Citizen Kane was a movie that I was a little confused in at first. When the television real started I did not know what to expect. However, I enjoyed the movie once I started to gain an understanding on it. This movie was one that showed the life change of the kid and how he lived his life the way that his caretaker had lived his. He hated that life style so it was very ironic in the sense that he did everything that the one who took him away from his parents did.…
After watching this short clip of Citizen Kane one would believe that the film's plot would be that of conflict over the death of Charles Foster Kane. Kane lives in a castle showing he is wealthy or important, however, he is dying and all alone. He utters the name, Rosebud, as he is dying, therefore, one could assume that she is a long lost love or enemy. The plot could involve a conflict over his assets. However, the plot will most likely involve the discovery of, Rosebud, and her relationship to the dying man, Kane.…
Citizen Kane is considered by many to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest film of all time, and while I find the notion of labeling one movie as “the greatest film ever made” a bit overzealous, the contributions that Citizen Kane made to the film industry and the impact that it had on the audiences in its era is remarkable. Citizen Kane a substantial influence on the audience and the film industry through its use of innovative narrative style and technical cinematic elements that may not have been widely used in classic Hollywood cinema. The narrative style of Citizen Kane challenged the traditional Hollywood narrative by developing the story through the use of flashbacks and first person voice over narration from different characters throughout the movie. Each character, from Jed Leland, Kane’s “friend”, to Susan Kane, Kane’s second wife, to Jerry Thompson, the reporter looking for the meaning behind Kane’s last words, all contribute an aspect of Mr. Kane’s life in the form of a flashback.…
Even in today’s films it is still not so common to see so many angled shots as they did in Citizen Kane. The angles also show us emotions of the characters without the use of the music. It gave a unique element to the…
Film music is used to accompany the story line of a film and helps to create the world of the film in a sonic sense that will affect the viewer subconsciously. It is a defining element in the ambience of a film’s atmosphere, capable of turning a situation from sedentary to tense in a single chord change. It provides a sonic narrative of the plot development, normally moving to different themes and suites for different scenes. People can hear a melody or a movement from their favourite film and immediately be taken back to the palpable emotions conveyed in the exact scene by the culmination of music and action. Often the use of a reprise can remind the viewer of action that took place earlier when the same music was played.…
Alfred Hitchcock An auteur is a director who is the 'author' of his or her film. Alfred Hitchcock is known worldwide for his distinctive style of filmography. His style can be immediately recognised when watching one of his films, by linking him to the techniques and plot devices in his films. His work has fixed him among world class directors.…
Tim Burton has has made many movies from; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Edward Scissorhands to Corpses Bride. All was different types of movies, some stop animation to normal acting but what they all have in common they have a gothic dark low key lighting combined with non-diegetic music along with various camera angles. Using dark scenes with little lighting dark music and close ups creating a scene full of suspense. To begin Tim Burton uses the close up camera extremely well, an example of this is in Corpse Bride when Victor and Victoria meet for the first time.…
The opening sequence of Citizen Kane sets the whole theme of the movie by being the reason for which Thompson decides to investigate Kane and his life, trying to understand what is “Rosebud”. The first scene opens with a close-up of a sign that says “No trespassing” while everything behind the sign is out of focus, but the camera ignores the sign and crosses the fence, making the viewer feel as if they are the ones jumping over said fence even when they have no control over the camera's actions, and all of this is accentuated by the music. By doing this, the viewer is left feeling as if they are doing something that is prohibited, which gives a sense of uneasiness and anxiety, or perhaps excitement for some. After that, the camera gives a shot of a gate with a “K” and a building in the distance, which is the property that could not be seen at the beginning of the film. The gate disappears, becoming a cage that contains two monkeys, while the castle in the background stays the same.…
While watching Touch of Evil I noticed that when a character is first introduced in the story, Orson Welles used Tight Framing. He liked to put us up close and personal with the characters and also does it when the characters of the story are speaking. Tight Framing I think enhanced the film, because it keeps the viewers focus on the main event of the scene. For example, when Orson’s Welles’s character Police Captain Hank Quinlan was first introduced in the story, framing zoomed in focused. The focus was his car at first, then him with very little space around the framing to look at anything else but him.…
By a slight tilt in camera angles a director is able to show or suggest the ups and downs in a certain characters life or fortune. It can also manipulate the viewer’s perception of the characters actions in the film. The various camera techniques used by Orson in Citizen Kane were backlight, Another dramatic technique used by Welles Throughout the film, was the use of extreme backlight. From the use of this extreme backlight, Welles concealed the identity of Thompson; he was only ever shown as a silhouette.…
The way a photographer uses his or her camera can be the difference between a good movie or a great one. Gregg Toland, the cinematographer, won an Oscar for his work on the film Wuthering Heights, as well as created a new technique called deep-focus photography. Scott Higgins and Sara Ross of the Cinema Journal emphasize Toland’s influence on the film by stating, “Gregg Toland’s deep-focus cinematography deftly creates the moody, ethereal atmosphere of haunted love in a film universally acclaimed as one of cinema’s great romances (pg. 174).” Deep-focus cinematography displays the images in both the foreground and background of a shot clearly. Toland’s use of this technique helped produce an atmosphere of volatile, captivating love.…
Movies are evolving every day, but some may wonder what movies were like before today, perhaps movies in the 1920s may help give an idea of what that was like. Movies are things that people watch to get away from their own life. What kind of movies people watch can show how they feel or how they would like to feel. When movies start to change to become better and better, the more likely people would want to watch to get away from their own life for a little while. Movies gave the world a new way to live in the 1920’s.…
One major device he uses is pathos. One of the best examples of pathos in this movie is when they show the fishermen killing all the dolphins in the cove (1:16:40). At first, it shows the fishermen just going around stabbing all the dolphins. After that part ends, it shows an aerial view of the cove. The water is filled with blood and all you see is red.…
Walter Murch, The legendary sound editotr, was born in 1943 in Manhattan, New York. He studied Liberal Arts at Johns Hopkins University but it was only when he went to and graduated from the University of Southern California film school when he met students like the likes of George Lucas, and both went on to become successful film directors and editors. Through innovative techniques and film making processes and collaboration with other successful directors, they came out with group projects such as THX 1138, American Graffiti, Apocalypse Now, Corvette Summer and Radioland Murders. Michael Rubin in his book Droidmaker George Lucas and the Digital Revolution say that “Walter Murch grew up mesmerized by sounds.”…
“Citizen Kane” is often praised as the greatest film in history. This is due in part to Orson Welles’ masterful storytelling but could not be without his excellent craftsmanship. The elements afore mentioned added meaning to the scene of the destruction of Susan’s room. They amplified the tones that Welles wanted to get across to the viewer, enhanced the viewer’s investment in the events taking place in the scene and perhaps most importantly, they created a sympathy for Charles Foster Kane prompting the viewer to love and appreciate the nuances of his…