Falanga, Casablanca

The political expedience theory allows for the audience to understand a certain political message without being alienated. Through sympathy and the love story that unfolds in Casablanca, the theory holds up in that Ricks actions can be interpreted as helping the Ilsa, the woman he loves, or for doing the morally right thing in fighting against the Nazis. The scene in which the Vichy general is on the phone while Rick pulls out his gun to shoot him illustrates this point. The frame is tight as the general's back is the entire left half of the screen and the car and Rick are far away on the right. The general is the dominant because he takes up half the screen, then we see Rick who is holding the gun as the subsidiary. So we see the scene from the general's perspective as opposed to Rick's. The lighting is actually quite dark, as there is fog and a night sky background. The low key is on Rick. The proximity's of the camera is on eye level, Rick is about 10 feet away whilst the general is directly in front of the camera on the left. It is a tight shot because there is no room to room for these characters as they are in a gun battle and this shot perfectly illustrates that from the feeling of tightness and immobility. The shot is in black and white. It is a social shot because we see all of Rick's body but only the chest up for the general. There was no filter added as Rick looks ragged and detailed as opposed the smooth shots of Ilsa. The composition is 3d as we clearly see the depth of field in front of the general to show how far Rick is from him. It is closed form to show the intense gun fight as inescapable. The characters are about 10 feet away from each other. There are no other actors on screen but the car is right behind Rick as a prop. This shot illustrates the political expediency theory because not only do we see things from Rick's perspective camera-wise but also the General's, and we see how Rick cant escape and must make a decision immediately if he is to survive and save Ilsa, allowing for his actions to be sympathetic and understandable.