Casting

Warren Beatty (Clyde Barrow)

Beatty was originally on board as a producer for the film

Faye Dunaway (Bonnie Parker)

Michal J Pollard (C.W Moss)

Gene Hackman (Buck Barrow)

Estelle Parsons (Blanche Barrow)

Denver Pyle (Frank Hamer)

Dub Taylor (Ivan Moss)

Gene Wilder (Eugine Grizzard)

Wilder played a minor role in Bonnie and Clyde as his debut role before earning lobal recognition for his role as ‘Willy Wonka’ in Charlie and the chocolate factory (1971)

Star Vehicle

Star vehicle: a film that utilises an actor’s fame to promote the film, a film specifically made with an actor’s skill set in mind to show off their known skills and versatility. 

Casablanca is a star vehicle for Humphry Boggart, he had previously not played the leading man and was often playing in gangster films. Casablanca highlighted his versatility and proved he had the skills to be a leading man. Casablanca was also Ingrid Bergman’s breakout film as she was previously quite unknown, it can be said it was also a star vehicle for her to breakthrough into the industry 

Bonnie and Clyde was a star vehicle for Warren Beatty, he was the producer of the film while starring in it, he was responsible for hiring the director (Arthur Penn). He also had bought the script. Faye Dunnaway’s breakout role was as Bonnie as like Bergman she was also much more unknown than their male co-stars. 

Mise en Scene in Bonnie and Clyde

Locations: Bonnie and Clyde was filmed on location and not on a warner brothers backlot. The film was shot in Texas to add historical accuracy as the real Bonnie and Clyde were from Texas in addition to lower funds. The location filming adds more realism as they are not constructed, idealised setting. During the 1940s, America was living though the great depression. Bonnie and Clyde gives an accurate depiction of what peoples lives were like and had become after the wall street crash. The cars used in the film had also been loaned.

Costumes often showed 1940s fashion, specifically the gangster outfits. Bonnies look was quite 60s and became a fashion icon for women when the film came out, as many lost weight and cut their hair into bobs.

Editing: Bonnie and Clyde begins with a sequence of shots starting with an extreme close up of Bonnie’s lips, which is unlike classical Hollywood as there is also no establishing shot. The opening shot connotes to her knowingness of her attractiveness and her care into her looks. The camera then pans out into a close up of her face in the mirror. Close ups and mid shots are then used to follow her walking around the room, these shots are used to show her nudity without directly showing it. We then see her hitting the bedstead to mimic how she feels trapped in her current life as the bars on the bedstead reflects being behind bars in a jail. The only long shot in this sequence is when Bonnie is at the window, watching Clyde and speaking too him, which uses shot reverse shot ( a bit more conventional from Classical Hollywood) This opening sequence allows the audience to see the two main characters in depth, and breaks all the conventions of editing in the Classical Hollywood style. Editing in Bonnie and Clyde cam be very unconventional and inspired by the French new wave, however there are times the editing is very conventional and in the classical Hollywood style as it helps to portray the story. It breaks some of the conventions but doesn’t depart altogether from this style.

Sound: Music plays over credits and car chases (e.g 54-58 min) The music evokes the period of the Great Depression and highlights the setting of deep south America. The music is bluegrass style of music played with a banjo. It has roots in Mississippi, with afro American influence. The music is upbeat and light in tone with no vocals. The music is used to change the mood of the scene as we have the upbeat bluegrass music over the char chase and the original shot of the ice cream parlour, but when we see the ranger who is hunting down Bonnie and Clyde the music suddenly stops creating instant tension and apprehensive as the audience can predict how the film may end

Sound Bridge (J-cut) Music that covers a scene change

Dede Allen (editor) was one of the first people to use a sound bridge, she was an innovator.

Foley sound diegetic sound, sound effects. When Clyde is teaching Bonnie how to shoot there are sound effects from the gun (14min). The extreme loudness changes the mood. As the violence increases, the soundtrack increases in volume. Shootouts are very loud and violent and the loudness of the Foley sound is deliberately heightened.

J-cut, sound comes first L-cut, image comes first