Techniques Within Cinematography And Editing In Casablanca

In the film Casablanca, techniques within cinematography and editing are utilized to help carry the story forward while effectively capturing each character’s centrality to the overall storyline. In cinematography, close-up shots work to place emphasis on each character’s dialogue by centering their faces in the main frame of view. This allows the audience to follow their lives, conflicts, and stories on a more personally engaging level as the film digresses. In editing, the film is tracked by transitions between scenes. These transitions allow the overall story to move forward in a way that is more personal to an audience. They become a presence within each scene, a part of the story, seeing not a story but a certain reality. These elements
both masterfully blend together to create a storyline that is engaging, moving, and real, which is why Casablanca is a prime example of invisible style. The film uses numerous close-up shots of each character’s face, especially during scenes of intense conversation. All of these shots allow for a close-up visual of the character’s thoughts and feelings, not something off in the distance, something more intimate and real. For example, the scene in which Ilsa draws a gun on Rick as she asks for his help in getting her and Victor to America perfectly uses this concept. The framing throughout this scene works to concentrate on what she is saying and feeling at each point in time, showing the contrast between Rick’s story and Ilsa’s story. Both of their faces are used as the center of focus throughout the course of one conversation. This allows the audience to experience different emotions, real conflict, and true love between the two on-screen characters. The film also uses transitions to create this certain feeling of reality. For example, the scene in which Rick is speaking with Sam uses a transition to move into a different time, a different space, within the story. It transitions back into a happier time and happier place in Rick’s life, one where he experiences love and passion and beauty alongside his lover in Paris. As he leaves the train station heartbroken and alone, the scene creatively transitions back into the present time frame, explaining just why Rick feels as he does now. This transitioning between space and time provides explanation within the storyline while carrying it forward, providing a more personal insight into Rick’s story. These shots, these elements, are why the film is an effective embodiment of invisible style.