Film Paper

At the height of World War II, Casablanca (1942) was released as a melodramatic film noir, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and directed by Michael Curtiz. Through the film’s plot, several elements cater to the understanding of the story and how the characters’ relationships develop throughout the film. Casablanca exemplifies expressionistic studio film and demonstrates different cinematic aspects that contribute to the nature of each character and functions as a guide to the story’s emotional rollercoaster. Through light, the self-discovery of the characters progress from the beginning, middle, and end, creating a chronological narrative so the viewers understands the plot. Director Curtiz uses the element of light and framing to guide the viewer’s to understanding the story, though the development of angles and photographic techniques. This paper will unravel various factors of cinematography, doing so through a stylized repertoire of lighting, framing, angles and photography to explore the means of how they help tell the tale of Casablanca. When discussing the lighting, angles and framing in Casablanca, the location is considered as to whether the light will take on a more naturalistic feel or not. It was shot on a movie set in Warner Brothers Burbank Studios, making the film have a stylized and more visually exaggerated set. This also allowed the Director to have more controlled lighting that navigated the viewers around the scenes and facial expressions of the characters, “Movies shot in studios are generally more stylized and theatrical, whereas location photography tends to use available illumination, with a more natural style of lighting”. (Giannetti, 2010 p.17) Curtiz used well-known stars Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman to bring to life post-war propaganda films. Humphrey Bogart embodies the all American heartthrob that can do no wrong, the audience wants to relate and believe that this story is

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