Casablanca

I'm still working on this blog at home. =]...

Casablanca was made in 1942 and directed by Michael Curtiz. When it was being made it wasn't expected to be such big hit with the public, but it did.
Casablanca is considered a formalist film because of its 50's style form.
Mise-en-scene
The Mise-en-scene in the film has a very realist impression of the style people had at the time, but there is a recurring symbolized theme of stripes. The audience could interpret this as the characters in the film feeling like they are stuck in the country as if they are in prison but it could also just be an effect to add to the atmosphere of the film.

Lighting
The lighting in the film causes a strong contrast with shadows and light by using chiaroscuro lighting, this causes a formalist affect because the shadows in the film look slightly unnatural. Some of the lighting in the film frames cause specific lines across the shots to add to the stripey theme.

Camerawork

Editing

Sound

Classical hollywood cinema

Here are my examples of Classic Hollywood films:

It Happend One Night - 1934


King Kong - 1933


Mutiny On Bounty - 1962



Why are Classical Hollywood Films considered formalist?
Classical Hollywood Films use 'continuity editing' which means the camera and lighting work should not draw attention to themselves. This trys to gives us a realist impression on things but is not considered a realist style.

German Expressionism

In this lesson we looked at German expressionism. German expressionism is a type of film that was popular in Germany in the early 1920's.
What are the key features of German expressionism?
The example I looked at was a music video called 'Living dead girl' by Rob Zombie, even though it was made in 1999 it was based around the early German Expressionism film '(The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari). This showed me that some of the key features in German expressionism are: Dramatic lighting, distorted set, symbolic action and characterisation.
Where can the influence of G.E. be seen in film history?
I can see the influence of G.E in film history in films such as 'Run Lola Run' which is a later formalist film which includes all the key features of German Expressionism.