Citizen Kane: The Elements Of Classic Hollywood Cinema

The goal is to always catch everyone’s attention; do something that has yet to be done. This is how one’s legacy will influence an entire industry. When a person has the ability to change the game, to improve the experience, that is when brilliance is seen in the making. This was the exact approach Orson Welles took when presenting the world with Citizen Kane. His innovation in turn challenged all elements of classic Hollywood cinema—most of all the films plot structure, sound and deep-focus cinematography. It is said that “a story should have a beginning, a middle and an end” (Barsam & Monahan, 2016, p. 453). Just as in life: one is born, will live, and inevitably pass on. Although this is the truth, it does not mean that this is the only order in which the story should always be portrayed. This is exactly what Welles did with Citizen Kane. “Instead of a chronological plot that follows Charles Foster Kane

With strategically placed hidden microphones throughout the set, Welles was allotted the opportunity to catch each of the subtle nuances of the scene. “We hear these multiple sounds simultaneously, distinctly, and at the proper sound levels in relation to the camera’s placement, so that the farther we are from the sound, the softer and less distinct the sound becomes” (Barsam & Monahan, 2016, p. 398). The strategic placement of these microphones allowed for the depth of the sound where some noises throughout the scenes would be duller than others. Due to the fact that he had produced “a cluttered soundscape of live and dubbed music, sound effects and competing lines of dialogue” (Lewis, 2008, p.161) with this approach, he gave himself the opportunity to really show the way sound plays a role within the movie. There was background conversation, music and actual dialogue that all occurred at the same time. This allowed for direct sound recordings to be used instead of the usual Hollywood post-production sound