Citizen Kane, written, directed and starring Orson Welles is a biographical/detective film on the life of Charles Foster Kane. The film sets out with a journalist called Thompson speaking to his boss about how they want to announce Kane’s death to the world on News of the March. They need more information about Kane, his personality and a deeper insight into his life rather than the facts that everyone already knows. This is where Rosebud comes into play. Rosebud was the final word that Kane muttered on his death bed and it is now up to Thompson to figure out exactly what Rosebud means. Without the drive of Thompson to find the meaning of rosebud, there would be not storyline. Thompsons search for Rosebud shows us through the use of flashbacks
…show more content…
For example, in one of the opening scenes Xanadu is shown in a low angle shot, this is suggesting to the audience that Xanadu is a place of great power. Another example of a low-angle shot would be the scene of Kane’s first Christmas when Thatcher gives him a new sleigh. The shot is shown through a mix of high and low angles. It shows Kane looking up to Thatcher showing the lack of control and power that he has as a young child. Low angle shots were dominant throughout Citizen Kane to show the various sides of the tycoon protagonist, Charles Foster Kane. 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 use of this extreme backlighting distorted reality. It is possible Welles did not want to convey Thompson identity as he may not have wanted the audience to think of Thompson as the main
For example, in one of the opening scenes Xanadu is shown in a low angle shot, this is suggesting to the audience that Xanadu is a place of great power. Another example of a low-angle shot would be the scene of Kane’s first Christmas when Thatcher gives him a new sleigh. The shot is shown through a mix of high and low angles. It shows Kane looking up to Thatcher showing the lack of control and power that he has as a young child. Low angle shots were dominant throughout Citizen Kane to show the various sides of the tycoon protagonist, Charles Foster Kane. 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 use of this extreme backlighting distorted reality. It is possible Welles did not want to convey Thompson identity as he may not have wanted the audience to think of Thompson as the main