The Use Of Light In The Film Citizen Kane

Lewis uses lighting to dramatize the opening scene of the film and characterize the protagonist of the story. The most noticeable utilization of film noir lighting is in the beginning

During the 1940’s the lighting created a documentary/realistic look. Touch of Evil 1958 brought along the inspiration of filming many scenes with a hand help camera allowing it to be brought in new settings for scenes which led to the lighting to be used differently. In the clips from Touch of Evil the lighting changes from light to dark drastically but never leads on an unclear story behind what is going on. Throughout the 1960’s brought out fresh new filming because of the advanced new ways to film. For example the way the light flared into the camera lens, this created an effect considered a mistake by many but a new effect to many more. Taxi Driver (1976) was shot with many different dolly shots with clear lighting, the colors were bright and bold. As the many years passed cinematographers were able to learn new ways of bettering film as technology was also becoming

In movies such as Schindler’s List black and white successfully deepens the impact of the film and gives the film an archival quality as well as a documentary edge, as the film is set in World War II era. This means that the shift from colour to black and white and vice versa, plunges the viewers from the present into 1939, bringing them closer to the characters and the storyline as well as helping them experience the horrors of the Holocaust firsthand. The psychological convention of black and white works well because many people visualise World War II through black and white images and film footage, since the style of black and white links to that time period which deepens the historical settings. The director’s use of black and white during most of the film creates emotional impact which solidifies the horror that many of the Jew’s were faced with. Spielberg’s use of black and white also presents him with the opportunity to use colour to create a certain effect, such as in the final scene, where the line of Jews in black and white changes to the modern day Jews in colour, which creates the effect of being transported from the past to the present. Spielberg's use of colour in the final scene helps to show the realism and the horrors of Holocaustic events, and creates a lasting effect through the contrast of black and white and

The 1940s film industry favored films that were based on reality, such as Citizen Kane. Orson Welles is the director of the 1941 film, Citizen Kane, which uses the cinematic techniques of long takes and deep focus shots. Long takes and deep focus shots are associated with space and time. I will be writing about scene D where Susan, the second Ms. Kane, is in the middle of a singing lesson. Scene D contains examples of long takes, deep focus takes, and camera movements.

Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane is a revolutionary film. Although it might not look like much to the modern viewer, many aspects of the film were the first of their kind to appear and are still used today.

One of the ways why cinematography made the film was the lighting. To get the feel, the lighting appeared to be fake shadows that were painted on the set. The fake shadows that were painted on the set gave the lighting appeared to be harsh and sharper to set the mood for the audience. If it weren’t for the painted shadows, the movie wouldn’t have been so successful in the horror genre. Since it was a silent movie, if it weren’t for the shadows, you wouldn’t of seen it as a horror film, but as an original film that was trying to be creative.

Tim Burton uses lowkey lighting to make his movies feel more mysterious for the audience. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, during the flashbacks he makes the lighting go dark. By doing this it makes the audience wonder what is going to happen next. The audience gets engaged and they stay engaged through the whole movie by him adding this effect. Tim Burton uses lowkey lighting in The Nightmare Before Christmas when the

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

Another aspect of this film is that it is in black and white. This gives it a serious tone. The lighting they used also gave a dramatic effect. There is a scene where two gentlemen are talking but you can see Kane dancing in the reflection of the window. This reminds the audience that he is still important to the scene even though he isn't directly involved. This

Color in films has been around since the early 1900s, though we did not see films being mass produced in color until much later. In 1915 “Technicolor was formed as a corporation”, but it wasn’t until around the 1940s that we started to see “greater use” of color in films (Vacche, 13-17). During this rise of color films, you tended to only see certain genres of films were done in color. Period pieces and musicals were the two genres that were most known for their use of color during this time. Then in the 1950’s the development of “Eastmancolor, a one strip color negative process,” we saw more and more films being done in color (Bitoun). Before the development of Eastmancolor, the process that had to be done to make a film in color was too costly. In the 1930s “color added about 30% to the average production cost of a film” (Bitoun), causing studios to have to pick and choose what movies were going to be made in color. Eastmancolor helped lower those cost, making it much more affordable for filmmakers to make films in color. This lead to filmmakers being able to make more films in color and began to start using color to their advantage.

Interestingly, In 2002 a Hong Kong filmmaker released a movie called “Infernal Affairs” which is very similar to “The Departed”, and may have been used as a reference, although both Monahan and Scorsese deny this. Cinematographer Michael Ballhaus did see the Hong Kong version, noting that it “is a very fast-moving and stylish picture, but it has a very different style than The Departed”. He said that version was very dark, and it was even hard to see the actors at times. Regarding his own films lighting Ballhaus said, “I want this movie to have some darkness, but I want it to be a partial darkness that allows you to see the characters clearly, and “In general, the light in this movie is more direct, with less bounce light. Normally I like bounce light and soft light, but this movie is more about direct lighting than beauty lighting. The main characters are tough guys who don’t need careful, soft light around them. We’re using a lot of flags and cutters with hard lights” (AC magazine, October 2006 page 2, The Departed). Ballhaus shot the film mostly on Kodak Vision2 200T 5217, and then Vision2 500T 5218 for outdoor and indoor darker scenes. He preferred using harder-edged lighting on the male actors, and filmed in Super 35mm 2.35:1, as per Scorsese’s request. He believes it protects their compositions when the film is reframed for T.V. (AC magazine, October 2006 page 3, The

Photography is a scientific art of creating images by capturing light on a light sensitive material. Mist and fog converts the world into a natural monochrome with a soft stillness to it. Our eyes might not see in black and white but the human brain knows to appreciate the art that a monochrome picture is. Black and white cameras were existed since the 1930s and for an average user it might just seem like an old technology that has been replaced with the new cool go pros and mirror less cameras but for photographers and art lovers it’s still an asset. Black and white does not necessarily mean removal of color, it requires its own way of seeing. Film photography allows one to have

When Citizen Kane was first released in 1941 it was cinematically groundbreaking because first time director Orson Welles had taken various types of filmmaking, much of which had been used in Expressionistic German films in the 1920’s and incorporated them all into one film. Despite the fact that Welles did not create the techniques used in the film he revolutionized the way films were shot. When Welles was asked where he had gotten the confidence as a first time director to create a movie that was so different from its counterparts, Welles said, “ Ignorance, ignorance, sheer ignorance-you know they is no confidence to equal it, it is only when you know something about a profession, I think, that you are timid or careful” (Welles). This “ignorance” was important to the film as it resulted in the use of cinematography that had not been popularized yet, some examples of this are:

Film Noir as a genre is set in a specific period of time. It is also a genre that is considered to be related to a specific society - that of America from 1940-1958. Film Noir as a genre is a term that French critic Nino Frank coined to describe the new “film movement” emerging from Hollywood in the 1940’s, which appeared to be black and white, crime and detective films. But these two prominent characteristics do not form the genre alone. Stylistic film features such as mood, style and tone are very eminent in Film Noir however it was not always considered as a film genre, but this is what makes the film genre so distinctive. Film Noir was a “new movement” or cycle of films as it consisted of expressionistic lighting techniques such as low

Color being one element, was really used in the film helped and played a major role to help the viewer see the obscurity and wickedness that lied within all of the characters. The colors were used to also manipulate the way your mood fluctuated throughout the movie. Another strong element used was the set design. The set was used to show what time period the movie was set in, but also where the Mafia was mainly located throughout the movie. The dialogue furthermore showed and helped the viewer really get the feel of where the characters are from, and their culture. The costumes additionally played a major role in showing where the characters were from in the movie. The costumes helped audiences get the full ambiance of the time period and moods of the characters. Also, there are many scenes in the movie that make you anxious and on the edge of your seat. A specific example would be the scene of the shooting of Sollozo and Mcclusky. This scene makes you question many things and you do not know what is happening when Sollozo is speaking in Italian, which just adds suspense to the viewer’s emotions. The camera pans out of Michael’s face and then, BOOM! Sollozo and Mcclusky are dead. This is just one of the scenes that kept you in the verge of your seat and through all of these elements, there was a permutation that worked in harmony to make