The themes of Casablanca include love, loyalty, sacrifice and honor. These issues are encapsulated within a central love-triangle through which the conflict arises and is resolved. These include the concept of a woman, torn between her sense of duty and her true love; the loyalty of a man for his country; and a man's redemption through sacrifice; the sacrificial nature of the love of two people for the greater good. The sequence opens with an establishing shot (Still A1) that orients the audience at the airfield. We come to this conclusion because we can see the tail of a plane in the opening shot and our attention is drawn to the man at the phone booth as a solitary spotlight lights him. A cut to a medium close-up of the man at the phone booth and we see that he is dressed in German uniform. This gives the audience information pertaining to the war-theme of the movie- the German control of Casablanca. The misty atmosphere is a diegetic signifier of a mysterious incident of which few- including the audience-are aware. The events to follow will be concealed from prying eyes within the thick mist.
             When the foursome step out of the car (between Stills A3 and A4) the arrangement of characters is such that Illsa is furthest from Rick and closest to Victor- implicit of Victor's position as Illsa's husband coming between Rick and Illsa (lovers). The use of chiaroscuro in the shot where all four characters stand together shows the white of Victor's clothing and hat while he stands tall in the light, against Rick who is in shadow wearing a black hat and hunched over with his head bowed. Also in the shot we are able to see Victor and Illsa's faces clearly lit whereas Rick and Louis are in shadow and their faces are turned away. This pertains to the idea that Illsa and Victor are meant to be together and will escape while Rick and Louis are the condemned who will 'take the fall' and remain in Casa...