Shot Analysis: Citizen Kane
Shot Analysis: Citizen Kane Orson Welles, director of “Citizen Kane”, is well known for his unusual directing methods that defied conventional cinematic techniques. Welles provided his audience with original forms of cinematography, narrative structures, and music. The scene I chose to analyze is extremely important to the plot of the film because Kane begins to realize that he is going through some serious financial problems. During the scene, Kane maintains a sarcastic mood, until he finally decides to surrender and signs the papers that transfer the ownership of his media empire to Mr. Thatcher. Throughout the film, Welles uses unusual arrangements of music that creates suspense for the audience. The main thesis of this scene is the myth …show more content…
Mr. Kane is arguing to Mr. Thatcher that he is going to lose 60 million dollars over the next 60 years, but does not express much concern. Kane is very sarcastic in his approach and has a small smirk on his face during the shot. The lighting is from the bottom, but very low light. Deep focus is also used in this scene, even though we are very close to Kane’s face we can still see Thatcher’s head. From this shot, I suggest that Kane is trying to tell Thatcher that he does not care about losing money and that he is going to do whatever he wants to do. In the final transition there is a short sound of music that is very humorous. Throughout the film, Welle’s includes these pieces of sound that relate with the dialogue, it is a continuous pattern throughout the film. Welles uses these unusual techniques to create different emotions among the audience. The transition between this shot and the next is characterized by a small dim of the light that darkens and transitions into the next …show more content…
Deep focus refers to having everything in the frame in focus at the same time, including the background. Welles technique of deep focus was much different compared to other films that mainly focused on the people and things in the foreground. The deep focus technique requires the cinematographer to combine lighting, composition, and different camera lens to produce the desired effect. When using deep focus, a filmmaker can showcase overlapping actions, and mise-en-scène becomes more
Citizen Kane Analytical Analysis
1833 Words | 8 PagesKane’s isolation follows him through into his adulthood, where he is found sitting on his own in his newspaper office amongst a celebration in his honor. The camera
What Is The Difference Between Charles Foster Kane Codes And Conventions
1444 Words | 6 PagesHe still lost the love and control over the voter and now his ex-wife. After the election, Kane’s character flaw starts to become present. In the Inquirer office with Bernstein, the camera angle was low, where throughout the film this had been representing dominance between other characters, it portrays Kane’s perspective of himself. How he dealt with the scandal makes him still think he has the upper hand. This is because he believes he’s making his own choices and following his own morals.
The Mise-En-Scene In Citizen Kane
123 Words | 1 PagesIn Citizen Kane, the mise-en-scene was designed to evoke an emotion that permeates the whole movie. The mise-en-scene in the film happens when the parents of the young boy, Charles Kane, are speaking with a refined man in the house. While they are all speaking, you can see the little boy playing with his sled, having fun outside in the snow, as you look into the background through the window. This part presents the image of the innocence that is taken from him in that exact moment. There he is pure and innocent and what a child should be, but we will at no time see him in this condition after the decisive change that is taking place without his understanding and
Citizen Kane And The Social Network: Cinematic Analysis
865 Words | 4 PagesDuring the course of the film, Citizen Kane included very dim lighting, sometimes to the point where only silhouettes could be seen. While the newspaper reporters review Kane’s life in the beginning of the movie, everybody’s face is engulfed in shadow, which emphasizes the isolation Kane felt consistently during his life. Kane, despite his wealth, never had a dependent source of love or support. Welles shows that Kane is completely and utterly alone with the darkness; even in his death, a room full of people want to invade his privacy purely for the press, not to mourn or offer respect. Additionally, Finch uses low-key lighting to reveal Zuckerberg's conflict at the start of the movie.
Citizen Kane Synthesis
1257 Words | 6 PagesGregg Toland, the cinematographer Welles chose for Citizen Kane was open to all ideas and there forth created cinematic advances on many fronts the major significant contribution to cinematography came from the use of a technique known as deep focus… The scene of Kane selling the newspaper back to thatcher some thirty years later, introduces the main reason it was valued to highly by critics at the time of its realise, and why it is still relevant to us today, Wells used deep focus photography technique to heighten the artistic presence of the scene, Deep focus refers to having everything in the frame, even the background, in focus at the same time, as opposed to having only the people and things in the foreground in focus… had used the technique in an earlier film he had worked on, but Citizen Kane marked the first time it was used so extensively or effectively… Deep focus is most effective in scenes that depict Kane’s loss of control and his personal isolation because it gives the audience a clear view of the space Kane commands as well as the space over which he has no power, clearly represented in this scene, enhancing the idea that
Citizen Kane Point Of View
754 Words | 4 PagesIn the beginning when Susan Alexander (Kane’s’ second wife) tries to commit suicide there are layers of mise en scene. The point of view is neither from the report nor audience. The flashbacks are relevant the audiences point of view shifts between characters (CinemaConfessions). The first set of the film creates the feeling of a very wealthy man.
Childhood Movie Comparison
677 Words | 3 PagesThe camera shots expressed each moment of Mel Coplins journey to find his parents . The film was all over the place , so it was often cutting into several scenes , as he was meeting the different people he thought was his parents. The music played in the film really went along with the story plot and his generation
How Did Citizen Kane Achieve The American Dream
1604 Words | 7 PagesNormally, films will use shallow focus in order to show importance. This was not the case for Citizen Kane. In this film, they used deep focus to show importance to multiple figures. This can be difficult because mise-en-scene becomes so much more important since the audience can clearly see everything. Also, the director has to strategically use deep focus in order to convey information to the audience without leaving the audience confused.
Citizen Kane Meaning
1267 Words | 6 PagesFilm Study September 18, 2014 Mrs. Luchsinger Aaron Herr, Katelin Christianson, and Karley Landwehr Citizen Kane This movie was made in 1941 and you’re wondering why you still have to watch it. This movie had started to become more and more popular but every time you sit down to watch it you end up falling asleep. You wonder ‘Why’ why do i fall asleep? Why can’t I get threw the first 5 minutes of this movie?
Rosebud Analysis
1260 Words | 6 PagesThe more clearly I can see its physical manifestation, the more I am stirred by its mystery. It is one of the miracles of cinema that in 1941 a first-time director; a cynical, hard-drinking writer; an innovative cinematographer, and a group of New York stage and radio actors were given the keys to a studio and total control, and made a masterpiece. “Citizen Kane” is more than a great movie; it is a gathering of all the lessons of
Citizen Kane Challenges Classic Hollywood Cinema
523 Words | 3 PagesFrom the very inception of the filming of Citizen Kane, the boundaries of the classic Hollywood film were pushed. The utilization of mise-en-scene was remarkable, opening new doors for use of elements of setting and tone to convey the state of mind of Kane. Kane was depicted early in the film as a character filled with idealism and vitality. This was expressed by the film makers in a somewhat confined frame with low
Mise-En-Scene Techniques In Citizen Kane
561 Words | 3 PagesThe movie, ‘Citizen Kane’, is a memoir that describes the life of businessman, Charles Foster Kane. The uses of mise-en-scene elements reinforced isolation and loss as a recurring theme throughout the film. This is shown through depth, character placement, and camera framing. As the film continues on, a nondescript reporter collects personal recounts about Kane from his many acquaintances.
Symbolism Of Actions And Makeup In Citizen Kane
305 Words | 2 PagesIn the movie, Citizen Kane, charterer’s actions and makeup play an important role. In the beginning, when Mr. Thatcher first meets Charles Foster Kane, Mrs. Kane and him both are shown to have black hair while Charles father had white. This might symbolize that they both liked Charles but his father’s love is slowly disappearing similar to the color change in his hair. Mrs. Kane’s hair is also tightly pushed back with clips and hair ties, which symbolizes that she does not want to look like a mess, rather presentable to show that she’s not upset about Charles leaving but rather happy because he is going to live a good life.
Citizen Kane: A Cinematic Classic Hollywood Cinema
585 Words | 3 PagesCitizen Kane by Orson Welles is a cinematic classic, released in 1941. Citizen Kane challenged traditional narrative and technical elements of classic Hollywood cinema. Kane was narrated by several people that include their take on Kane’s life. The story unfolds by many flashbacks and is told by different perspectives over the years through different narrations. Charles Foster Kane was a millionaire, head of newspapers and died saying “rosebud”.
Citizen Kane: A Fragile Film
851 Words | 4 PagesTruitt explains that Kane being a "political contender" uses his own newspaper media company to "further his own power" resulting in Kane wondering "'If I hadn’t been very rich, I might have been a really great man'" (Truitt). Critics point to how Citizen Kane puts forth a major lesson on what naturally happens to humans when wealth and power are presented before them. Wood expresses Citizen Kane as "a potent metaphor for the betrayal of principles," as well as an "intelligent mediation on the corrupting nature of power" (Wood). As Kane becomes increasingly wealthy he begins to gradually lose parts of his true self eventually resulting in his own destruction which similarly happens often to people in today's society. The film not only illustrates the human nature of greed, critics say, but as well provides a solution on what to do when faced with this obstacle.
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