Hollywood: Casablanca Vs Apocalypse Now

Question 1

When was Classic Hollywood?

Answer 1

1930-1960

Question 2

Who were the Big 5?

Answer 2

MGM, 20thC Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros, RKO

Question 3

Who were the Little 3?

Answer 3

Universal Studios, United Artists, Columbia

Question 4

What’s an Oligopoly?

Answer 4

Capitalist market structure. A few in charge of many

Question 5

What was it like for stars and crew?

Answer 5

no freedom, under strict contracts, whole lives dictated, often changed their names, producers chose which films they took part in

Question 6

What’s Vertical Integration?

Answer 6

A strategy that allows a company to take direct ownership of the stages of its production process. Big 5 had control of all three steps; production, distribution, exhibition

Question 7

What’s block booking?

Answer 7

When the producers would show lesser known films alongside their bigger films to gain maximum profit for each

Question 8

Describe the studio system of classic hollywood

Answer 8

Factory like, one person for each job like a conveyer belt, as many films produced as quickly as possible, each producer stuck to a genre and narrative because they knew it worked and would get them money which meant nothing controversial. Very patriotic, romanticised war etc
Everything filmed in the studio on sets

Question 9

When/why was Hollywood established?

Answer 9

Hollywood was established in 1853 and by the early 1900s, filmmakers began moving to LA in order to escape the strict rules of Thomas Edison’s motion picture company. However they were often sued by Edison to stop their production as most moviemaking patents were owned by him

Question 10

Why was Hollywood ideal?

Answer 10

there was cheap land to develop, interesting/good weather and the landscape was vast and diverse. They could easily escape to Mexico if Edison’s agents came after them.

Question 11

What was Propp’s Theory?

Answer 11

Character Types e.g. The Hero, The Villain, The Princess

Question 12

What was Todorov’s Structure?

Answer 12

Equilibrium: ordinary life. usually something lacking for the protagonist
Disruption: Something that upsets the equilibrium
The Search: Most of the narrative, trying to fix the disruption
Resolution: Find a way to put things back to normal
New Equilibrium: restored order, protagonist satisfied

Question 13

What were some positives of Classical Hollywood?

Answer 13

• Made popular, expensive films
• ‘Golden age of great cinema’ films still renowned today (e.g Casablanca)
• Popular stars
• Very successful business formula

Question 14

What are some negatives of Classical Hollywood?

Answer 14

• Contracts were controlling and limiting
• Too much power and corruption
• Commercial films, not artistic
• Repetitive narratives

Question 15

Who produced Casablanca?

Answer 15

Warner Brothers; established romance, drama, film noir vibe genre they had

Question 16

What awards did Casablanca win?

Answer 16

3 Oscars; Best Picture, Best Director, Best writing adapted screenplay

Question 17

Who directed and who starred in Casablanca?

Answer 17

Director: Michael Crutiz
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman

Question 18

Describe general Mise-en-Scene in Casablanca

Answer 18

Setting: in a country that was seen as a get away from the war
Costume: war uniforms, character tropes e.g. Rick wearing a ‘large mysterious’ trench coat
Colour: Black and white, lots of shadows and contrast
Props: all filmed on set, things like planes were cardboard cut outs
Physical performance: serious, intense

Question 19

Describe general cinematography in Casablanca

Answer 19

Close-ups at the end of scenes to show emotion

Simple shots and editing, only cut ins and cut aways

Question 20

Describe the Paris Sequence

Answer 20

Flashback of Ilsa and Rick in Paris
The song ‘As time goes by’ continuously throughout the film creating a romantic atmosphere, both diegetic and non-dietetically. The lyrics being sung during this scene represent their love
Shadows over Rick, light high exposure over Ilsa (innocence, purity vs dark past)
Fading flashback transition
Searchlights everywhere; hidden past, has to hide in shadows, searching for something, someone searching for him
Monologue
Lots of change between diegetic and non-diegetic sound signifying Rick going through memories
Montage
Very secretive relationship
Ends in the rain; produced by studio, pathetic fallacy

Question 21

Describe the End Scene of Casablanca

Answer 21

Different ending; Ilsa and Rick don’t end up together
Plane is cardboard, everything still on set
Dramatic scene and non-diegetic sound
Close ups - emotion
Blurred light over Ilsa
Fog not real
Fade out

Question 22

List some characteristic of NEW Hollywood

Answer 22

Films often were centred around riskier subjects
Auteurs had the power, not producers. Vertical integration was dismantled because they were becoming too powerful. Forced to sell cinemas
More use of colour
Lower budget B movies became popular
There was a gradual use of special FX
Films audience changed, teens controlled the market
Young new talent influenced by Europe like French New Wave
Film school became popular

Question 23

Give an example of a New Hollywood film and Director

Answer 23

The Godfather - Francis Ford Coppola
Taxi Driver - Martin Scorsese
Star Wars - George Lucas
Jaws - Steven Spielberg

Question 24

Describe the Auteur Theory

Answer 24

Truffaut: “The auteur functions as the main creative force and controlling presence”
This meant that films became more about the directors creative ideas and experimentation

Question 25

How is Apocalypse Now a New Hollywood film?

Answer 25

• Filmed on location not set
• Experimental (editing etc)
• Unusual acting techniques (e.g. alcohol use)
• Controversial themes and violence (which appealed to a younger audience)
• Artistic production
• Coppola funded film himself and went way above budget
• Cinematographer given free reign

Question 26

Describe the Ride of Valkyries scene

Answer 26

The ride of the Valkyries scene is an experimental scene which involves violence and aerial shots. The music used is the song ‘The Ride of the Valkyries’ by Richard Wagner, which is composed of opera and orchestral sounds, this gives off a grand and mighty atmosphere. Blurs lines between diegetic and non-diegetic sound
The scene can be described as untamed and chaotic (typical in an experimental, artistic film). The scene is made up of a montage featuring gunfire, explosions and violence from many different angles. The helicopters used were borrowed from the Filipino Government and half way through filming they were taken back to be used to fight rebels, as there was a Civil War going on at the time.
The meaning behind the scene is villainizing the American Officials and exposing their careless and unforgiving nature. Some of the scenes show innocent Vietnamese people being killed and their lands being destroyed, they fight back with the use of some hidden machinery, but these are for defence only. This differs greatly to the romanisation of war in Casablanca.
An important message in that it displays the futility and violence of war, depicting the killings of innocent Vietnamese people. An anti- war message is given off to the audience, the ‘heroic’ Americans being in the wrong
The song written by Wagner was a favourite of Hitler’s, him truly believing in ethnic cleansing and the purity of one superior race. This suggests that the song relates to Nazism, being ironic to the American forces, symbolising freedom and justice.

Question 27

Describe Kurtz’ death scene

Answer 27

Arguably one of the most gruesome and shocking scenes.
A crosscutting, intellectual montage occurs with a Cow being sacrificed whilst Kurtz is being assassinated. This suggests a hidden meaning; the necessity of Kurtz’s death. His demise occurs to free both himself from his raging insanity and the Vietnamese tribes people/American Army he controls.
Kurtz quotes a poem named the Hollow Men (intertextuality) This technique is not often used by directors and writers of the time, which expresses to audience not only the complexity of the film but of Kurtz’s character.
Techniques such as these were used to appeal to the new target audience who were interested in more controversial topics and complex ideas within cinema. The audience longed for a drastic change in contrast to the tame films they grew up watching.
The scene is violent indicative of the new Hollywood scene. You see the gore replayed a couple of times. The assassination is taken out unprofessionally using a knife Willard found and with several blows, Kurtz dies slowly.
The weather is produced. Flashes of lightning occur