In the film, Citizen Kane, the director put a lot of intention into what was being shown. It may not have been obvious on the surface, but once you look more in depth you see that everything the director did had meaning and a purpose. One thing the director, Orson Welles, did to bring more depth to the film is incorporating the use of motifs. Motifs are repeated narrative elements that support the theme or idea of the story. They can be seen through sounds, objects, costumes, the lighting, and even the camera angles. In this case, one motif that stuck out to me in the film was the repetitive nature of low angle shots. For a film that came out in 1941, the cinematography and camera work are incredible and very thoughtful. To capture the low angle shots, the camera would be …show more content…
For example, this occurred when Kane and Susan were at their house, and they were arguing about the fact that he would let Leland write a bad review about Susan’s opening performance at the Opera House. When they were in this intense argument, the director used a low angle shot to make Kane look like the stronger, more powerful person in this situation, diminishing the strength of Susan. Another example of this is when Kane and Susan were again arguing in their house, but this time the argument was about how Kane doesn’t do anything for Susan or doesn’t buy her anything. When Kane got angry and stood up, the director used a low angle shot to project him as being superior to Susan in this conversation. In both scenarios, by using the low angle shots to make Kane look larger, it helps the viewers characterize him as a very powerful and confident character that has great influence over others. Not only does this help characterize Kane, but it also helps reflect and better understand one of the main points of the film; to show the luxurious and influential life that Charles Foster Kane
He was also influenced by the moody, low-key photography of John Ford’s Stagecoach. Citizen Kane did not look like most American movies of its era. Each image was well thought out. No shot or sequence was taken lightly. The use of deep-focus, low-key lighting, rich textures, audacious compositions, dynamic contrasts between foregrounds & backgrounds, backlighting, sets with *ceilings*, side lighting, steep angles, epic long shots, juxtaposed with extreme closeups, dizzying crane shots, special effects galore--none of these were new, but Welles used them in such profusion.
and he attempts to do this by isolating himself from everyone and focusing on his goal. Money is the reason why both Gatsby and Charles Kane died without developing a long lasting relationship with anyone. Isolation is an obvious theme in the film Citizen Kane directed by Orson Welles. The movie is essentially the telling of Charles Foster Kane’s life story told in different perspectives through different parts of his life. The theme of isolation is everywhere throughout the movie especially in the first scene of Charles Kane’s childhood where he is playing by himself in the snow.
He 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.
Kane”I don't think there is a word that can describe a man's life. ”(Citizen Kane)This quote describes how the entire film is used to show the life of this man Charles Kane. Charles life in Citizen Kane is shown through special effects and lighting making it a great
The Film Citizen Kane was a groundbreaking film in the 1940’s, the way Orson Wells depicts his film with different lighting, cinematography, choice of camera shots and mise-en-scene throughout this movie truly showed the masterpiece that this film is. In the Film Citizen Kane, it was the first movie that went against true Hollywood cinema by introducing flashbacks throughout the movie to show us how Charles Foster Kane changes throughout the movie. Throughout this movie the audience can see how Charles Foster Kane undergoes a variety of physical and emotional changes from when he was just a young boy all the way until his unfortunate death. Power, that’s all that Kane wanted in the start of the film. In the beginning of the film Kane gets ownership of the struggling New York Daily Inquirer, Kane suggests that he wanted to use journalism to apply to the public and protect the interest of ordinary people.
(Citizen Kane, 1941) Kane’s parents used the power of money as an accessory for giving him away to a billionaire. Since that day, the protagonist went through a traumatizing experience, insecurity and redisposition due to his parents’ actions, which marked the beginning of his tortuous need, to be loved. This unreturned love created a sense of fear and mistrust to love something or someone, only to experience abandonment again was something Kane never got a chance to learn. Citizen Kane broke all the rules because of Welles, there were no
Directed by Orson Welles, the 1941 motion picture “Citizen Kane” is the story of the rise and fall of a great, influential man. The opening scenes of “Citizen Kane” are quite different from what follows during the rest of the film. Fading in and out of different landscapes instilled mystery. This mysterious vibe was carried on during Charles Foster Kane’s death through the use of shadows, quiet music, and close up shots. Isolated in his vast empire of a home, Kane uttered only one word before he passed: “rosebud.”
Citizen Kane challenged the traditional narrative and technical elements of classic Hollywood cinema mainly in the area of sound. Orson Welles was ahead of his time when he created his works of manipulating sound to transfer meaning in the film Citizen Kane. Welles used concealed hanging microphones to obtain different levels of sound throughout the film. The manner, in which the story was told, from Kane’s death flashbacked to his life of success and ultimate failure, was also a new style of storytelling for films. Welles also used symbolism with his last mumbling word “Rosebud.”
There are many things that make “Citizen Kane” considered as possibly one of the greatest films every made; to the eyes of the passive audience this film may not seem the most amazing, most people being accustomed to the classical Hollywood style, but to the audience with an eye for the complex, “Citizen Kane” breaks the traditional Hollywood mold and forges its own path for the better. Exposition is one of the most key features of a film, it’s meant introduce important characters and give the audience relevant details and and dutifully suppress knowledge in turn. “Citizen Kane” does not follow this Classic Hollywood style exposition, instead going above and beyond to open the film with revealing as little information as possible and confuse/intrigue
The use of symbolism and expressionism is paramount to both the narrative and to the theme. Meaning of some of the symbols are; • Mirrors: The mirrors in the movie Citizen Kane shows how Kane has different series of mirrors in his life in which his image has duplicated infinitely. Metaphorically, these mirrors continuously showed us different versions of Kane. • Puzzles: The jigsaw puzzle shows how Susan Alexander used to play with them very often not merely for fun but also as a way to fulfill her unyielding existence with Kane. The jigsaw puzzle shows how all pieces always don’t fit in properly, similarly, Susan and Kane’s personalities were very different that created unresolved issues and conflicts in their lives.
Citizen 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”.
Throughout the film, Welles uses unusual arrangements of music that creates suspense for the audience. The main thesis of this scene is the myth
In this essay I will be comparing the themes and the narrative techniques used in both films. Starting off with the film “Citizen Kane” as mentioned it is a story of a millionaire, Charles Foster Kane. It begins with Kane’s death and speaks a single word: “Rosebud”. The reporters in the hunt to know
This movie detained the top position for the fifty years until it cut down to succeeding following Vertigo (1958). The movie “Citizen Kane” is typically admired for its obscured plot, packed with the flashbacks that drag feet of the viewers towards the chronology of the life of the Kane, its astonishing performances; its spectacular technical stunts and aerial tricks and its deep-concentrated photography. A small range of if any among the technical possessions are completely unique to the Kane, although Orson Welles and his crew’s masterly use of the so many of them in single movie has built the “Citizen Kane” and weight on almost the whole things that came later than. (bj_kuehl,
Kylie Mawn Professor Rodais CINE 121 Midterm 4 March 2018 Question 1: Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) is a film that is well known for pushing cinematic boundaries in many ways. One commonly recognized technique in Welles’ film is deep focus photography. Deep focus photography is used in films to allow everything in a shot to be in focus at once. Typical, only specific characters or objects are in focus in any given frame in order to guide the audience’s attention in a scene, but deep focus can bring a new level of sophistication to a shot.