Becnel Casablanca

The Political Expediency Theory is when the film tries to create a balance not to alienate the audience. They try to hide their message under a neutral veil. This is what Casablanca does. Casablanca's screenplay arrived at Warner Brothers on December 8, 1941 (one day after Pearl Harbor). Soon after America was involved in WWII. Rick (Humphrey Bogart) portrays a kind of American reasoning before the war. He "won't stick his neck out for nobody." Before committing to the war effort, America had an isolationist stand. We had broken out of it for WWI, but returned to it after. We find out that Rick did fight against the Fascists in Spain, but after secluded himself. As the film progresses, Rick softens and puts himself behind the war effort. He allows Laszlo to start singing La Marseillaises (the French Anthem) when the Germans are singing their song about the Reich. Risky move considering he is in Vichy France. He puts his neck on the line for the cause by helping Laszlo ( Paul Heinreid), a Free French activist, and Isla ( Ingrid Bergman), his love, escape from Casablanca. In the scene where Laszlo and the clients at Rick's sing their moving rendition of La Marseillaises (1:12: 40- 1:13:50) , the audience can get a feel of how important their heritage and way of life before the Nazi invasion is to them. This scene is very dramatic and emotional. According to Roger Ebert, most of the extras in the film where European refugees from the war, and the emotion that they showed while singing was real. They knew that they had to keep the memory and faith alive. It may just come across to some as just an opportunity to belittle the German oppressors, but to others it is a moving show of patriotism and the fight for what is right and cherished: a life where man can be himself and in charge of his own destiny, not a life where he is oppressed by a evil totalitarian regime. When watching this scene, you realize that your "problems don't amount to a hill of beans", and that you need to unslefishly put yourself behind the effort. You are not just fighting for yourself, but for all of those who have lost so much already and still keep the flame of hope lit in their hearts.

Mis En Scene:

1. Dominant: Laszlo
2. Lighting: high key on Laszlo, but low key in the foreground where the band is; in the background it is high key also
   
3. Shot and Camera Proxemics: the camera is personal to social distance in the beginning, but moves in closer to intimate to personal distance as the scene progresses to create more of an emotional tie to the singers of the Marseillaise and Laszlo, their leader in song and spirit
   
4. Angle: eye level; we look at the characters head on, and the camera is sometimes stationed behind people so we get more of a feel that we are there
   
5. Density: this scene is very dense; there are alot of people and instruments in the scene; the scene feels cramped
   
6. Depth: does not seem 3D
   
7. Compostiton: the foreground, middleground, and background work together to give the audience that we are there and we are apart of the action


8. Form: open; seems very natural
   
9. Frame: tight; closed in; allows minimal movement; the characters stand up and move their arms; they do not walk about freely
   
10. Filter: some kind of filter/ guase was used in the close-up shots to create a softer look
    
11. Color value: the film is in black and white
    
12. Subsidiary: after Laszlo, our eyes are drawn to the band and the clients at Rick's
    
13. Staging positions: the characters look at each other
    
14. Character proxemics: the characters arein intimate to personal distance from one another to create a sense of comradery
    
15. Character placement: the characters are standing near the tables and band in Rick's

Becnel Beowulf and the Mermaid

After this sea monster battle scene, the scene that I feel needs further editing begins.

The scene in Beowulf that needs more editing, in my opinion, is the scene where Beowulf, while swimming against Breka and after battling the sea monsters, is pulled under water by the mermaid (26:35-27:02). He doesn't tell the Danes that a mermaid pulled him under; he instead tells them that a monster pulled him under and that he killed the monster. His inability to kill or resist the mermaid is a foreshadowing of his being lured in by Grendel's mother and his mistake of not killing her, which proves to be Beowulf's downfall. In the scene, the mermaid reveals her self to Beowulf and swims to embrace him. The way the mermaid swims is not very fluid or smooth and resembles graphics from a bad early video game in comparison to the rest of the animation in the movie. Even though it is a short scene, if it was edited properly it would have added more to the film.

The Mis En Scene of the mermaid scene:

Dominant: The dominant in the scene is the mermaid. Our eyes are drawn to her first and for the longest amount of time. We are intrigued by her; Beowulf said he fought a monster, not a beautiful mermaid and we are curious to see what happens.

Lighting Key: The lighting is very low and the scene is comprised of dark colors: the deep blue/green of the sea and the darkness of the depth of the sea.

Shot and Camera Proxemics: The camera is at first far away( a social to public proxemic) from the mermaid, but as she reveals herself and swims towards Beowulf, the shot becomes more of a close-up (an intimate proxemic).

Angle: The camera is level for most of the scene, but slightly tilted down when she comes up to Beowulf, as if we are seeing her from his eyes.

Color Values: The dominant colors are the dark blue/greens of the ocean. The darkness also helps with the foreshadowing of Beowulf's downfall (his inability to resist or kill bewitching women).

Lens/Filter/Stock: The scene had a cloudy look to it when the mermaid was revealing herself.

Subsidiary Contrast: The second thing that catches our eye, after the mermaid, in the scene is Beowulf. The last thing our eye focuses on is Beowulf's sword falling to the bottom of the sea.

Density: There is not too much visual information in this scene. The mermaid and Beowulf's encounter gives information, but it is just the empty sea background and them in the scene.

Composition: The background ( the sea) and the middle and fore ground seem to blend in together.

Form: The form is open and natural. It does not seem to be closed or stylized. Not taking the fact that this scene needs more editing into consideration, it does have more of a natural feel than a fake or choreographed feel.

Framing: The framing is loose; the characters are allowed to move around the scene freely.

Depth: Even though the movie is animated to feel like a 3D film, this scene seems very 2D.

Character Placement: The mermaid occupied the center, the left, and the lower center of the scene, whereas Beowulf occupied the upper right and center of the scene.

Staging Positions: The characters do not look into the camera. The mermaid looks towards the camera, but not directly into it. Beowulf looks at the mermaid, and at one point has his back towards the camera.

Character Proximics: The characters start off in a social proxemic, end up in intimate proxemics from one another, when they embrace.