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Why Is Citizen Kane Important To The Film Industry

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Citizen Kane is the life story of a powerful newspaper magnate, Charles Foster Kane. It is a fictionalized biography of the ruthless publishing baron, William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951). In actuality, the characters in the movie are composites, drawn from the lives of several famous American tycoons, but Hearst was the most obvious. Photography Gregg Toland, the cinematographer for Citizen Kane, considered the film the high point in his career & thought he might ‘learn something’ from the boy genius (Welles). Welles, used to setting up his own lights in the live theater thought the movie directors were also responsible for the lighting. Toland would let Welles determine the design of most of the lights, but quietly instructed the camera …show more content…

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. Photographically, Kane ushered in a revolution ‘challenging the classical ideal of a transparent style’ that doesn’t call attention to itself. In Kane, the ‘style was part of the show’. The lighting in the movie is generally in mostly high key in those scenes depicting Kane’s youth & dealing w/his years as a crusading young publisher (the happier part of his life). As he grows older & more cynical, the lighting grows darker, more harshly contrasting. Kane’s home, the palatial Xanadu, has a very unwelcoming, dark, dank atmosphere, …show more content…

Sometimes Kane’s face seems split in half w/one side brightly illuminated, the other hidden in darkness (Chiroscuro lighting - Rembrandt). When Kane tells Bernstein & Leland of his intention to publish a “Declaration of Principles” on the front page of his newspaper promising his readers he will be an honest & tireless champion of their rights as citizens & human beings, his face if fully lit. When he leans down to sign the proclamation, his face is suddenly plunged in darkness--an ominous foreshadowing of Kane’s later character. Thea B31-Fall Study Guide Ch 12-Citizen Kane 2. Welles used low-angle shots as a *motif* throughout the picture, especially ‘to emphasize the awesome power of the protagonist’. Combined w/the perspective-distorting wide-angle lens, such low-angle shots as the one filmed from below the floor, portray Kane as a towering colossus, capable of crushing anything that gets in his

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Kane turned the Daily Inquirer Into a successful business and eventually hired the staff from the New York Chronicle. How Kane wanted to protect the ordinary people and turned this struggling business into a money maker shows the audience that Kane wanted to be loved and wanted power through journalism. Kane struggled throughout his life with two failed marriages that took a toll on him and changed his

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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

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The movie overlaps the interviews to tell the life story of Kane while the flashbacks are doing the storytelling. The story is not told in chronologic manor, uses several techniques to tell the story of Kane. The angles used to portray certain scenes, getting all of views in, having lighting changes, shadows are all creative to the movie and introducing these techniques into Hollywood

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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.”

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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.

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Tim Burton is well known film director. The movies that he has created are often described as mysterious, odd, and intriguing. Burton's movies use certain film techniques to create a certain feeling for the audience to experience. The three main techniques that Tim Burton usually uses is the lighting, camera angles, and sound techniques.

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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.”

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The use of background light was an important focus in this picture, there was less attention to lighting the actors faces but in almost every frame there is well placed background light often combined with a moving light source. Repetition was also evident within the visual composition of the frame, the actors were rarely positioned within the center of the frame but always to the left or the right with a light source covering them from behind. Ridley Scott perfectly matches colorful high key light with low key lights creating impeccable contrast, this lighting used could be described as a modern Citizen Kane style. Although this is overall a very dark and low light film, the motif of shadows and darkness allows the beauty of light to truly be

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Citizen Kane challenged the traditional narrative and technical elements of classic Hollywood cinema by having many different points of view telling the story. Most movies made at this time had only one narrative while this movie does not. Having a movie have multiple narrators tells the story in many peoples view points. This gives the viewer a point of view from multiple views.

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Bravura meaning great technical skill shown in a performance, and Citizen Kane is filled with such skill, in the many scenes mentioned as well as throughout the whole film. For example, the scene where the dying Kane drops a snow globe and the door way is shown almost as if it 's through the broken glass of it is a great example of one of the techniques used. Deep focus is also a technique used throughout the film, deep focus being a technique were nearly the whole shot is in focus. Deep focus is used in many scenes, one of the most prominent being when Kane loses control of his empire as David Brown

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This is when we find out that the news was screened in a room. Shadowed images are seen in the room. With what is said in the room we get to know that these men are very manipulative and want to know what is meant by Kane’s last word “Rosebud”. Sir Thompson is chosen to reveal to the audience the secrecy behind this word. If we were to view this very carefully, we see that Sir Thompson is indirectly the audience to whom all the facts about Kane is revealed to.

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