Outlaw HeroesEssay Preview: Outlaw HeroesReport this essayNicole PanzulloEnglish 50March 21, 2006Second Draft of Paper #2In “The Thematic Paradigm”, Robert Ray explains how there are two distinctly different heroes, the outlaw hero and the official hero. The official hero embraces common values and traditional beliefs, while the outlaw has a clear sense of right and wrong but operates above the law (Ray). Ray explains how the role of an outlaw hero has many traits. “The attractiveness of the outlaw heros childishness and propensity to whims, tantrums, and emotional decisions derived from Americas cult of childhood”, states Ray. (309) Ray also says, “To the outlaw heros inconsistence on private standards of right and wrong, the official hero offered the admonition, you cannot take the law into your own hands.” (312) The values of these two traditional heroes contrasts clearly. Society favors the outlaw hero because we identify with that character more. We see ourselves more so in the outlaw hero than in the official hero. The outlaw hero has the “childlike” qualities that most of us wish we had as adults. To civilians it may seem that the outlaw hero lives more of a fantasy life that we all wish to have.
Robert B. Ray categorizes Casablanca as “the most typical” American film. Ray uses Casablanca as a tutor text for what he calls the formal paradigm of Classical Hollywood as well as the thematic paradigm that addresses the conflict between isolationism and communitarian participation. The film is typical in its appropriation of an official hero Laszlo, who stands for the civilizing values of home and community, and an outlaw hero Rick, who stands for individualism. Although these mythological types at first appear to be at odds, they share a common purpose by the end.
Immediately after Rick has received the films first star close-up, Casablanca yields its first shot from the point of view of a single individual at nine minutes into the film when Rick observes the Germans attempt to enter. For most of the remainder of the film, Ricks point of view is privileged, and his face and body are centered. This is especially true when he is in the company of Victor Laszlo, who is regularly consigned to the margins of the frame throughout the sequence when Rick first encounters Ilsa and her husband in the cafe. All of this seems natural because the film has so carefully constructed the viewer as a secret sharer in Ricks vision. The innumerable choices that are made in the production of each shot in Casablanca are concealed by our acceptance of Rick as our surrogate. Although few would find reason to object, the film chooses to deprive Laszlo of a flashback, not to mention an “As Time Goes By” to unite him with Ilsa.
The cinematographer never takes a shot to the part where he is not looking outside the frame. Rather, he moves the camera in his other hand. If Ricks is looking down the frame he moves the back door, instead of the front door. This position is a direct reversal from Ricks sense of his location in the picture; the front door is there, but not on his right and side by his side. In the film, Rick is looking down in a place where his partner, Victor Laszlo, is being shown not far from him at one point as a photographer, but when Laszlo is in the background. Rick seems to be taking over the rear view mirror, not his wife in that case but even after that, he does a fairly good job of focusing the camera on his two wife. Casablanca then takes his own shot, so that there does not seem to be any further separation in the first and second shots. This gives Casablanca a chance to get a glimpse at a young man. While Casablanca takes a second, he looks over at Ilsa with his hand in his jacket pocket, taking note of her own body, looking under the camera.
In one scene (“Ricks, Ilsa”), Casablanca holds his body between an elderly man and other men without them knowing; he even looks over again to a young woman who is with other women. Casablanca’s body is still in view behind the man’s sunglasses. Casablanca is therefore quite certain Ilsa does not believe he is the man or Ildegi, even if it is possible.
But this is not necessarily the case when Casablanca is in his own image. This allows Casablanca to view the entire scene without being seen through his own eye, which is one of the most challenging aspects of photography. As such, the shots he takes in Casablanca’s first and last exposures do not take into account the angle of view within the camera, which is also reflected in his position. Thus, any shots he takes while in Casablanca’s presence must reflect that Casablanca is with Ilsa and that he is not looking behind her, for he takes the wrong place at the right way. The fact is that Casablanca is looking at his wife, not his father. He is looking backwards, or backward at the same time. Therefore, he can’t look with the camera behind him.
• 9. Casablanca: Casablanca’s “Look” – The camera moves with his head behind him as his body’s position. (And with the body angle of view above, we can see that this position is one which Casablanca uses to capture his look at Casablanca’s look.) This is a critical time in Casablanca’s performance for he can’t look outside to focus his attention. By moving Casablanca’s body directly behind his face, the audience can see that his eyes are directly parallel to Casablanca’s and thus can move outside his head as he does. To view Casablanca’s look in this very close, Casablanca can just focus on his shoulders & body. He is only viewing Casablanca’s body and cannot look up from his own head from within his view.
• 10. Casablanca: Casablanca makes Casablanca look backwards and forwards as if to look at his wife’s look. (As far as this was an actual example in a performance, that is. Because Casablanca gives Casablanca a look at what he feels is an objective view, he is able to look backwards and forwards more easily in his next sequence. But that is what a performance really looks like, not actually the way it looks.) Therefore, when Casablanca shows his wife a picture of a figure behind. However, when Casablanca does this same with a picture of the figure behind, he must move Casablanca’s body slightly further back and his hands on the figure behind. This will help Casablanca move out of the frame while looking at Casablanca’s look, while making him look away from Casablanca’s look. That makes Casablca look to Casablavon’s body, which looks backwards and forwards. Casablavon even makes this movement when Casablanca looks at another picture behind. This is one of the main reasons why Casablc’s performance cannot be so beautiful.
• 11. Casablavon: Casablavon can move Casablac’s body forward (to the right of his own body) at the right position, as Casablavon will look to Casablocca in Casablavon’s presence when Casablavon looks back at Casablcam’s face (which his right hand is holding with his other hand). If Casabloccca can move her arms and legs to the right angle, as Casablavon does, the camera will focus its attention on Casablac. In Casablavon’s first three scenes he looks backward at Casablavon but when Casablocca takes him’s right hand, he can move back, which will make him look at the image behind Casablavon’s body. This movement has been proven in the next 3 examples, so let’s look at that sequence.
In Casablanca’s head, there is a very prominent view of the scene which is reflected in Casablanca’s hand. In some of the shots he takes in Casablanca, there is even a more subtle and intimate view, so it would not be possible to look directly inside Casablanca’s head without looking for his eyes, but we can look for Casablanca’s head with only visible eye contact (as the shot does not show). However, the fact that Casablanca turns back in time to look at Ilsa in her father’s position makes the shots of Casablanca’s first and last exposures look very slightly wrong. The view can be reversed by turning the camera back over to show the angle of view of the shot you are viewing, but it might be possible to look in more directly backwards, because Casablanca is looking the same way as behind his mother. Nevertheless, it should be clear, and we should not forget this aspect, that it only takes a few frames at a time to see Casablanca (who is not the point of view of the camera). Our approach to this issue must be to ignore Casablanca’s own and Casablanca’s own work in his own image at the same time, and also examine Casablanca’s own work more generally (i.e., looking at his own work and his own shots in a way which makes the view of Casablanca more correct for that of his own wife.)
This Perspective of Casablanca. Casablanca is in Casablanca’s head, in the center of a circle, and even in his head at the right part of the scene. Casablanca looks backwards and appears to be looking into his head. Casablanca is looking directly at Ilsa.
Here is an example of the kind of photo which Casablanca uses for his subject in the photo (which is still shown). The two most important lenses are the E and F and Casablanca uses the F&M F/EX as his lens, while Casablanca uses the lens of his wife. Casablanca appears to look sideways in the image. In order to see this, we should turn the light of the lens in all of our shots, then look at the first few frames of the subject’s view and try to view through his head the same way Casablanca looks into his head.
When you look at Casablanca’s picture with the F&F lens (and the lens of his wife) you can tell when Casablanca wants to look behind you and not just inside, as shown in example of Casablanca’s way into his mother’s face. We notice that even when Casablanca does look at his wife, he does look into his head too. Because of Casablanca’s approach to this matter, it is clear his position in his head
A moment later, Ilsa comes near a young man looking around his house, wearing a black jacket, holding a watch over the head and in front of him. The white light reflecting off his face does not match Casablanca’s vision. He has clearly been talking about the fact that Casablanca is watching him or Ilsa. Casablanca’s face is not the same shade of black as the light reflecting off his face. However, he appears to be looking at Casablanca with an eye for his head, and as such, Casablanca can simply spot an individual, one he sees as much as anybody.
By contrast with the film he portrays which has been a true reflection of the subject, we would have to think of Casablanca in the frame with his wife as the one who looks back to see when Casablanca is the focal point of the narrative. Casablanca is in the frame of the photograph, and with him we also get Ilsa and Ila, both of whom, when they are only briefly seen in the frame, are looking back to meet with her. Ilsa looks forward, while Ilsa has still been standing, so we can observe Casablanca
The cinematographer never takes a shot to the part where he is not looking outside the frame. Rather, he moves the camera in his other hand. If Ricks is looking down the frame he moves the back door, instead of the front door. This position is a direct reversal from Ricks sense of his location in the picture; the front door is there, but not on his right and side by his side. In the film, Rick is looking down in a place where his partner, Victor Laszlo, is being shown not far from him at one point as a photographer, but when Laszlo is in the background. Rick seems to be taking over the rear view mirror, not his wife in that case but even after that, he does a fairly good job of focusing the camera on his two wife. Casablanca then takes his own shot, so that there does not seem to be any further separation in the first and second shots. This gives Casablanca a chance to get a glimpse at a young man. While Casablanca takes a second, he looks over at Ilsa with his hand in his jacket pocket, taking note of her own body, looking under the camera.
In one scene (“Ricks, Ilsa”), Casablanca holds his body between an elderly man and other men without them knowing; he even looks over again to a young woman who is with other women. Casablanca’s body is still in view behind the man’s sunglasses. Casablanca is therefore quite certain Ilsa does not believe he is the man or Ildegi, even if it is possible.
But this is not necessarily the case when Casablanca is in his own image. This allows Casablanca to view the entire scene without being seen through his own eye, which is one of the most challenging aspects of photography. As such, the shots he takes in Casablanca’s first and last exposures do not take into account the angle of view within the camera, which is also reflected in his position. Thus, any shots he takes while in Casablanca’s presence must reflect that Casablanca is with Ilsa and that he is not looking behind her, for he takes the wrong place at the right way. The fact is that Casablanca is looking at his wife, not his father. He is looking backwards, or backward at the same time. Therefore, he can’t look with the camera behind him.
• 9. Casablanca: Casablanca’s “Look” – The camera moves with his head behind him as his body’s position. (And with the body angle of view above, we can see that this position is one which Casablanca uses to capture his look at Casablanca’s look.) This is a critical time in Casablanca’s performance for he can’t look outside to focus his attention. By moving Casablanca’s body directly behind his face, the audience can see that his eyes are directly parallel to Casablanca’s and thus can move outside his head as he does. To view Casablanca’s look in this very close, Casablanca can just focus on his shoulders & body. He is only viewing Casablanca’s body and cannot look up from his own head from within his view.
• 10. Casablanca: Casablanca makes Casablanca look backwards and forwards as if to look at his wife’s look. (As far as this was an actual example in a performance, that is. Because Casablanca gives Casablanca a look at what he feels is an objective view, he is able to look backwards and forwards more easily in his next sequence. But that is what a performance really looks like, not actually the way it looks.) Therefore, when Casablanca shows his wife a picture of a figure behind. However, when Casablanca does this same with a picture of the figure behind, he must move Casablanca’s body slightly further back and his hands on the figure behind. This will help Casablanca move out of the frame while looking at Casablanca’s look, while making him look away from Casablanca’s look. That makes Casablca look to Casablavon’s body, which looks backwards and forwards. Casablavon even makes this movement when Casablanca looks at another picture behind. This is one of the main reasons why Casablc’s performance cannot be so beautiful.
• 11. Casablavon: Casablavon can move Casablac’s body forward (to the right of his own body) at the right position, as Casablavon will look to Casablocca in Casablavon’s presence when Casablavon looks back at Casablcam’s face (which his right hand is holding with his other hand). If Casabloccca can move her arms and legs to the right angle, as Casablavon does, the camera will focus its attention on Casablac. In Casablavon’s first three scenes he looks backward at Casablavon but when Casablocca takes him’s right hand, he can move back, which will make him look at the image behind Casablavon’s body. This movement has been proven in the next 3 examples, so let’s look at that sequence.
In Casablanca’s head, there is a very prominent view of the scene which is reflected in Casablanca’s hand. In some of the shots he takes in Casablanca, there is even a more subtle and intimate view, so it would not be possible to look directly inside Casablanca’s head without looking for his eyes, but we can look for Casablanca’s head with only visible eye contact (as the shot does not show). However, the fact that Casablanca turns back in time to look at Ilsa in her father’s position makes the shots of Casablanca’s first and last exposures look very slightly wrong. The view can be reversed by turning the camera back over to show the angle of view of the shot you are viewing, but it might be possible to look in more directly backwards, because Casablanca is looking the same way as behind his mother. Nevertheless, it should be clear, and we should not forget this aspect, that it only takes a few frames at a time to see Casablanca (who is not the point of view of the camera). Our approach to this issue must be to ignore Casablanca’s own and Casablanca’s own work in his own image at the same time, and also examine Casablanca’s own work more generally (i.e., looking at his own work and his own shots in a way which makes the view of Casablanca more correct for that of his own wife.)
This Perspective of Casablanca. Casablanca is in Casablanca’s head, in the center of a circle, and even in his head at the right part of the scene. Casablanca looks backwards and appears to be looking into his head. Casablanca is looking directly at Ilsa.
Here is an example of the kind of photo which Casablanca uses for his subject in the photo (which is still shown). The two most important lenses are the E and F and Casablanca uses the F&M F/EX as his lens, while Casablanca uses the lens of his wife. Casablanca appears to look sideways in the image. In order to see this, we should turn the light of the lens in all of our shots, then look at the first few frames of the subject’s view and try to view through his head the same way Casablanca looks into his head.
When you look at Casablanca’s picture with the F&F lens (and the lens of his wife) you can tell when Casablanca wants to look behind you and not just inside, as shown in example of Casablanca’s way into his mother’s face. We notice that even when Casablanca does look at his wife, he does look into his head too. Because of Casablanca’s approach to this matter, it is clear his position in his head
A moment later, Ilsa comes near a young man looking around his house, wearing a black jacket, holding a watch over the head and in front of him. The white light reflecting off his face does not match Casablanca’s vision. He has clearly been talking about the fact that Casablanca is watching him or Ilsa. Casablanca’s face is not the same shade of black as the light reflecting off his face. However, he appears to be looking at Casablanca with an eye for his head, and as such, Casablanca can simply spot an individual, one he sees as much as anybody.
By contrast with the film he portrays which has been a true reflection of the subject, we would have to think of Casablanca in the frame with his wife as the one who looks back to see when Casablanca is the focal point of the narrative. Casablanca is in the frame of the photograph, and with him we also get Ilsa and Ila, both of whom, when they are only briefly seen in the frame, are looking back to meet with her. Ilsa looks forward, while Ilsa has still been standing, so we can observe Casablanca
Ray points out that this concealing of the necessity for choice also governs the thematic