Citizen Kane directed by a 26 year old man, named Orson Welles has achieved great success; one of the main reasons for this was Welles’s incredible use of camera shots throughout the film. He managed to use a “deep focus” shot where he managed to focus from extreme foreground to extreme background. The Deep focus is most effective in scenes that show Kane’s isolation and loss of control. He has also used low angle shots and often steep shots revealing the ceiling, and also when wanting to represent Kane as evil. At one point during the film, Kane was by the side of the camera, which seemed like a vertical angel representing Kane bigger than what he actually is.
Throughout the film, Welles uses mise-en-scene to deliberately point things out and foreshadows things to the audience. Another distinctive part of the film was the use of shadows, when often showing one character in the light and the other in complete darkness. The mise en scene can be particularly shown in the flashback of Suzan and Kane’s marriage, and the use of “long takes” which is a method where actors take much longer time than it they normally should. This was all to add to the mise en scene and make it more enigmatic to the audience. Another thing was the irony of how reporters are metaphorically in the dark, and they are also shown in the shadow in the film. Welles also used his deep focus camera shots as mentioned before to manipulate the mise-en-scene, and fill up the whole space of the frame, yet without getting the audience confused. The performances of the film were very impressive to the audience. Welles also stared in the film, playing a wide range of roles, and living each role to its fullest. The audience were very amazed to see a very convincing act of dying old man played by a 26 year old. He was very convincing, and the supporting actors were very well trained, completing the whole mise-en-scene.
The opening scene of the text was very dramatic, as the camera goes past many layers of fences and then a focused lit window appears in a tower, the slow camera movement used here adds to the thrill and enigma of the text, especially when showing Kane’s Xanadu. The window remains the same throughout the scene, and even when the image turns upside down showing a reflection. As we approach, the light is turned off making the scene more enigmatic. The editing smoothly takes us from outside the castle into Kane’s bedroom, however the camera moves faster as we see the glass bowl dropped, and we heard kane’s words “Rosebud”. This use of editing attracts the viewers more and makes them want to continue watching. Those dramatic cuts in the beginning of the movie, such as the immediate shot of the news report, with the diegetic sound after Kane’s death. The cuts between these two scenes are dramatic. Also, the death scene is very quiet; however drum beats get louder as we hear the news of the march.
In the scene where Suzan leaves Kane, we see a white pigeon appearing and screaming as she walks out. It us not very obvious how this bird is related to the text, however it certainly keeps the audience’s attention. Throughout the film, most of the cuts shown were to do with sound, if it is quiet in the first scene, it will be very loud in the next one. Welles made the editing very unique and used many techniques, making the film new and different to viewers. Welles also managed to use editing to take us from one place to another, for example taking us through the glass into the room, or zooming in on a still image and actually transforming it into reality in one of his flashbacks. He has also used reflection in a mirror or glass to show two scenes at once.
Welles also concentrated on the storytelling techniques. It showed a long period of time, portraying the same character at different ages showing the events happening around him. Citizen Kane was told in a very non-chronological order, the scenes were overlapped, as each narrator adds his story to the report. It was all shown through flashbacks very effectively, which were given through other people’s stories. One sequence was very effective, showing Kane and his wife’s relationship developing through different scenes at the same place, the dinning room. They start by showing their love; however this then develops to arguments and which then develops into silence showing the dramatic change from warmth and love to coldness and bitterness. The narrative techniques are very successful in showing Charles Foster Kane as an enigma, making the audience wonder and fill their minds with questions about the character. Citizen Kane has a truly complex narrative, complex even by today’s standards
Overall, with its unique editing and filming, Citizen Kane has made great success. The techniques used in there might have been used before, but they were never all put together in one film. This is what made it a truly “great film” as Barry Norman suggests. The Media develops everyday, and all the techniques used there have been used now and some of them were even altered to make it look better. However, we have to bear in mind the technological facilities they had at that time and what techniques were actually used before this film was created. Surely there might be opposition to the film and mainly due to the complex narrative. However I personally think that by analysing everything, it would be enough to say that this is one of “the greatest films ever made”.
