Essay on Citizen Kane Scene Analysis

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

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;”

Since the beginning of the Industrial Age, Americans have idealized the journey towards economic success. One thing people do not realize, however, is that that journey is not the same for every individual. For Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles), the main character of Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles, the path towards riches and a fulfilled life is being well liked. He serves to please others. He strives for that attention. This view cost him his happiness in the end. In this man’s rise and fall through prosperity, Welles shows the futility of striving solely for likeability.

Around this time, Kane starts into his career in politics, first running for governor of his state, but with the clear intention of become president after his term. At one speech, Kane denounces his opponent, Jim Gettys, a corrupt political boss, who Kane promises to imprison if elected. After the speech, Kane’s wife shows him a letter with a vague threat, telling her to visit an apartment in the city. Kane goes with his wife to the apartment, where the two meet Susan Alexander, who Kane had been seeing while married, and Jim Gettys. Gettys threatens to reveal the relationship unless Kane withdraws from the race, Kane refuses, but loses the election when his affair is revealed. Soon after, he divorces his wife and marries Susan, who was mockingly called the ‘Singer’ by newspapers. Kane pays three million dollars for an opera house to be built in Chicago for his wife’s debut, but despite pouring money into her voice, her singing is mediocre and the show receives scathing reviews. The day after the debut, the Inquirer Kane finds Leland, the drama critic passed out halfway through writing a negative review for the show. Kane takes the review, and finishes it in the same negative tone just before firing Leland. When Susan reads the reviews she is furious that Kane let Leland’s review be published, but she continues to tour

Alfred Hitchcock’s film Shadow of a Doubt is a true masterpiece. Hitchcock brings the perfect mix of horror, suspense, and drama to a small American town. One of the scenes that exemplifies his masterful style takes place in a bar between the two main characters, Charlie Newton and her uncle Charlie. Hitchcock was quoted as saying that Shadow of a Doubt, “brought murder and violence back in the home, where it rightly belongs.” This quote, although humorous, reaffirms the main theme of the film: we find evil in the places we least expect it. Through careful analysis of the bar scene, we see how Hitchcock underlies and reinforces this theme through the setting, camera angles,

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 aspect of the Citizen Kane’s mise-en-scene that stood out to me the most were the sets. The first scene showing the once amazing and repugnant Xanadu now in disrepair helps to portray the psychological disrepair Kane experiences over the film. The giant oversized office of Mr. Thatcher portrays the cold decrepit old men who are in it. The huge interiors of Xanadu show the isolationism of his relationship towards Susan and his own loneliness in the world. Each of the sets in the film help to show the progression of the character. The sets along with the other aspects of mise-en-scene create the effect of reality by its change. The mise-en-scene of the film is a reflection of the character progression throughout the movie. The scene where

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.

In 1941 the film Citizen Kane was released to the general public for the whole world to devour this jewel in film making history. Director Orson Wells pulled out all the tricks in the film making book at the time when he created this critically acclaimed “best film in history”. In Citizen Kane there are several frames of significance, but frame 25 main focus displays a massive poster of Kane running for governor in the background and with Kane on the forefront. This scene is during the time when Kane was running for governor and with him at the front of the stage, behind a podium with his arms outward stretched, and his peers and other representatives of the government behind him as he says "I make no campaign promises!" and presents the huge

In Citizen Kane, Welles is attempting to expose the great influential political and social power that someone has as the head of many newspaper chains. This narrative drama explains the life of Kane and how different people viewed it. From the way the way the characters were telling the story to the way shadows, lighting and the laco of color was used, this film fits into the drama genre. Being the “greatest film of all time”, Citizen Kane brings the the world of newspaper tycoons to

To help create his debut film Citizen Kane, Orson Welles assembled a talented group of artists and technicians who together produced a film that redefined cinema forever. During the film’s production process, Welles himself stated that making a film “is the biggest electric train set any boy ever had.” By this he meant that the production studio was his playground and he intended to use every tool at his disposal. Starting from the film’s very first shot; he proves this to be true. As the film begins, the camera silently cranes up over the fences that surround Charles Foster Kane’s mansion and then slowly transitions to a montage of palatial estate. In this unique sequence the viewer understands that they are watching no ordinary film! Since its release in 1941, Citizen Kane consistently is called one of the greatest films ever made. It also is one of the most analyzed films ever created as well. In watching the film, a person can select from a countless number of famous scenes on which to review, comment, admire, and draw conclusions. For this assignment, I chose my personal favorite scene from the film to analyze in depth. The scene occurs near the end of the film just as Kane’s second wife Susan Alexander leaves him for good. The scene lasts about 3 and a half minutes in length, consists of 12 shots, contains almost no music, and just one word of dialogue is spoken. However, even with these limitations, the scene has more impact and film techniques packed into it

When Truman does not walk into his workplace the show’s audience respond with excitement and a sense of pride. High angle tracking shots are used as cameras follow Truman and his every step, unable to anticipate his next move. The reverse shot in the side mirror of a car closely follow Truman and as several people obstruct the view it appears as if Truman is trying to get away and disappear from the scrutiny of the cameras. Truman tentatively surveys the area and for the first time listens to conversations around him. Close up shots of several conversations position the audience to also question those around Truman. These techniques used position the audience to respond with enthusiasm and delight towards Truman and his suspicions about the world he lives in. It is no longer seen as perfect.

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

In the closing of the newsreel we find ourselves in a room full of highly shadowed journalists, with little to no recognizable faces. Reporter Jerry Thompson is directed by his editor to pursue ominous feel as we are slowly taken closer to Kane’s mansion and are shown a lite window which fades to black, and snowflakes suddenly fill the screen. As the camera pulls back, a snow-covered cabin comes into view. The camera pulls back more quickly to show that what we have been looking at is actually just a scene inside a snow globe in the hand of an old man. The story of Kane’s dying words and from there we are taken back to Kane’s youth through the innovative use of flashbacks, which are instigated by Thompson as he meets with different people who were close to Kane.

The absolutely stunning film, Citizen Kane (1941), is one of the world’s most famous and highly renowned films. The film contains many remarkable scenes and cinematic techniques as well as innovations. Within this well-known film, Orson Welles (director) portrays many stylistic features and fundamentals of cinematography. The scene of Charles Foster Kane and his wife, Susan, at Xanadu shows the dominance that Kane bears over people in general as well as Susan specifically. Throughout the film, Orson Welles continues to convey the message of Susan’s inferiority to Mr. Kane. Also, Welles furthers the image of how demanding Kane is of Susan and many others. Mr. Welles conveys the message that Kane has suffered a hard life, and will