Analysis of cinematography (1940&1980)

Casablanca is a movie that was released in 1942 which is an American romantic movie set in Africa during the early days of the second world war.

The Camera movements within this clip are effective on the audience as we see a close up of the women who is talking to someone else. The close up shows the expressions on the face of the women. The lighting used is high key lighting which makes her stand out more than anyone else. Furthermore the medium shots on the women also allow the audience to see her facial expressions; which suggests what mood she is in.

Moreover the reverse shot on the protagonist while he approaches the pianist lets the audience establish him as a character, as he comes closer to our screen, we are able to see his facial expressions more and also see the type of clothes he is wearing. By seeing his costume we are able to establish him as a high class.

Goodfellas is an 1990 American crime film about gangsters which is the adaptation of the book "Wiseguys'.

In this scene we see a steady cam shot; where the camera is following the protagonist and his girlfriend. The reverse shot shows how he shows her his power and influence on others. The steady cam shot from behind is a Medium shot of the two characters. The camera also pans slowly when he is coming down the stairs and turning left and right.

The medium shot with the steady cam is effective as the audience feels as if they are walking behind the two characters. It also shows connotes how he is showing off his power, by giving out money.     

The Key differences...

We see that in the films 'Goodfellas' and 'Casablanca' that they have quite a lot in common, they both use various medium shots to show the facial expressions of the characters. However the difference is that in 'Goodfellas' we see that the clip is shot through a stedicam and there is also panning from one character to the other. Whereas in 'Gooldfellas' we see that the use of panning is also there. Even though both movies look quite different due to the Monochrome in 'Casablanca' we see that Casablanca uses more high key lighting whereas 'Goodfellas' uses more low key lighting