camera, again, carbs to the left and pedestals down to bring our attention to a pair of men, keeping the editing to a minimum and keeping our focus on the story, every small scenario here used to establish what life is like for those trying to escape Casablanca. Hopelessness, desperateness, and turning to illegal activity. They also establish the environment of Rick’s cafe, and what sort of people it attracts. This can be seen again where it pans from one small chipper of conversation between a pair of men doing something illegal to a man being served at the bar. This efficiency of storytelling all serves to contextualise Rick’s life.

Once again, a long shot of the waiter opening the door cuts to a wide shot that tracks his movement through a new location, to a close up of some new characters which dolly’s back to an over the shoulder shot 4 to shoot the dialogue. Everyone in all parts of the frame are kept in focus for us to see who is talking, and the camera smoothly follows the waiter so that we can follow the whole conversation. The scene is all one shbut is reframed seamlessly by the gliding camera movement.

We are introduced to Rick’s character before we even see him. The close up of his lazy signature on a document signifies his importance, and his silence signals that he is a stoic man of few words. A carefully framed close up reveals all in one frame his tendency to drink and smoke, and his strategic thinking through the chess board, which he plays the black pieces on, signifying his tendency to fight as the “underdog”. When he is revealed, no one else is in frame to keep our attention on only him, his face is in shadow and him being in a dark, lonely corner of the bustling cafe, making him appear gruff and mysterious, a large part of his character being revealed before he even speaks. This is also shown in how people look to him for approval to enter, and he only casually nods to say give permission.

Editing –

There are as few cuts as possible as we enter the cafe, immersing the audience due to keeping all focus away from the filmmaking and on the story and location/set design.

Sound –

As the camera nears Sam, the diegetic sound of his singing and the music he is playing rises to become the dominant sound in the sound mix, keeping our attention on him and further immersing us in the audience. This is also true when it L-cuts to a further location and the sound of his singing drops in the mix, but only enough so that we can infer we are still near him, or at least in the same area.

Mise-En-Scen –

The mixed costume design, from Western tuxedos to fez hats, shows how multicultural the location is, further contextualising the story.

Ricks suit is pristine and white, bringing our attention to him. It shows that he has class and style, and also shows his authority and importance over the black costumes that most of the cafe employees wear.

Performance –

The large mix of accents perpetuates the situation that Casablanca is in, fillies with immigrants trying to get out but failing.

Context:

As much of a films success at the time was dependant on the size of its cast, much buildup is made to emphasise Rick’s reveal, which in itself is a somewhat dramatic moment because of the way he is kept off frame at first before being revealed in a shot all by himself, the lighting illuminating his face and him immediately displaying his authority as owner of the cafe.

Representations and Aesthetics:

The lighting on the women in the film is much softer and smoother than that on the man, which is harder and outs them in shadow, gibing them more gruff or weathered faces. The women, by contrast, are presented as much smoother and fairer, making them appear fragile and elegant, whereas the men seem tough and masculine.

Auteur:

Ricks face is lit to bring our attention to him, as well as the dark contrast between his bright, pristine suit and the dark, empty corner of the cafe he sits in. The darkness of the shot also presents him as gruff, secretive and reclusive, even mysterious. This contrast how the women are presented in the film, as beautiful, elegant and delicate.

Casablanca Close-Up (“Enemy Arriving” Sequence)

Overview:

This scene begins with a restaurant goer being pickpocketed by an unassuming foreigner, who ironically warns him of there being “vultures everywhere” in Casablanca, further showing the lawlessness of the location. The scene then introduces us to the main antagonist, a Nazi officer, who arrives via plane in Casablanca. He is greeted by the French Chief of Police, who informs him, and the audience, through exposition, that the murderer of the two German Couriers with important exit documents will be arrested at Rick’s cafe later that evening.

Key Elements:

Cinematography –

The opening shot of this sequence is a wide shot in deep focus to make the background, and the lavish, expansive set, more visible to the audience, further boasting and utilising the Warner Bros. Set design and immersing the audience in the environment. The actors are blocked perfectly to be in frame, no one in the way of the camera view of another, so that all of them can be seen talking, but also so that the events they are reacting to in the background contextualise their dialogue and can be witnessed by the audience as they hear the dialogue. We cut to more shots of the usual suspects being herded into the police station to further contextualise their conversation. We then cut back to a two shot of the pickpocket explaining the nature of Casablanca to the unsuspecting victim. As the pickpocket stand up to speak to the lady, the camera pedestals up and dolly’s back to become a three shot, once again making everyone in the conversation visible to the audience without making unnecessary or distracting cuts. This is also true when the victim stands, so that he is still in frame, and the waiter that walks on screen is stood in the exact spot where he is visible stood between the man and the woman.

The shot of the plane landing is framed by an archway, Warner Bros. Still making the most of their set as this exotic arch farmers a plane landing and an imposing, foreign lighthouse in the background, focusing our attention, alongside the precise blocking of the guards to bring our eyes to the landing plane and the lighthouse beyond it. As is typical of classical Hollywood style, this long shot cuts to a wide shot of the plane to make the change in location more seamless. This frame is also composed by the blocking of the extras to bring our attention to the planes door, where the villain is exiting, as the extras are lined up and facing said door. This then cuts to a close up of the main Nazi officer approaching a lesser officer, and then an over the shoulder shot reveals the official much closer to the camera to signify his importance, as-well as his height over the other officers. The exact same thing happens to show the French Chief of Police’s importance, an over the shoulder shot showing his importance to the plot, but he is much shorter than the Nazi officer, showing a power dynamic. We then cut to a wide shot that tracks the movement of the characters, crabbing, to avoid making cuts. A close up two shot shows the two men talking, then a cut to a three shot shows the third officers input, stating there until the end of the sequence.

Editing –

Regular shot reverse shots between the crowds of people looking hopefully up and the plane coming in to land show their desire to escape Casablanca, and the rarity of a plane in the air in the city. Fade cuts make the editing more seamless as fast the scene feel like one larger take, as seen when the plane lands and the transition follows its movement to cut to the framed shot of the airfield.

Sound –

The diegetic sound of the plane landing rises in the sound mix when the camera is nearer to it, immersing the audience, and lowers so that we can hear the peoples dialogue.

Mise-En-Scen –

The architecture is exotic and Eastern, immersing the audience in this new and foreign, interesting environment and further contextualising the story in every new shot, another example of efficiency of storytelling.

Performance –

The actors all play stereotypical caricatures of their characters ethnicity. The English man is pompous and patronising, the French man fats speaking and amusing, the German upright and smug, the Italian rapidly moving and speaking with exaggerated hand gestures.

Context:

The film makes deliberate efforts to expose its large and impressive sets, with exotic architecture, large amounts of extras, deep focus, long shots and precise actor blocking to draw the audiences attention to the most impressive, life-like parts of the environment, immersing and impressing them, making most value out of these large and expensive sets.

Jack Warner wanted this film to be a pro-interventionist piece of media, so likely made sure that the Nazis were presented as emotionless, greedy and bland villains. The director, Michael Curtiz, also likely affected their presentation, as he was Hungarian himself and usually presented beaten down characters against larger, more imposing powers, here, Nazi Germany.

Representation and Aesthetics:

The men at the restaurant are stereotypes of their nationalist it’s, the Englishman being a gullible, naive and unassuming victim, the French man being a sly, nimble and smart trickster.

The Nazi officers in this scene are caricatures of the typical American perception of them at the time. Their uniforms are neat and straight, and they move stiffly, almost robotically, displaying an obsession with efficiency and authority. On the other hand, the French Chief of Police seems overly optimistic and care free. A comedic moment is also made out of the stereotypically needy Italian officer desperately trying to gain the attention of the Nazi officer, who almost completely ignores him, causing the Italian man to become confrontational with other officers, speaking fast and making exaggerated hand gestures.

Auteur:

The city in the background of this shot is actually a matte painting, as the film was shot in a Hollywood studio with recreated sets. This long shot was done to further immerse the audience in the exotic location and contextualise the story and the scene this moment in taking place in.

Casablanca Close-Up (Opening Sequence)

Overview:

This sequence introduced the audience to the film. It begins with the Warner Bros. Logo and Jack Warner is immediately accredited. A map of Africa and exotic music lays the tone of the films location, and the French Anthem introduces the theme of patriotism. A narrator explains the nature of the situation in Europe, and why/how people are travelling to Casablanca. We then cut to a French officer e positioning and explaining why people need to rounded up and questioned. The film then cuts to this, and shows the busy streets and corrupt policing of the city. This is further shown by a man who is shot down by the police.

Key Elements:

Cinematography –

The scene begins with a map of Africa to set the film in reality and establish its location. We then cut to a spinning globe to visualise further where the story is taking place, and an animated line displays where/how the migrants are travelling to contextualise the story for the audience.

The lavish, expansive set is shown off through a rooftop shot which then tilts drops to become a street view, which is wide and shows of the environment. As the police cars drive though the streets, the camera pans to track their movement and show off even more of the set, making it seem even more real.

Editing –

As the map shows the journey and destination of the refugees, actual war-time footage is overlayed to root the film further in reality. Cross fades throughout the sequence made the transitions seamless, typical of the classical Hollywood style popularised at the time, and put one transition into another, giving the sequence a grand and overarching feel. The sequence of the usual suspects being rounded up is rapidly edited to show the chaos/urgency of the moment and the brutality of the police. As is typical of the classical Hollywood style, the whole sequence is done through continuity editing, and everything shown is in service to the story, even the pickpocket scene, showing how lawless the city is. This efficiency of storytelling is also seen in the instance where a man is asked for his papers by the police. This singular moment is representative of all the suspects being rounded up. This man is not a character, merely a plot device used to represent the police brutality against the struggling refugees trying, desperately, to get out of Casablanca.

As the police officers search the man, a sudden rise in the composed score and a focus in on his papers show that he was for French freedom from Germany. This then cross fades to a shot of the French national motto displayed above the palace of justice, the juxtaposition of shots acting as symbolism of the injustice displayed by the police in Casablanca, and the tragedy of the situation.

Mise-En-Scene –

The city of Casablanca is bustling and filled to the brim with activity. Different styles of outfits and exotic animals and architecture cement the location and immerse the audience in the films setting.

Sound –

The music played in the title sequence by Max Steiner has an African/Eastern, exotic tone to it, bringing the audience into the location. The rousing French National Anthem then plays to establish the theme of patriotism and freedom.

In the city, the sound mix is dominated by the diegetic sounds of the shouting and moving people of the city. The sound of the police officer raises in the mix so that the audience can hear the exposition, and the sound mix after is filled with loud sirens, shouting and running to show the chaotic and fast-paced sequence in which the usual suspects are rounded up and harassed by the police.

Performance –

The police officer receiving a telegram sets up the plot in 3 sentences through exposition. The classical Hollywood style was about efficiency of storytelling, showing the plot through as few cuts or lines of dialogue as possible. This is evident in the editing, writing and cinematography here.

Context:

Casablanca, in the film, is not the real place, rather made as an expansive prop set in the Warner Bros. studio in Hollywood. The film shows off this location through wide shots of the streets, where large numbers of extras and extreme attention to detail are used to create this exotic and foreign environment, the studio essentially boasting its lavish set design. In one shot the film shows everything needed to contextualise the film in the heaving, crowded and busy streets of the city, with a mix of Europeans, Africans, Americans, etc.

The narrators language is biased and manipulative, describing how “torturous” the journey was, and how eyes turned “hopefully, or desperately” to the west. This is because the Warner Bros. Head/executive producer Jack Warner was an interventionist who wanted for the film to persuade the American people of the threat posed by the Nazis and the reasons to become involved in the war in Europe. The general feeling of Americans towards France at the time were that they were noble struggling victims, bullied by a stronger, more aggressive power. The French are not at fault, and are trying to defend themselves. This is reflected in the patriotic score and the depictions of Europeans being pickpocketed or harassed by police in the opening sequence, or the narrators manipulative language which describes the refugees as hopeful, struggling victims. This is because of how Americans viewed the French at the time, but also because of Jack Warner’s desire to make a film in favour of joining the war in Europe, to defend the victimised French and defeat the ruthless Germans.

The film boasts its lavish set design, impressive extra count and cast as Warner Bros. Was rivalling the other 4 big film studios in Hollywood at the time the film was made, so made efforts to increase the exoticism, scale, grandeur and glamorous image of their films.

As the man is show down by the police, there is no sign at all of the gun shot wound, as the studio was regulated by the Hays code, further making the film a product of the time in which it was made.

Representation and Aesthetic:

The characters in the film are relative stereotypes of the ethnicities they belong to. For example, the poor accents are a result of the fact that this film was not shot on location, rather in a studio back in Hollywood. Their cartoon-like personality’s are done to show the cultural mixing pot that is Casablanca, contextualising the film.

Autership:

Jack Warner is immediately credited in the opening title sequence, showing that he had a large hand in the production of the film. He green-lit the idea and had it wheeled into production as he wanted to create a film to persuade the American people of the country’s responsibility to become involved in the war in Europe. The actors and the composer and the director are also credited in a large font, showing that the film was a collaboration of different talents, further emphasised by the non-diegetic composed score rising in tone and pitch as the composer is credited.

The camera dolly’s in to focus the audiences attention on the journey the refugees have travelled, and the location the film is set in, thereby contextualising the story of the film.

Institution as Auteur: Warner Brothers

Jack Warner:

Jack Leonard Warner was a businessman who worked alongside his brothers in the film industry in 1910. In 1917 he moved to L.A to open a film exchange and profit from the growing market there. He and his brother Sam struggled to make largely profitable or profitable films until 1927 (by which time Paramount, Universal and First National studios were Hollywood’s “Big Three”), when Sam also died from pneumonia. The Jazz Singer (1927, Alan Crosland) was the company’s first successful film, bringing in $3 million in profits despite only $500,000 being invested into it. It was also the first ever feature length “talky” film, as the other studios had been reluctant to incorporate sound in their films. Grieving at the loss of his brother, Jack ran the studio strictly, and gained the dislike of many of his employees. He also kept costs for film production low, and survived through the Great Depression relatively undamaged. He would often cast for the films, and in 1930 hired Joan Blondell, Frank McHugh and James Cagney, who went on to make 38 films with the studio.

Warner took credit ofr Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) by accepting the Oscar it received instead of the films producer Hal B. Wallis in 1943. During WW2, Warner Bros. Was one of the only studios to openly criticise the Nazis, whereas other did not for fear of losing a market in Europe. This culminated in his influence on Casablanca, which we wanted to be made to persuade the American public to be in support of joining the war in Europe. Rick is representative of America, at first reluctant to get involved but eventually dragged in because he knows that it is the right thing to do. It is lit, for example, to make Rick seem noble and Ilsa seem vulnerable. It is essentially a piece of propaganda. Around this period, he also fired many screenwriters, destroying their careers, for harbouring suspected communist sympathises. Despite being one of the first studios to introduce sound, Warner resisted the rise of TV in the post war era, tying to introduce things like 3-D films. These soon lost popularity, and Warner’s contempt for the new medium was made worse by TV actors increased freedom over film actors, and Warner perceived them as being ungrateful. Warner was said to be a ruthless business mogul and a decisive business man, also recognised amongst his employees for being unforgiving and cruel. He died in 1978 from heart inflammation.

Hal B. Wallis:

Hal B. Wallis joined the Warner Bros. production department in 1923, and eventually joined the production branch of the company and become the head of production. Over his 50 year career, he would produce over 400 feature length movies. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture in March 1944 for Casablanca, but the award was taken by Jack L. Warner who rushed on stage to take it instead. This caused Wallis to leave Warner Bros the next month. He went on to work as an independent worker for some time and gaining success, before eventually joining Universal Pictures. He received 16 academy award producer nominations, was twice honoured in their memorial award, nominated for 7 Golden Globe awards, winning awards for best picture twice, and in 1975 won the Golden Globe award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures. Wallis, like Warner, was a Republican in favour of preserving American values and ideals. Who supported Eisenhower’s election in 1952.

Michael Curtiz:

Michael Curtiz made a number of film in Europe, being Hungarian himself, before moving to America where he went on to work for Warner Bros. His sister, step-bother and their children were killed in Auschwitz after he left Europe. He considered the ‘human-side’ of films the most important aspect, alongside a plot that developed as the film went on. His characters often dealt with social issues like injustice, oppression exile. He would always place emphasis on the struggle of the beaten down and repressed members of society against the higher-ups and powerful, even when working across several different genres, and this is evident in Casablanca. He also claimed that each director’s “work is reflection of himself”.

Arthur Edeson:

Edeson utilised the skills he head learned from still and portrait photography for Casablanca. He would make modelling suggestions and be more careful in his placement of shadows, etc, whereas most lighting at the time was flat lighting. His methods produced a more soft, portrait like-image in the films he made.

Max Steiner:

Max Steiner was an influential and respected composer who found success in the film noir genre in particular. He was an auteur in his own right, using music to change or emphasise the tone or pace of a scene, the characters emotions or how they are presented to the audience, as is seen in Casablanca. He followed his own instincts, so if he saw a scene that he felt did not portray, for example, the emotion of a character well enough, he would add music to accompany it and highlight that characters emotions or thought process to the audience nice more, making the moment more impactful and meaningful to them. He would subordinate himself to the music and know when to start and stop, limiting himself on the extent he would show off his score, as he felt that if a composer showed off too much it would subtract from the emotion and meaning of a film. “If you get too decorative, you lose your appeal to the emotions. My theory is that the music should be felt rather than heard.” Although Steiner at first did not like the usage log As Time Goes By in Casablanca, Ingrid Bergman had cut her hair short for another film and so could not re-shoot the scenes with it in. Therefore, he embraced the song and centred his score around it, making it the main/centre score.

Classical Hollywood Style

Context:

Due to the size and influence of Hollywood as a centre for the American film industry in the 1930s, many artists were taking inspiration and ideas from one another as to how a film should be made. Experiments were made in camera movements, cinematography, mise-en-scen, etc. The result was the basis for all narrative cinema made today, many films of interest being ones that deviate from this structure, which is known as the Classical Hollywood Style.

The Classical Hollywood Style:

The classical Hollywood style refers to the widely used structure of filmmaking that rose in 1930s Hollywood. This structure paid all focus on production to the stars and the narrative of a film, so works to keep the audiences attention on these. Directors made their films to be so engaging and immersive for the audiences that saw it that they would not even notice the structural aspects of the film, such as editing, fake sets, actors, etc.

An example of how this was done is through editing. A very common way of shooting a scene would be to have a long shot of two characters, establishing their positions and distance to each each other. Then, a wide shot showing the two characters closer to the camera, bringing the audience further into the dialogue, which the directors wanted the audience to pay attention to. Then a close up would shot one character alone talking to show their face, and then an over the shoulder shot looking from behind them at the other person, and then the scene would shot-reverse-shot between over the shoulder shots to seamlessly bring the audience into the moment and the dialogue without distracting them with visuals, abrupt edits, etc. Everything centred around the story.

The stars were also a focal point for the filmmakers. For example, the cinematographers were in charge of making the actresses look glamorous and beautiful, and the villains held in shadow and dark areas. This is an example of how the director would direct the audiences attention, and inform them how to feel. This would also be done through emotional music. Melodramatic acting, exotic and expansive sets made in the studios, 3 act structures, linear narratives and conventional characters are also staples of the classical Hollywood style.

Long shots were used to immerse the audience and reveal lots of information, such as the layout of an environment, without making many cuts to potentially ruin immersion in the story. POV shots also grew in usage in this time period, effective for showing a character as they were and immersing the audience in the characters emotions and thought process in that moment. It tells them exactly how that character feels int hat moment we see it from their perspectives. Parallel editing done through cross cutting became popular to involve the audience in the plot further and raise the tension, thereby gaining their undivided attention.

Monopoly Oligopoly Panoply

Context:

In the 1930s and early 1940s, the studio system held almost complete control over the film industry. Because of their system of vertical integration, by 1945 they owned 17% of all theatres in America, and held exclusive partnerships with 45%, so 62% of all theatres in America could only show films by the studio they were owned by or partnered with. For this reason, it was impossible for foreign or independent, indie films to be shown anywhere. The studios, therefore, held an unfair oligopoly on the industry, dominating all productions that U.S audiences saw. For this reason, filmmakers complained to the U.S department of justice, which claimed that this was an illegal situation, so it was brought to court in 1938.

The 1938 trial:

As Paramount was the biggest studio at the time, it was the main defendant, with the other big 5 and little 3 studios as co-defendants. The case was settled in 1940, with the settlement that by the end of 1943 the studios could continue operating as they did currently, but they would have to follow 4 directives if the case was not to be revisited. These were, 1.

1. They could no longer couple larger films with B-Movies and force theatres to do so, i.e they couldn’t block buck short films along with their longer films.

2. They could continue to do this when allowed by a theatre, but could show no more than 5 of their films at a time. Therefore, they couldn’t force the theatres to show only their films, holding a monopoly on what was shown to the audiences.

3. “Blind-buying” was made illegal. This was where the studios would refuse to tell the theatres what they were being paid to show, so now the theatres could be shown the film and say whether or not they wanted to show it.

4. There had to be a voluntary nation wide administration board to make sure these things happened.

The studios completely ignored these directives and continued on as they had before the case. For this reason, when the case was reviewed, it was sent to the Supreme Court in 1948.

The 1948 Trial:

The verdict reached in this trial went entirely against the studios. It was made illegal in the U.S for film studios to own film theatres. This forced the studios to sell all of their theatres in a certain amount of time, and sent the entire studio system crashing down. This was made worse by the simultaneous suburbanisation away from cities so that more audiences lived further away from cinemas, and the rise of affordable TV, making it so that people could watch film from home. This led to studio companies going bankrupt, being bought and sold, losing money, etc. The Golden Age of Hollywood was over, ended by a sudden and severe decline.

In the long term, this had a positive effect. The studios were forced to be more competitive, This ushered in a ‘new age of Hollywood’ in which there was opportunity for foreign films to be shown, indie films and indie filmmakers to gain traction, and more experimental, artistic work not made so much for profit as for artistic value to be shown to American audiences.

The Big Five And The Little Three: The Golden Age Of Hollywood (1930-1960)

The rise of the Studio System:

In the U.S filmmaking was viewed as a business. Groups formed organisations and competed with each other to make more money from their film productions to invest into the next ones. Because of this spirit of entrepreneurship, in the 1920s a group of film studios were formed to produce, promote and distribute quality films and collect the profits for them to make the next one even more attractive to audiences. 5 main studios grew to such a significant extent that they owned most of the productions, cinemas, actors, etc. These were MGM, Paramount, Fox Film Corporation, Warner Bros. And RKO. Each one of these held a unique selling point that was specific to them as a studio. For example, Warner Bros. Made dark, gritty crime films, whereas Paramount was known for light entertainment and comedy. MGM produced bright, glitzy and glamorous pictures, RKO produced horror and film noir movies. There were also 3 smaller studios, United Artists, Columbia Pictures, and Universal Pictures.

These studios were vertically integrated, so that they owned every stage of the production process. From the initial birth of an idea to its final showing in cinemas, the film was owned entirely by a single studio. The studios also owned the actors, directors, editors and everyone else involved in the production process through contracts. After the studio system rose, the star system did.

The Star System: and unbreakable contracts:

The fame, looks, personality and prestige of certain actors became the main selling point for a film, for example Humphrey Bogart was recognisable as playing hardened, heroic figures, and Marilyn Monroe was distinct for her beauty and charm. The studios recognised their profitability, and competed fiercely to employ actors through contracts to make as much money through as many films as them as possible. Though the actors were paid well, they were kept bound to work under a single studio through ‘unbreakable contracts’. They had to work in a certain amount of films, and to keep the actors under their payroll, the studios would often not make any more films with them to avoid them from escaping these contracts.

The fall of the Studio System:

When the Great Depression struck in the 1940s, the big 5 studios were hit hard, RKO eventually collapsing, while the others were bought and sold between bigger companies. The 3 other, smaller film studios prevalent in the ‘Golden Age of Hollywood’ survived this crash through various methods. Universal was located outside of Hollywood, and adapted by changing to producing Blockbusters instead in a gamble to make more money. United Artists was made to give better deals for the artists involved alongside the studio, and Columbia were not vertically integrated, choosing instead to produce ‘B movies’ which they sold to the bigger studios to be screened in their cinemas to accompany the larger productions. They were also one of the first studios to embrace TV in the 1950’s and 1960’s, selling their own studios in 1972.

Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)

Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) is one of the most influential and popular films ever made. It was directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Warner Bros. Studios. It epitomises the glamour and style of filmmaking in the golden age of Hollywood, starring a powerful cast, extensive sets, romantic dialogue and an engaging story. Many of its lines have become cemented in film history. “Here’s looking at you, kid.”, “We’ll always have Paris.”, and “This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Are all iconic lines from the film.

Synopsis:

Context for the story:

The story takes place in Casablanca, a city by in Morocco where European refugees seeking escape from the Nazis wait for transit to Lisbon, and from there, America. Corrupt police govern the city and attempt to impress the Nazi officers visiting by preventing important officials being pursued by the Nazis from gaining passage to America.

The story:

The protagonist is Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) who runs a cafe in the city after fleeing from Paris to escape Nazi persecution, which sports a diverse cast of characters from all corners of the world, most waiting a seemingly endless wait for passage to America. He is a pessimistic, selfish character who mostly keeps to himself. He claims to care for no one other than himself, but this is contested by some of his co-workers, who point out his past assisting revolutionary groups, and his tendency to turn a blind eye to the illegal activity in his cafe helping refugees flee to Lisbon. Later in the film, he even helps a man fleeing Nazi pursuit cheat at roulette so that he can gain enough money to gain a flight to Lisbon, which, much to his dismay, gains the admiration and respect of his employees.

His world is thrown into chaos when a highly elusive and important revolutionary leader Victor Lazlo (Paul Henried) arrives in Casablanca evading Nazi capture, with him his wife and Rick’s ex lover from Paris Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) who seek letters of transit which Rick has possession of. A flashback reveals that Rick and Ilsa were passionately in love in Paris, and planned to run away together as Rick was to be arrested by the Nazis. Ilsa agrees to this plan, but on the day it was to happen, she left a note for Rick to explain that she could not come. Rick then fled to Casablanca, where he opened a cafe and became a selfish, pessimistic and isolated man. Ilsa begs Rick for the letters, who refuses to aid them for abandoning him in Paris.

Ilsa reveals that she in fact believed Lazlo to be dead in a concentration camp and was lonely in Paris, and while she loves Lazlo she also dearly loves Rick, which changes his mind, and so he hands over the letters. Rick’s claim that he cares for no one other than himself and his facade of a bleak lack of morality are put into question when Ilsa begs him for the letters, and he eventually consents, pulling off a daring plan to get her and Lazlo to America. His corrupt friend and chief of police captain Louis (Claude Rains) at first is forced at gunpoint by Rick to help him, but betrays his friend by informing a Nazi official of the plot. However, when the official arrives, Rick shoots him, and Louis covers for him by telling his men to search elsewhere. This redemption of character is also seen in how Louis throws a bottle from Vichy France into a bin, symbolising his detachment from being a corrupt, nazi puppet official. By giving the letters of transit to Lazlo and Ilsa, Rick makes a noble sacrifice to help the couple escape, leaving himself in danger of arrest in Casablanca. He and Louis escape Casablanca and Nazi pursuit together, walking off into the horizon, a happy, if bittersweet ending, as Rick will likely never see Isla again. However, he has redeemed himself, as now he has openly and actively done a good deed for someone in need of help, without being embarrassed of it.

Techniques:

The film has a linear narrative, only once using a flashback to explain how significant and important Ilsa’s love was to Rick, back when they both lived in Paris. The film uses a composed, non-diegetic score, the most notable track being As Time Goes By, sang by a character in the film, which is used to create romantic moments between Rick and Ilsa, who share fond memories over the song, adding emotion to those scenes, and the the track itself is romantic, making these moments more romantic. The editing is mostly made up of hard-cuts with occasional fade-cuts. The film is also in black and white, so the lighting and composition are focused on heavily. Characters are often framed alone in close-ups, and encompassing wide-shots are used to display environments, such as Rick’s cafe, to the audience, and characters of significance are placed in the centre and forefront of frame to bring our attention to them.

Personally, I enjoyed the scenes in the cafe most. The lighting gave a clean, cosy atmosphere to the building, and the bustling, multicultural atmosphere made the area feel alive and bursting with character, in contrast with Rick’s personality. I also enjoyed the flashback sequences showing the relationship between Rick and Ilsa in Paris, which felt genuine and real, making the audience more attached to them and their relationship.

Overall, I rate Casablanca ★★★★★!

From Buster to Bogart

The “Golden Age of Hollywood” began in the late 1920s as silent films centred around comedy and romance and action served as popular escapism for audiences living through the Great Depression. As theatres closed, cinemas took over, and studio systems were created to profit off what was becoming a very popular, commercial source of entertainment as it advanced through colour, sound, etc.

5 main studios arose and dominated the industry, MGM, Paramount, Fox, Warner Bros and RKO. These studios were vertically integrated, so owned every stage of the production process and employed everyone involved in it. They contracted the editors, writers, directors and stars, owned the cinemas, cameras, etc. This led to the rise of the ‘star system’ alongside the ‘studio system’. Similarly to the studios, these stars became extremely wealthy and powerful, many driving a films entire box office success. February 5, 1919, some of these influential stars unionised and formed Artists United, and the stars who formed it were Charlie Chaplin, D.W Griffith, Marie Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. It served as a major investor in and distributor of independently produced films in the U.S.

The Art Deco aesthetic rose to popularity in Hollywood, and the industry was monopolised by the extremely powerful and influential film studios. Actors were fought over by studios be be contracted, as they could make or break a movies box office success.

Component 1a: Hollywood 1930-1990 (Comparative Study)

Component 1a covers the period of 1930-1990, focusing on Hollywood and it’s “Golden Age”, and how this evolved throughout the century. We will be looking at a film made in the height of Hollywood success, Casablanca (Michael Curtis, 1942) and Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967). The specialist study areas are auteur theory and contexts.