High Key Lighting In Casablanca

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From The Great Train Robbery (1903)) to Casablanca (1942) , Hollywood film studios made major scientific advancements in film production. In the next thirty-nine years they move from the first silent narrative film to the classical Hollywood style. Nevertheless one aspect of film making still remains the same; all films are based around a plot or narrative idea. Classical Hollywood style shows us how these major movie studios can now bring their films to life with sound, camera angle and what was called “point of view shots”. New forms of lighting (three-point lighting, high-key/low-key lighting and star lighting) and editing made it possible for filmmakers to make feature-length films. Before the Classical Hollywood era silent movies…show more content…
The key light is the main source of lighting, but if used alone it will leave shadows. Additional lighting is used to fill in the areas of darkness and to soften the darkness that is created from the key light, the camera is placed between the key and fill lights. The third source of lighting is called back light which is placed behind the actor to form depth. There are several scenes in Casablanca where three-point setting makes the scene self-explanatory. The use of high-key and low-key lighting is exactly what is says, high-key lighting (4) system, this ratio is high; there is a high amount of fill light which washes out shadows cast by the key light. In low-key (3) it’s just the opposite; the ratio of fill to key light is low. Shadows cast by the key light are not completely filled in producing a shadowy effect and an uneven distribution of light (Belton 53). Because of this new type of lighting system it puts Casablanca still in another category, Hollywood’s classic film noir period. Film noir is most notable for its cinematic look; black and white cinematography, intense use of shadows and darkness, and distorted scenes. Obviously, Casablanca was filmed in black and white and clearly it

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