sound

in trainspotting various needle drops are used throughout the film. this is normally to set the tone or mood for the scene. one of the most prominent examples of this is the scene in the nightclub where atomic by sleeper plays in the background

editing

in trainspotting a vast majority of the editing is used when Renton is withdrawing from heroine. this is done so we can see how Renton is feeling as he is hallucinating and obviously feeling nauseous.

mise en scene

in this scene mise en scene is used to show a typical pub in the 1990 as how begbie reacts when he is drunk

cinematography

in this scene various angles and shot types are used but here spud is caught in a medium close up side angle

Women are represented in Casablanca through the character of Ilsa. Her character is often presented stereotypically as an accessory to Rick and Laszlo. She can also be seen as innocent and harmless, as was the viewpoint of women at the time. However, she briefly breaks stereotypes by threatening Rick with a gun.

The audience see both stereotypes and countertypes of men through the character of Rick. He is shown to be confident, self-centred and ‘masculine’. However, once Ilsa is introduced, he becomes more vulnerable and emotinal.

Authority Figures are represented as powerful, antagonistic and corrupt. This can be seen with the character of Captain Renault who is after Rick for having Ilsa and Victor’s transport papers. However, this changes at the end when he allows Ilsa and Laszlo to escape and then tells the police to “round up the usual suspects” as opposed to arresting Rick.

People of Colour can be seen through the character of Sam, who challenges stereotypes by being among many white people while performing, in a time where racial segregation was a serious problem.

Americans are represented as being neutral in relation to the Second World War. This is seen with Rick, who allows people from both sides of the war into his café. However, Rick later shows his true self, assisting Laszlo and Ilsa in escaping the Nazi-occupied Casablanca.

Europeans are represented as defenceless and weak against the Nazis, as seen with the man at the beginning of the film who attempts to flee when questioned, subsequently getting shot dead.

underscoring:

in the scene where Rick and Ilse see each other in the bra. A dramatic underscore is use to show the shock of the characters as they thought they would never see each other again.

Sound mixing:

sounds of people talking as well as drinking clicking together were added into the scenes set in Ricks bar using Foley. This immerses the viewer making the set feel more realistic as if it were a real bar.

Realism

The elements of design in Casablanca, the setting is realistic during the time of 1942 and World War 1. The setting shows the emotion of the people in the film during this time, with the stress of getting off the island and to America where it was safe.

On the other hand, the well-lit, planned out feel of the movie interrupts its ‘realistic’ feel. The immaculate costume and good looking love interests are also used to weave this movie in with other films that follow Hollywood’s surrealistic ‘ideal’ look.

Visual Style

Casablanca’s style and emotional feel has its roots in the black and white, high-contrast style of the German Expressionist filmmakers. In Expressionism, the filmmaker tends to distort or bend reality for an emotional effect. This unique style might have been lost, had World War II not changed the course of events.

Tone

 The fluid camera movements and suspenseful content in Casablanca establishes the tone of the film and manipulates the audience’s mood through imagery, setting, and character emotion/action.  The tone of ‘Casablanca‘ is established in the initial scenes through suspenseful music, the heroine’s troubled expression, and the dramatic and precise mise-en-scene.

Realism: A good example of Realism in Casablanca is the setting. Since it is set in 1942 during WW2. There is stress between character wondering if the island is safe and whether or not they should move to America where it is safe

Tone: The tone of the film is a serious drama with lots of high stakes and Serious moments. A good example is the climax scene where Rick tell IIla to get on the plane and leave him behind, the scene is very emotional.

Visual Style: The film is of the style of Film Noir which is a style of filmmaking that has cynical heroes, stark lighting effects, use of flashbacks, intricate plots and and underlying existentialist philosophy.

Intro –

Throughout Casablanca, Aesthetics can shown through the elements of Realism, Tone and Visual Style. Here I will show examples of each and what fits in with them.

Realism –

Realism is shown to mixed with elements of love and and the reality of war. In Casablanca, this is used to create that dramatic storyline of a love not meant to be due to the side-lined threat of the Nazis. With the focus being heavily on Rick and Ilsa’s love narrative, the terrors of the war are side-lined yet still depicted to current with, Parises ‘city of love’ being taken by the Nazis in real news footage. It can be said this was the creative intent as to free themselves from the reality of war movie-goers would attend films such as Casablanca to immerse themselves in an artificial reality.

Tone –

Tone in Casablanca, uses suspense to create that theme of drama. With the threat of being taken away by the Nazis if they showed the slightest involvement to the tickets to Lisbon, this creates the element of suspense as it is unknown if Rick, or any other of the protagonists will be found out.

Additionally with the narrative of Lazlo being a member of the resistance, this shows suspense as through the earlier scene of a resistance member being shot in broad daylight, the audience fears the same will happen to him.

Visual Style (Film Noir) –

Visual motifs in Casablanca can be seen with the reoccurrence of German uniforms. This obvious motif signifies that danger and threat is near as in comparison to reality it is generally known they are the enemy. Sound motifs can be heard when Ilsa is revealed to Rick, with a signifying sound, different to the previous piano song, this connotes that there is something significant about this person to Rick.

Dialogue – Rick’s line “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” is effective as it tells the audience how certain he was that he’d never see Ilsa again, therefore he speaks in a shocked manner after she comes to his cafe.

Underscoring – A soft but noticeable piece of music accompanies the scene where Rick uses a gun to threaten Renault, building suspense and audience intrigue as to whether he will actually shoot him.

Sound Motif – The song ‘It had to be you’ recurs throughout the film as a reminder to the audience that Rick and Ilsa’s relationship was real and impacts their behaviours in the narrative of the film. The song is heard for the entirety of the Paris flashback, as this is when Rick and Ilsa’s love for each other was the strongest.

Synchronous Music – Synchronous music can be heard in the scenes taking place in Rick’s bar, with Sam playing the piano and singing to customers. Even when the attention is on other characters, the music continues to maintain the verisimilitude of the film.

Sound Mixing – In the scene where the plane is beginning to land in Casablanca, a musical score can be heard in addition to the sound of the plane flying and dialogue. These being heard all at once establishes the atmosphere of the scene and creates a sense of realism.

Diegetic sound

Diegetic sound in Casablanca is evident when Ilsa asks Sam to play the song ‘As Time Goes By’. The fact that the characters themselves can hear the music is important to understand how Rick cant bear to listen to the song that reminds him of Ilsa, and just hearing it causes him to dart across the room to stop the music and halt the pain he feels in remembering his past.

Diegetic sound also is significant in ensuring the verisimilitude of the film, in the midst of war and occupations elsewhere, residents of Casablanca come to Ricks bar to listen to music and forget the troubles of the world around them.

Non-Diegetic sound

The use of underscoring in Casablanca is also non-diegetic, in the first scene between rick and Ilsa they recall the last day they met. The score starts as a soft romantic violin, to represent how Ilsa is first ignorant to the torment that happened that day, and only remembers the love she felt for Rick. Synchronising with Ilsa’s change of expression, she then recalls how the Nazis occupied France that day, the underscoring then turns dramatic and violent.

This is used to share the heartbreak that Ilsa feels with the spectator, to immerse them in the movie and to feel as though they themselves experienced the same things.

Sound Motif

The use of sound motif in Casablanca holds a highly emotional response in the spectator. The first time the audience hears the song ‘As Time Goes By’, Ilsa doesn’t even need to say the name of the song as it is so ‘forbidden’ that Sam isn’t allowed to play it. This foreshadows an importance regarding the song, thus leaving the spectator to imagine the meaning behind the pain this song causes Rick, and the connection Rick has to Ilsa.

Connoting this song to pain, the spectator is then reintroduced to ‘As Time Goes By’ when Rick is alone, drinking, and feeling sorry for himself. The Mise-en-scene paired with the diegetic sound motive that is ‘As Time Goes By’ evokes a moving response in the viewer that is then justified by Ricks flashback of the last meeting between Rick and Ilsa in Paris, the day the Nazis came. A Romantic and beautiful song is reduced to a painful, heart aching experience, likewise of the relationship between the Ilsa and Rick.

Dialogue

Rick’s famous line: ‘Here’s looking at you kid’ is an example of Dialogue in Casablanca, the way he repeats this line throughout the movie connects the plot, and gives the spectator an idea of the relationship between the two.

Synchronous sound/ atmos and foley sound

Synchronous sound, or sync sound, is audio that lines up precisely with what’s happening on screen.

An example of this is the clink of Ricks glass as he slams it on the table in this sequence, similarly Foley/atmos sound is used to accentuate the sound of a door slam when Ilsa leaves Rick once more. This is made to be louder, more prominent as the pair are once again separated and Rick is left alone like in Paris. This heightens the dramatic effect of this scene, and evokes a isolated feel in the spectator.

A good example of Diegetic sound in Casablanca is when IIla ask Sam to play the song ” As Time goes by” as it is a significant moment in the film.

A example of how Non Diegetic is when Yvonne is kicked out of the Bar and her words don’t match her lips. Another example is in an earlier scene where the gun shots plays and he falls to the ground 5 second later.