Charles Foster Kane Architectural Elements

An example of deep focus appears in this sequence. A young Mr. Kane is visible in the background by the window in the middle ground while Mrs. Kane signs over custody of him to Mr. Thatcher in the foreground of the shot. There is a great significance to Kane appearing at the background of the frame. The narrative perspective captures Kane being present, but almost pushed to the literal and symbolic background as decisions are made to determine his future in the foreground. The use of deep focus turns what would’ve been a flat cinema screen into a three-dimensional world with a strong sense of realism. Although our attention is not immediately forced to any specific aspect of the mise-en-scene, a certain important moment is noted just as Mrs. Kane signs the paperwork. Young Kane while playing a childish game of “civil war” screams “Union forever;”

Architecture in the 1950s was representative of the conformity caused by the Cold War. McCarthyism and the Red Scare were some of the major sources of this conformity. McCarthyism was the persecution of innocent people assumed to be communist and the forced conformity that the practice aroused in American public life. As the government grew more and more concerned with the development of communism in the United States, the country became extremely against communism and with the help of John McCarthy, the government set out on a mission to find all the communists hiding in the depths of America; many people were questioned and hundreds were either killed or exiled, even those that were wrongly convicted. With the threat of being removed from

For citizen Kane, the most important assets of his life are not the political ambitions, successful newspaper business, nor his relationships with the significant others. Judging by his last word, “Rosebud,” the most important piece of his life is memory from his childhood. Although his life is changed for what appears to be better, from a materialistic viewpoint, it actually leaves him vulnerable and alone. Kane’s life is ultimately destructed by his lust to fulfill the American dream of fame, power and wealth. The inevitable struggle of Kane is reflective of the struggle of many must confront in this materialistic world, as one on his or her quest to find the true meaning of

One of the most famous scenes in film is the beginning where Charles Foster Kane dies after saying rosebud. What makes this scene so great was the camera angle. The snow globe that Kane drops after his death created an angle never before seen. This angle allowed for the intensity of the scene to increase as it emphasizes the nurse running in the room and the broken globe to show Kane’s world as comes crashing down on him. Another interesting camera angle is when Kane is being taken away from his mother where both her and Kane are visible and in full focus. Along with this angle it also has a smooth transition from the angle of the mother and sliding through the window to allow for the new scene. These

In Citizen Kane, Orson Welles blends camera movement with the drama of the scenes. A good example is the introduction to El Rancho. This is where Kane’s second wife sings. The camera begins on a sign outside the restaurant and from there is moved with a crane towards the roof of the building. From there it is moved through another sign and approaches the skylight. When it reaches the skylight, the camera goes through the skylight and we are presented with a high-angle shot of the El Rancho. The shot establishes space and sets up the scene, but it does this in a plain and noticeable way.

The lengthy description of the house entails the various complaints he has about his living arrangements, and further on in the passage, how he would feel if it was to be blown up – apathetic, it just happens sometimes. Thus, setting the obscurity with which this character

One thing I noticed throughout the film was the use of reflections. The movie starts off with a montage of images of Xanadu, Charles Kane’s personal estate. One of the shots includes a beautiful reflection of the building in the water. When Kane dies and drops the snow globe, you see the nurse’s reflection in the glass as she walks into the room. After Kane convinces the men from the Chronicle to come work for him at the Inquirer, he throws a party; we can see him dancing in a reflection of a window. When Kane is in Xanadu, he walks through

A review of the house itself suggests that an architectural hierarchy of privacy increases level by level. At first, the house seems to foster romantic sensibilities; intrigued by its architectural connotations, the narrator embarks upon its description immediately--it is the house that she wants to "talk about" (Gilman 11). Together with its landscape, the house is a "most beautiful place" that stands "quite alone . . . well back from the road, quite three miles from the village" (Gilman 11). The estate's grounds, moreover, consist of "hedges and walls and gates that lock" (Gilman 11). As such, the house and its grounds are markedly depicted as mechanisms of confinement--ancestral places situated within a legacy of control and

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.

Through the use of high and low angles (“a shot that is made by placing the camera above the subject angled downward” and “a shot made by placing the camera below the subject angled upward” respectfully defined by Jon Lewis, author of The Essential Cinema), are almost balanced in this scene. (Lewis) For example, during the first part of the scene, Mrs. Kane, Susan Alexander, and Mr. Gettys are seen as closer to the camera and at a low angle. This could possibly demonstrate that they are more active in the scene than Mr. Kane. Meanwhile, it appears that Mr. Kane is shorter and smaller than the other characters, again hinting at his inability to control the situation.

     Citizen Kane is set at a time in American History where the world is changing and money is at the center of that world. For example, during this period of time wealth has become more important in America has more new money arrives. Kane is a part of this new money sweep across America and like everyone else is stretching his power and wealth. He stretches it so much that he loses sight of his objection, which is replaced by his obsession to be in control and make all the decisions, a power which he finds through wealth. But it is because of this obsession that his idealistic world is corrupted. Furthermore, the film revolves most around a newspaper. A newspaper reaches everyone and during this time one of the only few mass media. It is through the newspaper that Kane stretches his wealth and influence. He is corrupted by the power that the newspaper gives him. In addition, Kane is constantly surrounded by beautiful things and people, until the end of the movie when

large it dwarfs her, and behind to her left is a massive statue of a

By describing the “house in Manawaka” (1) to be known as the “old Connor Place” (2), Laurence reveals his role as the head of the family. As this image of Grandfather Connor is implemented in the reader’s mind, this strong individual who had “built his own house” (6) becomes a man with dedication, dedication that enabled him to build a settlement that was the “first of its kind” (7). However, as Laurence reveals Grandfather Connor’s authority in the speaker’s household, his

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.

As the camera pulls in and, later, out, the character appears to be sitting there almost like a picture. Another great film technique that both films used is the foreground, middle ground and background the scale of their components, often correlates to the dominance in an image, and those were in focus all the time, this is called deep focus. In both films the directors uses this deep focus to show some kind of control in the character, the audience will be able to see what the characters such as Kane were able to manage. Deep Focus gives a good understanding of things that Kane has control of things in which he has no control. A great example of this would be the scene where Kane’s parents are signing him off; it shows us that he has no control of the outcome of his future.