Part 1: Brief Reference 

What did you like about the film? I liked the narrative/plot and how he ends up being the person he sees dying at the end.	What didn’t you like? I didn’t like the fact it was only images shown as it didn’t exactly depict the full story well enough for me to understand clearly.
What ideas could you use? Narrative or style?  I liked the narrative in the short film so could use a similar idea in the circular narrative it used.	What ideas won’t you use? Why?  The lack of the actors talking confused me because it was one man doing the voiceover, so the tone of the whole short film was the same throughout.

Establishing protagonist – what information do we find out? How is it conveyed?

The short film focuses on tracing the life of a man, a slave who travels in time to find a solution to the world’s destiny. He is the main protagonist, who remains nameless, and is sent back and forth in and out of time in an experiment that attempts to unravel the fate and the solution to the problems of a post-apocalyptic world during the aftermath of WW3. The experiment results in him getting caught up in a reminiscence of past events that are recreated on an airport viewing pier. 

Establishing other characters – what information do we find out? How is it conveyed? 

We see the other woman at the beginning and end, emphasizing her importance to the narrative. She almost leads the story on because she represents the main protagonist’s death and foregrounds that at the start. 

Establishing location (time and place) – what information do we find out? How is it conveyed? 

We know from the beginning that the location is Paris. The images they show of bombed out wreckage of the city are real WW2 images. 

Creating Enigmas – what are they? How are they created? 

Throughout the narrative, we question the beginning death scene and who the dying man is, we wonder how he dies, who the woman is and why he’s there. These are powerfully answered through the end scene and the images and voice over. 

Narrative binary oppositions 

The film is primarily based on the theme of past vs future, which is the main narrative binary opposition because of the protagonist’s confliction of deciding to either stay or travel back to the past in which he can find the woman. 

Crisis – how was this conveyed? 

I think the crisis is the moment he finds the woman as that is technically when his death is. Then when he dies of course is the other crisis, though metaphorically it’s when he sees the woman as she basically foregrounds his death. 

Resolution – is it closed or open narrative? 

I would say the narrative is either circular or closed as it is a loop so it doesn’t have much opportunity to continue the story. 

Part 3: Meaning and Effect 

What did you think was the intention of the filmmaker(s)? Intellectual message? Emotional response? How was this achieved?

I think the message of the film was that you can’t change your past or go back in time in order to achieve things, because it will mess with time, and the same thing will happen but in a different way. I think this idea was shown by the crisis at the end in which the main protagonist dies, because he tries to go back but ends up being the person he sees dead at the start. 

The effects of the aesthetic binary oppositions

I think the photos that show each scene and the time change throughout create the effect of change, as they progress throughout and showcase his emotions of loss and almost an identity loss. 

Inspirations – what ideas did this film give you for your own short film? 

Establishing characters, setting, plot, theme I like the plot of him going back in time and getting caught up in his own death.	Creating enigmas  I like the mystery and enigma of the woman on the airport viewing pier. I would use a similar concept in my film of the mysterious person who technically brings the film together.
Narrative structure (non-/linear? Open/ closed ending?) I would use the idea of the beginning and end linking to complete the story as I quite liked that concept.	Striking use of technical features  In a way, although it wasn’t my favorite technique, the photos did add effect to the film overall because it added dramatic effect, so maybe I would add photos in my film.

Warren Beatty (Clyde Barrow) produced and acted in Bonnie and Clyde. He selected the writers (Robert Benton and David Newman) and the director (Arthur Penn) and also selected most of the cast. He also oversaw the script and spearheaded the delivery of the film.

Faye Dunaway (Bonnie Parker) was perfect for the spirit of the thirties and the spirit of the sixties. Penn had seen her scenes from ‘The Happening’ before its release and decided to let her read for the role of Bonnie Parker.

Michael J. Pollard (C.W. Moss) is best known for his role in Bonnie and Clyde, he was relatively unknown before this film.

Gene Hackman (Buck Barrow) had most of his stardom come in for him in the 1970s, in which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in The French Connection (William Friedkin, 1971).

Realism in Casablanca is shown through the romance aspect of the film, and the theme of war shown throughout. The conflicted love affair between Rick and Ilsa portrays realistic aspects that create effect to the characters of the film, while the war theme creates a real meaning that impacts the narrative of the film.

Tone in the film is portrayed in a dramatic and romantic way. It shows the sad effects of war, while also being a form of escapism from war shown through the romance between Rick and Ilsa.

The visual style of ‘Film Noir’, can be seen through the dark look and shadows used in the film at Rick’s Café, typical of the film noir style. The use of urban settings, unconventional camera angles and low-key lighting also help define Casablanca’s ‘noir’ style.

How are different groups represented in Casablanca and what ideological standpoints may these representations reveal about these groups?

Women

Women in Casablanca are typically represented as the less superior characters who hold less power because of the superiority of the men. Ilsa does not present the image of intellectual potency as she is incapable of making her own decisions and she does not wield any sort of power.

Men

Men in Casablanca are seen as the hero’s and have protectiveness over the females in the film. Rick is seen as the one with most power, as firstly he owns the bar, but also he has the power to save Ilsa and her husband.

Authority Figures

In Casablanca, the authority figures are majorly respected. However at the end, Rick gets the Captain to help him out by putting a gun to him, and he does help him out using his authorative power, showing how easily led his power actually is.

tonal editing method – this focuses on the lighting, shadows, and colours of the edited scenes to provide an overall ‘mood’

This example is from ‘Joker’ (Todd Phillips, 2019) because it’s a good example of the tonal editing method. In this scene, Arthur is distressed and this is emphasised by the sombre blue colour from the fridge and outside lighting that echoes throughout his apartment. It creates the effect of the overall sad mood.

the intellectual method – this is making a comparison to something that is unrelated to create effect by combining shots on the basis of a conceptual connection between them. It’s when you edit two shots together to connect them to an intellectual concept.

This example is from ‘Strike’ (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925). This is an example of the intellectual method because these two shots are completely unrelated as one is human one is animal.

metric editing – this is based on the length of a shot and it creates the tempo of the film

This montage in ‘Requiem For A Dream’ (Darren Aronofsky, 2000) https://youtu.be/mkYNhZvlHv0 shows the organised yet chaotic impact of the metric/intellectual montage. Each shot is given nine frames and a distinct sound effect. The montage demonstrates drug taking’s disorientating effect.

Metric montage – Here Montage is used in equal fast paced intervals, giving each person’s reaction an equal amount of time to the unexpected arrival. Each shot is in quick succession

Rhythmic montage – Here montage is used in the rhythm of the band’s music, where each each symbol crash would cut to a different person, showing where Scott’s focus is, and also to create pace and moments adrenaline.

Tonal montage –

Over tonal Montage –

Intellectual montage –

metric montage: metric montage is the use of lots of different shots cut to the same time. an example of this is in the ending of bonnie and Clyde.

rhythmic montage: Rhythmic montage is used in music videos or when a film plays along to the soundtrack. The shots are cut to the beat of the music for example Hero by Zircon

intellectual montage: an intellectual montage is when you edit 2 shots together and connect then to an idea that has not been directly referenced. an example of this would be in jurassic park

Tonal editing method – Noir films such as T-men (1947, directed by Anthony Mann) include a tonal editing method in their scenes such as this, where one dimly lit room is faded and opened to another. This is edited through scenes to establish a recurrent ‘shady’ location.

Rhythmic montage – Music videos such as Loyle Carner’s ‘Ottolenghi’ contains a rhythmic montage in tune with a piano, with each stroke of the piano changing cutting to a different shot in the edit.

The Intellectual Method – With the film ‘Inglorious Basterds’ (2009, Quentin Taterntino) the intellectual method is used during the restaurant scene where a French cinema owner meets with Joseph Goebbels and a Nazi officer, Hans lander. Being a ‘Jew hunter’ he had previously met her in the establishing scene of the film where her and her family where found hiding under a friends floor. Where the method is used can be seen in the restaurant scene where Hans Lander orders a glass of milk and eats a Crème de la Crème, this is done intentionally to reference to the milk farmer who he had hunted previously, this visually taunts the girl as he knows who she is from the milk farmers house, this is further shown where he puts out a cigarette on it making it look similar to French country house where he found here hiding previously.

Eisenstein’s favourite method was Intellectual montage, he would link people to animals like bears and owls. he did this because it was a silent film and he wanted people to start to have opinions on the different characters, by comparing them to animals.

this example is a fox, they chose a fox because he is meant to come across as sly and untrustworthy. this is a good example because foxes are known for being the “bad” character in films and known for not being very good.

another example of this, is the man as a monkey. they chose this because he is almost inhumanly and he is acting like a wild monkey, they chose to represent him as a monkey because he has wild limbs and he chops up things all unsteady.