CLASSICAL STYLE and FILM FORM

Casablanca is an example of a film made in the Classical Hollywood style

Classical style was basically the principle that all of the elements of film form should be used in a way that supported the narrative and mood  of the film and ensured the audience were engrosseed with the story onscreen

Film form techniques  shouldn't be noticed by the audience but should be invisible, clear , consistent and effective in supporting the mood and narrative of the film. 

                                     THE RULES OF CLASSICAL STYLE

EDITING

• Continuity editing is preferred style of editing during this time.  Also known as invisible editing , this makes  sure the  story makes sense and looks smooth. Shots are related to each other , the location and eyelines are clear,  and the shots move the narrative forward. Cuts are often made on movement to seem invisible.
• Use of shot-reverse shot and the sequence of establishing shot- master shot-closeup  to make narrative clear

• Time is linear
• In development of plot and story each scene is motivated (cause and effect).  It has a beginning, middle and end. 

CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Use of shot-reverse shot and the sequence of establishing shot- master shot-closeup  to make narrative clear
• Lighting is realistic , matches mood , fits the narrative and reveals information to the audience when necessary.
• Lighting often used to highlight beauty of female star or character of other actors.  
• Camera movement is used to follow key chacaters or move the narrative forward, not to draw attention to the camera itself.
• No breaking of the fourth wall or techniques that could remind the audience that they are watching a constructed film.  

MISE-EN-SCENE

• Environment looks realistic and believable to viewer
• Mise-en-scene is consistent and relates to character and narrative

SOUND

• Dialogue should function in developing character or moving the story forward, and even when complex or ambiguous  should be clear and related to character or the story.
• Music ( diegetic or non-diegetic should support and add to the mood of the specific scene it appears in
• Sound effects should be realistic and match onscreen action  ( synchronous)

PERFORMANCE 

• Performances by actors ( stars and supporting characters) should be realistic and believable
• Stars performances usually matched a screen persona familiar to the audience

                                                          GENERAL POINTS

• All employees of studios work together, directors  are part of a team, as opposed to creative auteurs (which came later) following the rules of classical style   
• Films were made within clearly established genres with clear and familiar conventions

OTHER RESOURCES 

short video essay on classical style  . Excellent resource with an example scene from Maltese Falcon

Series of video essays on classical Hollywood

More videos on Casablanca

Short essay on Casablanca's use of film form in key scenes

Bordwell's classical Hollywood style slideshare

FILM NOIR AND CASABLANCA

                                                 OTHER INFLUENCES ON CASABLANCA ?

                                         The influence of film noir 

   ( especially on lighting, the themes of betrayal and deception, and the downbeat and ambiguous ending )

Casablanca can be seen as a film that exemplified classical style, but with some cinematic influences from  film noir and some input from Curtiz as director.

HOLLYWOOD STUDIO SYSTEM

Hollywood Studio System 

Definition: A business model adopted by five Hollywood studios—Paramount Pictures, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Warner Brothers Pictures, 20th Century Fox and RKO—that combined all facets of film production with studio-owned distribution chains.

 

When ? Roughly between 1920 ( after World War 1 ) and 1948  ( when a court case broke up the studio system and television started to take over )

 The film industry boomed in America during World I. Freedom finally to make the most of filmmaking technology was one reason. At the end of the war, Hollywood motion pictures were America’s fifth largest industry.

 Paramount Pictures, Mayer’s Metro Goldwyn Mayer, the brothers Warner’s Warner Brothers Pictures and (former Warner Brothers production head) Daryl Zanuck’s 20th Century Fox shaped the studio system. Later in 1928, with the advent of sound, RKO Pictures was founded by David Sarnoff to round out what would become known as “The Big Five.” Studios such as Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures and United Artists emulated the Big Five’s production practices, but possessed no theater chains of their own and relied on The Big Five for distribution.  

Classical style

For good reason were the studios called “dream factories.” They were organized and run to deliver a steady stream of product to theaters that the studios owned or partly owned.  Their product, in a word, was  storytelling. Continuity in movement, actors’ positions, dialogue, lighting, sound—in sum, every aspect of the filmmaking process—was imperative. 

Anything that diverted attention from the story to the filmmaking process was a mistake. The final responsibility for continuity resided with film editors, ergo the term “continuity editing,” aka “invisible editing”. 

Content 

Hollywood’s studios mainly agreed that movies should be an escape from reality , not a reflection of reality. Though some films were exceptions, exceptions ended in 1934 with enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code, nicknamed the Hayes Code, which banned morally unacceptable content. Although the Code did not mandate happy endings, it did prevent any film villain from having one. Sexual contact was limited to kissing, violence was bloodless and sanitized, dialogue was devoid of vulgarities, etc

Production

 Everyone and everything needed to shoot a motion picture was inside a studio’s walls save open terrain for non-urban action scenes—e.g., cowboys on horses, soldiers in combat, rural car chases—and landmarks for establishing shots—e.g., Eiffel Tower, New York skyline, the Golden Gate Bridge. Because sound technology was in its infancy, outdoor scenes with extensive dialogue were usually shot on sound stages.

Studio self sufficiency made production design simpler for producers and art directors, who oversaw in-house artists, carpenters, costume designers and lighting technicians.  Sets, props and costumes were often used for multiple movies as were studio backlots which commonly included urban, Old West and residential street fronts. Of course, factory efficiency is pointless without consistent high demand for products. For the dream factories, demand came from extensive distribution chains that included Europe, which by the late 1930s accounted almost 40 percent of revenue

Role of Director   

 Directors could modify the script, but creative control remained with the producer and studio and their primary responsibility was to get the best performances possible from actors while remaining on schedule and within budget.  Films were made within an established classical style and within clear genre conventions .The system enabled directors to be replaced quickly  or to direct multple films in one year, as did Victor Fleming, such contrasting films as  “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) and “Gone With the Wind” (1939). 

Stars

Everyone was under contract—producers, directors, actors, writers, cinematographers, art directors, technicians, etc. The stable of actors consisted of lead actors, supporting actors and central casting extras. All casting was type casting. Lead actors were groomed and promoted by a “star system” more concerned with camera presence than acting skill. 

. 

Monopoly and power

By 1945, 17% of theaters accounting for 45% of domestic film rentals were owned wholly or largely by The Big Five studios. Theaters not part of a studio system were subject to “block booking,” i.e., the requirement that, to rent a studio’s A-budget films, a theater must purchase a block of films that included B films, shorts, newsreels and cartoons  The Big Five evolved the practice to where theaters were asked to purchase packages of 20 or more films not yet produced based on listings of film titles, their stars and brief plot descriptions. Studio star systems were consequently critical because star power figured prominently in selling packages.

The end of the studio system

The studio system ended in 1948 with the U.S. Supreme Court decision United States v. Paramount, which banned block booking and ordered the studios to divest themselves of all theater holdings. The loss of guaranteed revenue streams spelled fadeout for “Classic Hollywood.”  Accelerating the fadeout was television. Had there been no Supreme Court decision, block booking would have gone extinct competing with television. By 1958, A-budget movies found television stiff competition.

Legacy and the role of the director

The legacy of the studio system continues to be debated. Critics argue that reliable revenue streams made it not a priority  to make "good" movies and pointed  out that creative control by the studio prevented directors having any creativity and less interesting films and formulaic genre films being made as a result.  However others argue that  reliable revenue enabled studios to ignore risk occasionally and indulge originality to a degree modern filmmakers cannot and that directors ( working within the limits of classical style and the studio system) could still produce creative and  high quality work. 

LINKS AND VIDEOS

Hollywood studio system video ( Timeline of Cinema ) includes why it ended

Origins and basics of Hollywood studio system 

Studio system and stars video

The Hays Code   1934- 1968 ( how censorship affected content of films in the studio system era )

Summary of production of Casablanca video

Role of director ?

Short feature on Michael Curtiz as an auteur ?

Spielberg on Curtiz and the film 






Who was creatively involved and responsible for the film ? 

WORLD WAR 2 and contexts

WORLD WAR 2



Newspaper article about the film's role as propaganda to support the USA's involvement in the war 

SCENES

                                                                        SCENES

Intro to Rick's bar

                  
                                                  

                                                                          La Marseillaise

                                          

                                                        " I still love you"

                                           
                                                                                  Paris

Analysis of market conversation scene





                                                                      FINAL SCENES

                                           

Overview

EXAM QUESTIONS WILL FOCUS ON COMPARING 'CASABLANCA' AND  'APOCALYPSE NOW'.

YOU WILL NEED  TO KNOW :

DETAILED KNOWLEDGE AND EXAMPLES  OF FILM FORM
HOW THE CONCEPT OF THE AUTEUR RELATES TO YOUR FILMS
PRODUCTION/HISTORICAL CONTEXTS

e.g  In what ways and to what extent do your chosen films demonstrate the creative signature of their  auteurs ?

e.g Discuss how the production contexts of your films affected their content 

REVIEWS AND CULTURAL REFERENCES

WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT CASABLANCA ?  A  Film professor reviews the film....


Large resource and key information




POP CULTURE REFERENCES TO  CASABLANCA