Citizen Kane Film Techniques

Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles, was a revolutionary film for the industry. By using experimental techniques in photography, sound, and editing along with varying the narrative delivery, Citizen Kane broke from Hollywood tradition. The areas that make this movie so remarkable are the use of depth of field, non-linear approach, and mobile camera filming. This film became a benchmark for the film industry by challenging the traditional Hollywood style.
The field of depth technique was difficult for me to comprehend before viewing the film. The definition was clear, but I could not fully grasp the impact. Watching the first scene as outlined in American Film: A History, the audience sees the young Charles Kane playing outside (Lewis, 2008, p. 159). The camera moves away from him and brings his mother into view, and we realize she is watching him from a window, and we are watching him with her. This scene is very telling even without an abundance of dialogue. We can see from the way that the scene is filmed that Charles father has little to no authority in this decision to send his son to be raised by the banker. We observe the mother’s resolve to choose what she believes is best the best for her son while the distance and stance of the father tells us he is not part of this decision. …show more content…
Although this scene shows us the distance between the couple and the coldness of the relationship, Charles is seated on a throne-like chair while his wife lounges on the floor. Charles tends to have a desire to take an authoritative role in the lives of the characters around him even to the point of directing their thoughts and emotions. The depth of field technique creates a very realistic dynamic of watching the intimacy of a relationship grow or deteriorate before your eyes without the need of stating the facts. Welles choice of cinematographer Gregg Toland was a genius decision on his