Citizen Kane- Remy

The Use of Focus in Citizen Kane

The use of focus in the film Citizen Kane, is one of the most important techniques in the production of the film. The type of focus in each scene and shot are not only important for the look of the scene, but the importance and significances of people and objects. In the beginning of the film, there is a very important scene that uses deep focus. When Charles’ parents are discussing his future inside, young Charles is playing outside with his sled, still in focus. In addition to Charles being in focus, the window we can see him through is also placed in a way that makes Charles apart of the circle of the conversation. The combination of the hard focus and the placement of the window show how although the conversation involves Charles, he is not involved in it. He has no say in the plan for his future, as his parents build his life for him. The deep focus in this scene plays an important part in the movie as a whole because it highlights the importance of the sled (rosebud). He is in focus because that is his last moment of being a happy, innocent kid. The conversation that his parents are having is also in focus because their decisions are what will change that will change the type of life he is living through the window forever.  Another observation I had was that when his wife had a drug overdose, and was laying in her bed, he was in focus, but she wasn’t. This symbolized how even though she is the one who is the most important in this scene, it is not her that is important, it is what her suffering will do to Charles. Her suffering affects him because she was a project for him, as he constantly pushed her to sing for his pleasure. Now that she became ill, he can no longer have that pleasure and satisfaction.  

Citizen Kane Peter Lagerloef

                The "Breakfast montage" in Citizen Kane is a very unique sequence of scenes that is not found in many other works of film. The breakfast montage is unique because it is a sequence of scenes in which Charles Kane is having breakfast with his first wife, Emily, and in each scene he is explaining his current state of affairs at the Inquirer, but as each scene comes, he and his wife are more and more agitated and fed up with each other, particularly Emily with Charles. This sequence of scenes depicts the sequence of emotions inside of their marriage and the "downfall" that occurred because of numerous reasons. For example, the money and power Charles acquired got to his head and he therefore could not sustain relationships with the women he loved, whether it be Emily or Susan, his second wife. In the last quarter of the film, Charles hits Susan, causing her to leave him and Charles to be unhappy. I believe the downfall of his marriages and the causes of each downfall are critical to the essential plot and message of the story, which is somewhere between "Money can't buy you happiness" and "There are things money can't buy you", which all leads up to the death of Charles alone in his bed. After all, in the film, I believe leelan narrates and says "she was the only thing money couldn't buy him back", when he is referring to Susan. The marriages of Charles Kane in this film are essential to understanding the turmoil Charles had brought upon himself, and are presented in the film to illustrate the concept that money cannot always buy you what you want, especially if it is not a material object.

Citizen Kane: Thatcher/Kane Relationship

As the film progresses, the relationship between Kane and Thatcher changes significantly. This is shown by not only the plot, but also the cinematography. Early on in the film, a young Charles Foster Kane is sent off with Thatcher to live in the east as part of an exchange for a gold mine found on his parents’ land. Thatcher is seen as an authoritative figure in Kane’s early life. This is shown by the frequent use of low angle/high angle to establish Thatcher’s superiority. When Kane grows older, he eventually becomes part of the newspaper business. After taking over the “New York Inquirer,” Thatcher criticizes the paper and Kane’s work. Their relationship changes drastically in one scene where Thatcher comes into the Inquirer’s office and begins scolding Kane for the use of yellow journalism in the newspaper. As the two are speaking, Kane is sitting down at a desk and Thatcher is standing up. A high angle shot is used over Thatcher’s shoulder as the conversation continues. Thatcher eventually sits down and the camera slowly moves down from a high angle to a normal over the shoulder shot. Thatcher stands up in anger as Kane explains to him that he is the publisher of the Inquirer and that it is “his duty to see to it that decent, hard working people in this community aren’t robbed blind a pack of money mad pirates.” Instead of returning to a high angle shot to show Thatcher’s superiority when he stands up, Kane stands up with him and the camera tracks up with them and the camera angle remains the same. This shot shows how Kane has finally reached a point where he is just as powerful, if not more powerful than Thatcher, unlike when he was a child.

Use of Camera Work and Focus Techniques in Orson Welles' Citizen Kane

Use of Camera Work and Focus Techniques in Orson Welles' Citizen Kane
By: Cyrus Burris

Casablanca and Citizen Kane are often considered to be the two best films of all time. In my opinion, I believe that Casablanca shines from a character/plot standpoint, while Citizen Kane shines from a cinematography standpoint. Orson Welles uses a variety of various camera techniques that were not only incredibly technically impressive for the time, but they also do a terrific job conveying various messages. Within this film, there are two instances specifically that stick out to me. Firstly, the scene from Kane's childhood as Kane's mother and father discuss with a lawyer/financial consultant about sending Kane away. The second being the scene in which Kane finds Susan passed out in her room, in a possible suicide attempt. These two scenes use various forms of camera work that convey a heavy meaning.

The first scene uses a very interesting camera panning technique. Within the scene, the camera moves backwards on a dolly. Seemingly, the camera moves through or over a table. While this alone is incredibly impressive from a technical standpoint, it also does a good job foreshadowing and/or explaining the life of Kane. The camera beings at the window, looking out at Kane playing Civil War in the snow, all the way back through the house and through the table. As it pans back, Kane's mother, father, and financial adviser take the long-seeming walk to the table to sign the contracts that would shape Kane's life. This long pan, and this long walk display a changing room that conveys a changing life. It's a long, constantly changing life that Kane will soon experience.

The previous scene conveyed a good use of camera panning. Panning generally requires physical movement of the camera. While this can often be used to great effect, it is also important to remember that one can create a powerful image or scene simply by shifting the focus of a camera. With today's technology, be it film or photography, adjusting the focus of an image or video is entirely easier than it used to be. Despite technological limitations, Citizen Kane masterfully manipulates focus on several different occasions. Due to the age of the film, Welles' often had to physically modify the film in which the movie was, well, filmed on on. There are several scenes in which two objects are in focus, but they are in/on opposite sides of the frame. This was achieved by filming the scene multiple times and physically splicing the film together in post-production. The best example of this is the scene in which Kane's wife, Susan, overdoses and is found passed out in her bed. In this scene, the foreground, displaying the medicine and the cup it was taken from, is in focus. Behind that lies Susan, out of focus, surrounded by darkness and seemingly faceless. Behind her, the doorway and Kane are in focus, looking after Susan. The focusing of the foreground is done simply to explain the situation, in which Susan overdosed. The focusing of the background takes emphasis away from the now less-pretty/attractive Susan and emphasizes the effect that the entire situation has on Kane.

Citizen Kane: Room Trashing

Maddie Lavoie
Mr. Bauks
February 27, 2014
Period 4

Simple Camera Shot

Reviewing the film Citizen Kane, the scene that caught my attention was of Mr. Kane trashing the bedroom after Susan had fled. The action of Mr. Kane throwing objects around the room was a sense of alert that something major would occur in contrast to the slower scenes prior. As Mr. Kane runs throughout the room throwing a tantrum, with a simple movement of the camera to keep the character in sight or a switch to different cameras spread around the room, the scene remains as one full shot. I found this to be very interesting since many of the shots throughout the film had been a visual of one action and then a cut to another.

Other than the shot of the scene, the position of the camera was very important to the mood that the scene portrayed. The camera was positioned lower than Mr. Kane presenting the power Mr. Kane had throughout the film and still had as he released his anger on the objects in the bedroom. Even though Mr. Kane's anger was already shown through his acting, the position of the camera magnified power and rage further.

As Mr. Kane moved closer to the camera, the significant snow globe was rested on a table and the camera no longer pursued the objective in fitting the characters entire body in the shot, but focusing on the object itself. Mr. Kane's rapid movements was interrupted as his hand hovered over the snow globe. Holding it close to his chest with little movement as the camera scanned from the snow globe that was shaken revealing a snow fall to Mr. Kane's face that had revealed disturbance.

Citizen Kane: Rosebud Scene

What I am referring to as the "Rosebud Scene" is the scene where Charles Kane is trashing his room, and comes across a glass snow globe. In this scene, while Kane is throwing things across his room and breaking everything in sight, there is a consistent use of low angle shots. This portrays Kane as a sort of angry, monstrous character. This is obviously an accurate depiction, considering Kane's actions. When Kane finds the snow globe of his own home, he is immediately calmed down as he whispers "rosebud." After this moment, as Kane walks out of his room and into the hall of mirrors, the camera changes from low angle shots to normal angle shots. Different camera angles are used throughout Citizen Kane, to good effect. I also believe that the ending of Citizen Kane is what makes it a classic in the mind of movie enthusiasts. Kane is infatuated with materialistic things and money throughout the film. When he dies, and his last word is "rosebud," it reveals that Kane is not nearly as materialistic as he seems. This is why he trashes all the expensive things in his room and is truly concerned with Rosebud, his childhood sled. This suggests that through all of his marriages and economic prosperity, his only true happiness was experienced as a child in the snow, with his sled. This huge contrast between materialism and anti-materialism and unexpected showing of the latter is what makes Charles Kane such an enigma and such a great movie character.

Citizen Kane Blog Post

The film Citizen Kane uses a variety of lighting as a means of portraying the different roles and circumstances of different characters at specific times. For instance, Orson Welles' decision to place a darker light on the reporters symbolizes the circumstance that they are in. Throughout the process of analyzing Mr. Kane's life and what he meant when he said his last dying word, "Rosebud," the reporters are in the dark as to what this meant. In the very first scene with the reporters, it is clear that Welles' intention was to portray them as faceless beings whose primary role in the film is to provide a sense of mystery as to whom Mr. Kane was to the audience. The important role that lighting plays in the film is also proven in the scene when a reporter is talking to Susan Kane in the restaurant. In this scene, all of the light is on the singer while the setting and reporter around her are dark. This use of lighting helps demonstrate the importance of what Susan is saying and how she is feeling alone at that moment. Towards the end of the film when Mr. Kane and his wife are sitting at a table and she is passed out from a drug overdose, the use of lighting is evidently symbolic of Mrs. Kane’s physical and psychological state. By using deep focus and all of the lighting on Mr. Kane, the background behind him, and the drugs on the table, it symbolizes the importance of the drugs over Mrs. Kane.