The Use Of Editing Techniques In Casablanca
analytical Essay
972 words
The way that a movie is pieced together by the director/producers has a huge impact on the viewer’s experience. Stylistic elements are used to help engage the viewer; however, without these techniques the viewer will most likely loose interest. In this essay I will be taking a look at a scene within the movie Casablanca directed by Michael Curtiz in 1942. Casablanca is a classic film that is reviewed to be one of the greatest movies of all time. This could be due to the notable quotes used throughout the movie, or its ability to follow a historic, comical, and romantic storyline throughout the course of the film. It caters to several different viewers, making this movie favorable to many. This scene in Casablanca uses specific editing techniques …show more content…
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the way a movie is pieced together by the director/producers has an impact on the viewer's experience.
- Analyzes how the quick cuts in casablanca help the audience observe the tension between ilsa and rick. the fast pace of these close-up shots, combined with the emotional expressions of the characters, causes an intense and dramatic scene.
- Analyzes how the music score for casablanca was composed by max steiner and focuses on the occurrence of leitmotif.
- Analyzes how editing and sound techniques were often used throughout the movie casablanca, highlighting the strained relationship between rick and ilsa. without these stylistic elements, the audience would easily lose interest.
Casablanca has several important stylistic elements which I will further look into. The way you edit a clip can drastically change the way one perceives it. If you edit it one way, you may be able to bring about feelings of love and affection. Yet, if you edit it slightly different, you could bring about feelings of fear or suspicion. The quick cuts in the movie Casablanca are able to help the audience observe the tension that exist between Ilsa and Rick. “Close-ups are much more dramatic than long or medium shots. They are preferred when emphasizing someone’s emotion (Moura, 2014).” Casablanca often used close up shots in order to highlight intense/emotional moments between characters. …show more content…
Music is played almost constantly throughout the movie, as it helped to guide the narration as well. Casablanca was part of the sound era, which occurred from the 1930’s- present day. There are a few different elements of sound throughout the film, but I will be focusing on the occurrence of leitmotif. The leitmotif technique is a short, constantly recurring sound that is often associated with a specific person, or place. An example of a leitmotif can be found in the movie Casablanca. We constantly hear the song ‘As Time Goes By’ being played throughout the movie. The first time we hear the song is in the given scene chosen for us. In shot 7, Ilsa asks Sam to play ‘As Time Goes By’ for her on the piano. Later Rick hears the song, and as he goes to stop Sam from playing it, he realizes that Ilsa is there. From then on, the song is played almost every time that Rick and Ilsa are together. The only time that the song is not played is when Rick and Ilsa are arguing. When it comes to the overall music throughout the scene we see that the beginning has calm and relaxed music. Yet, this changes when Rick and Ilsa see each other for the first time. There is a lot of built up tension, and so the music picks up. In shot 17 we begin to hear the sound of violins rapidly playing. The music played in this moment is used to help highlight this intense moment between Rick and Ilsa. The scenes music changes from calm and
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- Opines that many people find it hard to notice the editing in a film. this is because the editor has created smooth rhythm within cuts. editing is more than just sticking two images together.
- Explains how lumiere's invention turned a scene into an art form. lev kuleshov conducted an artistic experiment to determine whether or not this skill could be considered art.
- Explains that editing is the final step of a movie, but one must be on top of their game during production to prevent mistakes that need to be "fixed in post."
- Explains the marvellous skill of editing deals with filmic rhythm. editing works best when it is incorporated with other forms of expression that are used in the project.
- Explains that the editor has the last say on the final product of a film. an artist is someone who makes something beautiful from materials that are already existing.
- Explains that every artist has a different skill set, experience level, susceptibility, instinct, history, tastes, and vision.
- Cites anon, videomaker.com, and documentary.org. editing—the invisible art in film.
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- Analyzes how curtiz used low-key lighting in the scene where rick was reflecting on his memories of ilda without having to describe it with dialogue.
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- Opines that the filmmaker uses a flashback to show rick and ilsa in paris. if you were staging the play, would you include it?
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- Analyzes how rick and sam are at the train station waiting for ilsa. they were quiet with one another, feeling as if they were new but did not at all.
- Analyzes how the playwright and filmmaker create a stage version of casablanca by choosing one character and discussing how they would costume this character.
- Opines that casablanca's depiction of conflicting political tensions in morocco in this time period is accurate. the man was killed on the run when the cops were looking for him.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the music in casablanca is formed to make the theme fit to the situations happening, increasing the melody or changing keys by altering the rhythms.
- Analyzes how max used the music as control in the paris flashback scene to uphold his unity of the whole film.
- Analyzes how ilsa's veneration for victor laszlo is why she loves him. she has other attachments that she doesn't want to leave.
- Analyzes how ilsa's life seems dull and lacks independent actions, making her split from rick more heartbreaking than ricks split.
- Analyzes how max deliberately made the music to be fragmented at the being when ilsa entered and also after rick again. in the film the volume is turned right down for the conversations.
- Concludes that the close-ups and pauses are the film director trying to focus on some of the major concepts of this film.
851 wordsRead More - Essay On Casablancaanalytical essayThe film Casablanca (1942) is an epitome of the Hollywood studio system, thus its depiction of memory follows the classical style. This means that memory is primarily displayed through the form of the flashback. Another feature of the Classical Hollywood style is its character centric narratives, meaning the flashback is usually focalised through an individual characters perspective. This is true in Casablanca during the flashback sequence, in which we see Rick (Humphrey Bogart) remembering his past with Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman). In the scene Rick’s remembrance of the past is subjected through his perception. Which is shown cinematically through the film’s mise en scène. Yet to view this flashback sequence
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how casablanca's depiction of memory follows the classical hollywood studio system. the flashback sequence depicts rick remembering his past with ilsa.
- Analyzes how casablanca portrays rick's overly nostalgic memory of his relationship with ilsa. the contrast between the mise en scène of the flashback and the present suggests we are being presented with rick’s subjectified memory.
- Analyzes how the flashback as an agent of memory in the classical style serves a particular narrative function in elucidating information about the characters past that are relevant to the current plot.
- Analyzes how casablanca's character-based analysis of memory serves political agendas. the nostalgic view of the past in the flashback is a way of idealising pre-occupied france.
- Analyzes how the flashback sequence is reflective of a cultural and national memory of france's past.
- Concludes that it is important to consider casablanca's context as a classical hollywood narrative film as well as propagandic film when considering its use of memory.
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