Emily Steffler

Casablanca blog

            This being the first time that I have ever seen a film from the 1900’s I was very impressed with how advanced many of the techniques are. The movie may be in black and white but you can still tell how the lighting is affecting the scenes. Also many of the camera angles help to show the mood of the scene. The film appeals to many people because “It is about a man and women who are in love, and who sacrifice love for a higher purpose.” (Pg. 1, #10) The movie gets boring at some points but it always draws you back into it. Even though it is in black and white it was an all time favorite film of many people.

            As I scan through many different reviews of the movie one of them caught my eye from http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-casablanca-1942.  The review talks about how the film was “made on a tight budget and released with small expectations.” (Roger Ebert) As I was watching the film I didn’t realize that it wasn’t made to be a high-rise film, or a popular film. Also another part that caught my eye in reading this review was the fact that the film was based off a play. It seemed that from watching the movie that it would be almost weird to see as a play. I agree with the review how it talks about the emotion that is portrayed in the movie is one that literally captures you in. The lighting at points in the movie really help to capture the moods and all the emotions of the scenes. For example in this picture shown above you can see how the lighting is making shadows on his face almost showing the dense feelings that are happening in that moment in time.

            Now as you can see in the picture to the left, the camera has a big effect on showing all the people and emotion in the room. Seeing that all the people in the room are all enjoying themselves have a grand time. Even the people in the way back are interesting in the piano man and are all paying close eye on him as they enjoy hanging around with everyone in the place. Where as you look at the man in the tuxedo you can see how he has a more serious expression and from the camera angel you can see he is holding a piece of paper which most likely is music so he is probably trying to keep up or tune in with the piano man and sing along. The emotion that is captured even from the lighting is great. The people in the back are almost hard to see because they don’t have any light but as you get closer to the front of the picture the light gets brighter and brighter. The brightest light points directly to the piano man and the guy in the tuxedo. Showing how they are two of the most important characters in the scene and drawing your eye to them almost immediately.

            The movie the Casablanca maybe an older movie and not planned out to be a major award winning film, but in the end turns out that many of the techniques used in the film have helped make the film be a great success. Also be a movie that many are captured into watching because of the torn thoughts of the main character having to chose between true love or doing what he knows he is obligated to do.

                                                              work cited

"Casablanca." All Content. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 June 2013. http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-casablanca-1942