Analyzing Orson Welles 'Citizen Kane'

Citizen Kane by Orson Welles is a story that was made for excellence. However, since it was about William Randolph Hearst, it did not do too well. Many movies didn't want to play the film because they were scared of Hearst and his power. Although, many could not see the movie it still became one of the greatest films ever made through its uncommon angles, montages, and lighting.

Citizen Kane is filled with symbolic imagery. In most of the movie you can pick out scenery, character actions, lighting, camera movement, and the composition within the frame of key shots that help tell the story without the character orally telling the full story. However, because of its new and experimental use of mise-en-scene, the movie did not do well in the box office. In time Orson Welles movie would become one of the best movies of all time and would even come to change filmmaking in

The film was made in 1941 and won best screenplay at the Oscars and was also nominated for best picture, best director, best actor and best cinematography. It was directed by Orsen Welles and its main actors were Joseph Cotten , Dorothy Comingore and Agnes Moorehead. The film has aged incredibly in the last 75 years from its release and has defined film in how good it really was. Citizen Kane changed the way movies are made because it became the starting point for many filmmakers first learning about how films are made and how a director can give a film a particular style. The editing (by Robert Wise) was as innovative as the cinematography by Gregg Toland - add these two talents to the talent of director Orson Welles not knowing how to direct properly and you have stylistic flourishes and a film that still impresses today. It didn't immediately change how movies were made citizen Kane was actually a somewhat forgotten film for several years until it was rediscovered in the late 50s - but it was definitely ground-breaking and many of the techniques used were copied and used by later directors.

Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane is a revolutionary film. Although it might not look like much to the modern viewer, many aspects of the film were the first of their kind to appear and are still used today.

The second way why cinematography made the film is because the camera shots during the film were very close to one other. It did become kind of confusing many times during the film. Now you would see medium shots more than any other one during the film. There were also long shots that were shot alongside the medium shots so long shots would

Why was Citizen Kane so different from the traditional Hollywood Films? Citizen Kane defies the traditional narrative and classic elements of Hollywood cinema by uniquely setting up the story in a different fashion from what the typical storyline would usually follow. It took on an approach of arranging the events of the story as it unfolds in a nonlinear pattern, while using multiple narrators while leaving the suspense of what did the meaning of a dying man’s last word open to the audiences’ interpretation.

Orson Welles’ 1941 classic film Citizen Kane tells the story of Charles Forster Kane. The turning point of the film is when Jim Gettys attempts to blackmail Kane. The scene demonstrates Kane’s fall from grace through pride. His reactions to the other characters in this scene (Mrs. Kane, Susan Alexander, and Mr. Gettys), the angles that are shown in his perspective, and the lighting of the scene helps to demonstrate this point. It is after the blackmail scene that, in desperation, Kane tries to regain his credibly with the public and

They utilized the emergence of innovations such as cinemascope, 3-D, stereophonic sound and many others to produce these films.

Citizen Kane is one of the world's most famous and highly-rated classic film masterpiece. Although it was not a commercial success at the time of its release it has always been praised by film critics. The film had a budget of $800,000 and was directed, produced, as well as acted by the twenty five year old Orson Wells. Wells used innovative and unique cinematic techniques in Citizen Kane that would influence the film making for all eternity.

When discussing the greatest films of all time, Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles, usually comes up. It’s influence in American cinema can still be felt today, but at the time the film was not released without controversy. The main character in the movie, Charles Foster Kane, is undeniably based of the real life figure of William Randolph Hearst, a famous American newspaper publisher. Hearst was very aware of this fact and tried to hinder the success of Welles’ picture by denying it any sort of press in his newspapers. Despite the smear campaign Kane’s influence lives on through Welles’ revolutionary filmic techniques and its presence in pop culture.

There are many reasons as to why Citizen Kane has been lauded as one of the best, if not the best, film of all time. Orson Welles's Citizen Kane has had a lasting impact on cinema and continues to influence directors to this day. Visually striking, Citizen Kane helped to usher in a new era of cinema through its innovative techniques and use of mise-en-scene.

Citizen Kane (1941) received praise from many critics as one of the best films of all time while The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) received many mixed reviews. Director Orson Welles’s film, Citizen Kane uses many innovative camera movements and transitions, however, directors Ethan Coen and Joel Coen’s film, The Hudsucker Proxy rehashes techniques used before to create an effective montage.

To help create his debut film Citizen Kane, Orson Welles assembled a talented group of artists and technicians who together produced a film that redefined cinema forever. During the film’s production process, Welles himself stated that making a film “is the biggest electric train set any boy ever had.” By this he meant that the production studio was his playground and he intended to use every tool at his disposal. Starting from the film’s very first shot; he proves this to be true. As the film begins, the camera silently cranes up over the fences that surround Charles Foster Kane’s mansion and then slowly transitions to a montage of palatial estate. In this unique sequence the viewer understands that they are watching no ordinary film! Since its release in 1941, Citizen Kane consistently is called one of the greatest films ever made. It also is one of the most analyzed films ever created as well. In watching the film, a person can select from a countless number of famous scenes on which to review, comment, admire, and draw conclusions. For this assignment, I chose my personal favorite scene from the film to analyze in depth. The scene occurs near the end of the film just as Kane’s second wife Susan Alexander leaves him for good. The scene lasts about 3 and a half minutes in length, consists of 12 shots, contains almost no music, and just one word of dialogue is spoken. However, even with these limitations, the scene has more impact and film techniques packed into it

French director Francois Truffaut once said "Everything that matters in cinema since 1941 has been influenced by Citizen Kane". This film, as I mentioned before is widely regarded as the greatest film of all time. It has stood as the #1 ranked film for 40 years straight by Sight and Sound Magazine, and is the #1 ranked film of all time by the American Film Institute (AFI). The list compiled by the AFI was selected based on a set of criteria that included; the films critical recognition, popularity over time, historical significance, and cultural impact. These criteria are key to understanding the beauty of Citizen Kane, and how a great piece of cinema is stimulating to behold.

The use of deep focus also manipulates the viewers perspective. In Citizen Kane, Charles Kane and his wife, Susan Kane, are seen within their mansion. (1:47:17) In the mansion, the viewer is able to see everything within the shot. They can see the massive statues and proportions of the inanimate objects compared to the humans. This scene allows the audience to witness Susan and Charles sitting so far apart within this one room, so much so they have to yell to converse. This both supports Susan’s statement when she says that she is lonesome and it also foreshadows the space that continues to grow between Susan and Charles Kane. This particular scene also supports the idea that Charles Kane was very alone towards the end of his life after Susan had left him. This was because he was only surrounded by the objects around him. All he had left were the materialistic belongings he had bought earlier in his lifetime. In The Social Network, there are also examples of extreme proportion sizes, although not nearly as dramatic as in Citizen Kane. Such as the scene when Mark runs up a set of stairs towards a building on the Harvard campus. He runs up very large set of stairs, something that is not commonly seen other than in front of buildings or monuments of importance. The audience can witness the immense pillars behind him. Most of the structures shown in this scene are made of marble, this is also something that is usually seen in places of importance. (6:54) This allows the audience