How does the American's entry onto the beach convey the destruction and confusion of the film?

The Americans entry onto the beach in Apocalypse now conveys destruction and confusion whilst also portraying the underlying messages of the film.

In the scene lots of different aspects contribute to the sense of confusion, one being the fast editing and the way this makes the switch between scenes more apparent which makes the editing not invisible and makes the scene harder to watch. The editing also add to the mayhem in the scene and makes you use all of your senses and almost makes the audience have a sensory overload.

In this beginning of the scene , Kilgore starts to play "Rise of the Valkyries" to put his men in the "fighting" state of mind, this portrays Kilgore as childish and playing a game rather than the tough and mature leader he is stereotypically supposed to be.

Throughout the scene, a wide variety of camera shots are used to suggest many different messages and emotion. Firstly we see a long shot of a brief rainbow, many have made references of the ideology of Eden or paradise beyond destruction , this then disappears and we see a  pararomic shot which pans over the destruction that has taken place. This juxtaposes the previous camera shot and reinforces the sense of confusion.

The characters also add to the sense of confusion by contradicting to their "known" personas, for example, Captain Willard stays calm and shows little to no emotion whereas in previous scenes he has been the character to show the most emotion; e.g the first time we meet him.

Comparison of Apocalypse Now & Casablanca

In this essay I will be comparing the similarities and differences between the  films; Apocalypse Now (1979) and Casablanca (1943).

Apocalypse Now (1979),  was written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who also was the director of the Godfather Trilogy. The film was based around  Joseph Conrad's book "The Heart Of Darkness" which follows the story of a solider who is set a assination mission for a colonel that has gone mad and is following his own rules.

Similarly in Casablanca (1943),  directed by Michael Curtiz was based around a play called "Everybody Comes to Rick's". Warner Brothers received the play 2 days after Pearl Harbour had taken place.

Although the narratives of films contrast completely , both films are considered to be classics in film making as it set the pathway for the ideology of the auteur and highly collaborative films.

As an audience, we first see the contrast between the films from the opening scene.


From the outset of Apocalypse Now, the audience already grasps the sense of uncertainty that the film carries through out. The juxtaposition of the two shot fading in and out of each other, convey not only the films sense of uncertainty but also the protagonists state of mind. This is reinforced by the synthised , non-diegetic sound of helicopters  

Who Is Creatively Responsible For Casablanca's Success?

Many people pinpoint Casablanca's iconic fame to one name; Warner Brothers. However, a large amount of multitalented individuals inside of the intuition brought Casablanca together and made it the iconic trailblazer it is 80 years later.

Some would say that Casablanca's fame was based off of elements of luck and well they are right! Days after Pearl Harbor, Warner Brothers received a play called " Everybody comes to Rick's" which was the  base line narrative for Casablanca. Even though the film was based off of the play, there was not a set ending until the last day of filming.

Casablanca was a very highly collaborative film with over 50 different roles involved. Michael Curtiz, the director of Casablanca and over 173 other films, brought iconic elements to the film such as empathy. Being a refugee of the war himself, he brought knowledge and experience and placed it into the set, dialogue and style of the film. 

Throughout the film, the director of photography; Arthur Edeson , portrays the emotion of each scene through the lighting and miss-en-scene. A lot of dark lighting and shadow was used to represent the intimate and intensity of the narrative. Casablanca didn't mind looking artificial as they wanted to place the audience into a fantasy that they could relate to and recognize why certain objects or lighting was put there (mise-en-scene) and to tell the narrative alongside the dialogue, this disobeyed the classical style and made Casablanca stand out from other films at the time.

Orry-Kelly, Costume designer for Casablanca, used the costumes to set a mood but to also portray the multitude of different classes and ethnicity's. Hats were a key factor in setting the mood, especially in the penultimate scene where the hats cast shadows over different parts of different characters to set an ambiguous tone. Orry-Kelly also set a specific colour palette for each character, for example the "Heroic" characters had a soft palette and the "Villain" characters had a darker, more harsh palette.

Casablanca wouldn't be Casablanca without the famous editing and music. Owen Marks used invisible editing to show the different perspectives of each character and to convey the different emotions though out the narrative. The glue to the film was really the music, Max Steiner reinforced the narrative by using iconic sounds and the infamous song "As time goes by" which is featured throughout the film as an anchor to the 2 protagonist and their love; Ingrid Birdman, Ilsa and Humphrey Bogart, Rick.

Ironically, as the filming for Casablanca was coming to an end, allies landed in Casablanca to fight against the Nazi's in World War 2. This gained Casablanca a lot of publicity and the majority off the audience went to view the film to feel patriotic and show support to the troops fighting. The film touched people’s emotions and gave them something to relate to (Uses and Gratification Theory).

Casblanca Scene Analysis- End Scene

End Scene Analysis-Casablanca

 



The penultimate scene in Casablanca is where the audience witness the downfall of Rick's innocent side and see him turn on his good (but not morally good) friend , Renault , to help Ilsa and Lazlow escape.

We are introduced to the scene with a longshot of Rick , Ilsa and Lazlow stepping out of a taxi followed by Renault, the camera then pans into a medium shot of Rick and Ilsa. As an audience we pay attention to the mist which is shown in a soft focus throughout and it sets an uncertain mood towards the narrative. The mood is also portryaed by the characters uses of hats, the hats cast shadows on the characters faces but mainly their eyes,this shows the mysterious and ambiguous feel towards the scene as a whole.

The camera then pans over to a medium shot of Lazlow, lsla and Rick, Lazlow then shakes Rick's hand and says; "This time you chose the winning side" followed by Isla who whispers " God bless you Rick" her voice suggest she is panicking and at unease with the whole situation, Rick then gives her a reassuring look and they part ways.

Casablanca Scene Analysis- Meeting Rick

Scene Analysis; Meeting Rick

 

The first Café scene in Casablanca is where the audience is slowly introduced to Rick after multiple characters have spoken about him.

We are introduced to "Rick's Café American" with an establishing shot of the sign, lit in high-key lighting, whilst upbeat music is playing in the background and the lyrics stated "It had to be you.", this conveys that the audience has arrived at the destination of the mysterious Rick and are in relief. The camera then follows a young man towards the door of the Café, almost as if the camera is a customer and scans the room. In this shot we are shown the diverse ethnic groups in the Café but also the wide variety of classes too. The scene is very well lit and contrasts the darker tones to tones of grey, connoting a happy and joyful environment.

The camera then pans into the piano player; Sam , using a mid-shot, which has a massive grin on his face whilst singing along to the music. Sam is possibly represented as the Gimmick in the film as not only the entertainer but also he is the only African-American in the film, which is based in the 1940's. As an audience we are then introduced to 2 men sitting at a table talking about they are waiting for they're visa to "escape" Casablanca. One of the men is sitting at the table , slouched and drinking whilst saying; "I'm going to die in Casablanca". Meanwhile , the other man sitting with his back to the camera , is calm and more interested in the women in front of him than the convosation he was having.

  

How is Colonel Kurtz Presented?

How Is Colonel Kurtz Presented?

 

 

Although,Colonel Kurtz is only appears in "Apocalypse Now" for roughly 35 minutes, Marlon Brando brings the dreaded maniac to life and shows the anchor to the menace that surrounds Captain Willard and his team.

 

Kurtz is portrayed as a psychopath through-out the majority of the film by the classified documents that Captain Willard receives from the Generals back in the base. However we do not meet the dreaded Colonel Kurtz until the last 5 scenes in the film and when we do finally meet him, we only hear the diegetic sound of his voice , then we see the rest of his body but the shadows around him cover his face.

 

When the Colonel appears, the lighting changes drastically and becomes a more dark and sinister tone. Coppola used a range of different camera angles and shots, he uses a low angle shot of Kurtz to present him as powerful and then Coppola uses a high shot of Willard to show how inferior he is.

 

KEY QUOTES:

• "Clear Mind , Clear Soul."
• "Horror has a face."
• "Horror and terrible fear are your friends, if not then they are your mortal enemies."
• "I wept like a Grandmother"
• "Judgement is what defeats us"

Casablanca Character Profiles

Casablanca Character Profiles

 

Richard Blaine (Rick)-

Rick is the film's protagonist which also owns the café , Rick's Café American. When the audience first meets Rick, he is portrayed as lonely but egotistical as he plays chess alone and sips a glass of whiskey. He protests his freedom and mid-point on all things right from the outset of the film, however, when Ilsa appears in the film he undergoes a considerable change of character. In a flashback of him in Paris, we see Rick deeply in-love with Ilsa and is devastated when she doesn't arrive at the train station to move with him. From that moment on we see the shift in Rick and how he doesn't look back to the past.

 

Ilsa Lund-

She is the wife of Victor Lazlow and the former partner of Richard Blaine. Ilsa is strong willed and stubborn , we see this when she gets offered a visa to leave Casablanca but refuses as she wants to leave with her husband, Lazlow. We see that Lazlow and Lund do not share much affection for one another, however Rick and her do. As an audience we can see into the deeper part of her personality as she shows her being distant and cold in the letter she wrote to Rick.

 

Victor Lazlow-

Victor is Ilsa's husband and a committed politician. He was sent to a concentration camp for his views against the Nazi's but still seems to be eager and devoted to beating them. Victor shows his love for his wife by repeatingly sacrificing his safety for hers, however there is a lack of affection shared between the two of them.

 

Captain Louis Renault-

 Louis plays the role of the police in Casablanca but is very corrupt and doesn't follow protocol. Renault is Lazlow's binary opposite as through out the play Renault is trying to capture and imprison Lazlow. Despite his contradicting manner, Louis is a very loyal to the winning side and to Rick himself.