Those that believe Casablanca is not film noir usually perceive Film Noir as a genre. Noir is not a genre; Noir transcends genres and behaves more accurately as a style of cinema. As styles go, there can be variations of them as we see now with Post-Noir and Neo Noir, noir elements in a different time period of film technology which makes these films slightly different than the style of classic film noir. Themes of cynicism, impending doom, loss, jeopardy of life accompanied by visuals dominated by shadows, strong lines, and overall darkness to the image make up film noir’s style. Noir is not absolute, the beauty of this style is its vulnerability to variation, which is why Michael Curtiz’s Classic Casablanca is film noir. Examining Casablanca by just looking at its visual style, it is obvious it has noir elements to it. In Noir, the look is often dark, gritty, and utilizes many shadows. In scenes that take place in Rick’s Café, these things are apparent. There are shadows on the wall, along with the contrast of shadows on the character’s faces and clothing. There’s a scene in which Rick is drinking in his café …show more content…
The scenes in Rick’s Café all follow this pattern of having a deep field of view, while always having the characters in focus and the club’s happenings in the background. This provides a deeper meaning of the character’s interactions within their environment. The environment serves as the driving force of the shots. In a club like Rick’s, it’s one of the liveliest places in Casablanca, which in a city that most of the inhabitants are waiting to leave is important. The angles of which the frames are shot are not too drastically ambitious and do not intrude on the viewer’s experience. Although most noir films include a few unusual angled shots, Casablanca maintains a style of composition that is most closely recognized as
We can still see the subtle lighting used in each scene because the movie is in black and white. The soft focus lens is used to give the impression that the scene is magical, romantic, and emotionally charged by removing sharp edges and giving it a more diffuse appearance. In the airport scene, for instance, the camera was very close to Rick and Ilsa's faces. Additionally, the two actors were extremely close to one another because of their long-standing connection or relationship. The camera captured Ilsa's face in a very close-up shot as she wept over leaving Rick.
I loved the lighting and camera work in Casablanca. The lighting and camera angel played a big role in the movie because it showed the characters emotions and feelings. It often set the tone and mood of the scene. Because the film was in black and white there was no color to highlight certain emotions in the film. For an example when Rick was drinking, you could really see his sadness and he didn't need to say anything for use to figure it out, lighting played a big role in that
The documentary Paris Is Burning directed by Jeannie Livingston is not only one of my favorite films, but it gives an extraordinary insight into the society of its time. The film documents the lives of gay and transgender African Americans and Latinos apart of the ball culture of New York City in the 80’s. Balls were competitions that involved dressing up and competing in themed categories. Not all the performers in these categories were drag queens, although a large percent were drag queens or trans women. These people often formed what they called houses, or family groups of similar people.
Film noir movies often have stylistic characteristics such as exaggerated lighting and shadows. Scarlet Street contained many subjective camera shots while also using exaggerated shadows, for example during the first scene in the movie, there is an emphasis on the mans shadow as he walks into the room. Which brings me to a crucial point, Black and white filmmaking. Black and white style is considered to be an essential attribute for a film noir movie, black and white allows the director to emphasize on distorting images, for example use of the venetian blind shot. Another continuous pattern of film noir is to include main stock characters, this film contains: an anti-hero and a femme fatale, these stock characters are always seen in noir films.
When Deckard and the other police enter the apartment to find what they believe to be a fish scale, they open the door and step into dramatic lighting created with venetian blinds. During many scenes, light frequently flashes across the faces of the characters as if a car or person is moving between them and the light source. The light gives the film more overall movement,
Mise-en-scéne is crucial to classical Hollywood as it defined an era ‘that in its primary sense and effect, shows us something; it is a means of display. ' (Martin 2014, p.XV). Billy Wilder 's Sunset Boulevard (Wilder 1950) will be analysed and explored with its techniques and styles of mise-en-scéne and how this aspect of filmmaking establishes together as a cohesive whole with the narrative themes as classical Hollywood storytelling. Features of the film 's sense of space and time, setting, motifs, characters, and character goals will be explored and how they affect the characterisation, structure, and three-act organisation.
The intriguing world of Casablanca, displays a wondrous mise-en-scene in fashion that accentuates emotions and feeling through aspects of cinematography. From the movement of the camera, to the intricacy of the shot distances chosen to be included within the frame, the film reveals important elements of the diegesis without uttering a sound. The cinematography of Casablanca gives the audience an insight into the intimacy of Rick and Ilsa's relationship, and seeks to situate the viewer’s attention to the space and time of the film. Throughout the film, Rick’s romantic relationship, or rather previous relationship, with Ilsa appears to be a focal point of the film.
Cinematography is critical to the success of any movie. Cinematography uses composition, lighting, depth of field, and camera angles to determine what the audience sees. Casablanca’s cinematography directs the audience’s attention, shapes the audiences feelings, and reveals the theme of the movie. Cinematography directs the audience’s attention and acts as the viewer’s eyes. The cinematography highlights Casablanca as a dangerous place filled with deception.
The crop duster scene, one of many notable sequences from this movie, uses: lighting, color, camera angles and distances, shot duration, continuity editing, and mise-en-scéne to provide suspense, desperation, and isolation to the character onscreen, and make the viewers feel the same offscreen. Works
The Maltese Falcon, a film categorised as Film Noir and The Searchers, a Western genre film, are both from different genres but both reinforce and challenge dominant social and cultural beliefs and values throughout each film. Each genre can be broken down into; codes, conventions and narrative conventions. Codes are aspects of the text that help the audience make meaning.
Femme fatales are usually destroyed in the end, either by being killed or being domesticated, as though they are being punished thinking they can compete with men. Male dominance is always restored by the end of the film. In established film noir, the new economic, social, and sexual freedom that women experienced during the war years as they joined the workplace was quite unsettling to many American men. This fear of strong, independent women and the need to show the danger of this independence was shown, whether consciously or not, in most film noir. The Maltese Falcon, like many films of its era, joins in the distrust of all things foreign.
This creates a contrast with the darker and lighter parts of the scene, and creates the subject of the scene to be hidden in the shadows. This lighting technique is perfect for a gangster film such as the Godfather. Francis Ford Coppola’s has made apt use of lighting in this scene. In this scene, almost all the frames are low lit, especially the scenes where Don Corleone’s eyes are darkened.
In the movie Casablanca directed by Michael Curtiz, the theme of this mysterious/ romantic is self-sacrifice and unhappy love. These themes are best expressed in the interactions of the three main characters: Victor Laszlo, Ilsa Lund, and Rick Blaine. A love triangle forms with both men’s mutual love for Ilsa. Unlike the typical romantic love triangle, in the end, the results lead to unhappiness and loss for all of them.
The critically acclaimed film, Goodfellas, is a gangster crime drama that features an incredible amount of talent. Household names such as: Robert De Niro (Jimmy Conway), Joe Pesci (Tommy DeVito), Paul Sorvino (Paul Cicero), and promising stars like Ray Liotta (Henry Hill) and Lorraine Bracco (Karen Hill), attracted numerous Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. That type of cast power, linked with the signature talent of Martin Scorsese as a director, made for cinematic gold. Unquestionably, the actors and actresses did an excellent job augmenting the verisimilitude of this film and compelling audiences to empathize with their characters. But the cinematography in this film plays just as large a role in having audiences feel what the characters
Furthermore, the shot styles between the films are reflective of each other. The extreme close-ups, slow moving camera, and mis-en-scene are impactful in creating atmosphere. In the third film, the slow moving camera takes on a presence rather than a character, which embodies the omens that are essential to the films