Final Exam – Citizen Kane
1. Citizen Kane is one of
the most influential films ever made. Discuss this statement.
Citizen
Kane released in 1941 was directed by Orson Welles and was produced by RKO
Pictures. It has become one of the most iconic films of all time and is often
regarded as the greatest picture ever made. In short the movie recounts the
major events in the life of the protagonists Charles Foster Kane (Welles) up
until the point of his death. Although the character development and the plot
were very good and compelling for the viewer; that is not the reason Citizen Kane
is considered one of the most influential films ever. The reason behind Citizen Kane’s acclaim is
the highly inventive and new cinematic techniques employed in the film by both
Welles and his cinematographer, Gregg Toland. Welles coming from a theatre
background was himself used to be completely hands on as a director. Toland was
a veteran cinematographer and according to the textbook Understanding Movies
took the job to try and learn something from the “boy genius”. Welles was known
for his unique lighting techniques especially mood setting low key lighting. Toland
would allow Welles to adjust all the lighting setting himself although not
usually the job of the director and he would just get the camera crews to make
the changes Welles wanted to work. Furthermore, when it came to lighting and
camera shots Welles wanted every shot to be special and often had to work hard
to get what he wanted. Steep angles, close up shots, extremely low shots, deep
focus shots and crane shots were all mixed into Welles work. There is of course
the famous picture of Welles behind a camera that has been placed under floor
boards to get the shot he wanted. According the Giannetti, “Kane ushered in
revolution, implicitly challenging the classical ideal of a transparent style
that doesn’t call attention to itself” (Gianetti 538). Another prominent
technique of Welles that is demonstrated in Kane is the idea of a nonlinear
storyline. Recently I completed my final project on Quentin Tarantino who also
often employs this technique in his films and he has stated how Welles was a prominent
influence in his style. As Welles came from the Theatre world he has an eye for
mise en scene. In theatre people watch from a distance capturing all the action
in wide angle view and at different depths of the stage. Welles did this within
Kane in multiple shots, where his mise en scene set up would have the dynamic
action at the forefront but there would also be a focus on the background. Examples
of this would be the balcony shot at Kane’s election rally, the dinner for the Enquirer
with Kane in the foreground and Sloane at the end or one of the opening scenes
with Kane’s parents and a young Charles seen through the window outside. Finally,
the last aspect of Kane that I want to talk about is not a technical aspect but
more a physical one. What is phenomenal about Kane as a movie is that much of
the cast were all entirely untried in Hollywood. Kane brought 15 actors with
him from his New York live theatre none of whom were known expect himself; primarily
as a radio performer. Critics praise the acting in Kane and several actors
according to Gianetti were described as outstanding including; Welles, Dorothy
Comingore, Joseph Cotton, Everett Sloane and Agnes Moorehead. Entire books have
been written as analyses of Citizen Kane and what made the movie the icon it is
today. Welles of course was only a young man when he directed Citizen Kane and
when I think of the achievement he made with that movie well quite frankly it
puts me to shame. Attempting to completely cover all the greatest achieved and
how Welles did it within Kane would take page upon page. In this first answer I
have tried to sum up as best as I can a few specific technical elements of Kane
that have lead it to be considered the most influential movie of all time.
2.
Welles
was 23 years old when RKO allowed him free rein to director and star in citizen
Kane. He went on to create what many consider the greatest movie of all time.
As a 22 year old now about to graduate college this truly worries me and puts
my own aspirations to shame. I still do not know where in life I am heading and
at this same age Welles was working on a future blockbuster. Welles following
the death of his father used some small inheritance to travel Europe. He ended
up in Ireland where he walked into the Gate Theatre in Dublin and claimed to be
a Broadway star. The manager of Gate, Hilton Edwards, later said “he had not
believed him but was impressed by his brashness and some impassioned quality in
his audition” (Wikipedia). Welles acting in Ireland was well received and he
was recognized as successful by people in the US. He later returned to the US
and began to tour with some off Broadway shows. After a brief spell working in
and around New York, writing and acting in the late 1930’s, Welles was offered
a position to direct and produce productions for the Federal Theatre Project.
He took up this offer some of his productions included plays like Macbeth, Horse Eats Hat, The Tragical
History of Doctor Faustus, and Julius
Caesar. When he left the Federal Theatre Project he formed the
Mercury Theatre with John Houseman; the same man who employed him to the FTP.
The Mercury Theatre is where many of the actors used in Kane including Everett
Sloane, Anges Moorehead and Joseph Cotton learned their trade. During his
second year at Mercury Welles shifted his interest to radio acting; it was this
change in interests that lead to the famous War of the Worlds broadcast. The
War of the Worlds broadcast was an adaptation of the novel of the same name by
H. G Welles. The broadcast was done on the Halloween show in October 1938. It
was created in a news bulletin informational realness of the broadcast provided
it with a genuine quality that provoked panic in the audience. Many people believed
the broadcast and took it as a genuine account of a “live” Martian invasion of
earth. Welles received widespread attention following this broadcast included
some criticism. More importantly his creativity and new invention put him on
Hollywood’s radar and it was this broadcast that was credited as being the reason
RKO signed him to what is generally considered the greatest contract offered to
a completely untried motion picture director.
3. Pick an extended scene or sequence from Citizen Kane
and discuss the storytelling techniques by analyzing any combination of its
component parts (direction, writing, performance, cinematography, production design,
art direction, editing, sound, score, etc.).
As
I discussed at the beginning of this exam when talking about Kane as a picture,
between Welles and Toland they created some exceptional cinematic camera shots.
The movie is full of exceptional examples of this work but the one I have decided
to choose is the shot of Kane and Susan Alexander in the great hall/front room
of his home Xanadu. When analyzing this scene I am going to talk about the
camera shot angle, the lighting, the mise en scene and the effect sound played
on the scene. Instead of describing the shot I have placed two screen shot photos below.
At this point in the film Susan Alexander has become
disillusioned with living in Kane’s huge home and being away from all her friends
the glitz and glamour of showbiz and parties. As Alexander sits at the
fireplace completing a jigsaw puzzle Kane enters the scene and suggests they
have a picnic in the morning. In this shot Welles is communicating the distance
between the two characters by using deep focus photography. This makes the old
Kane seem unapproachable and distant physically in the sense of the camera but
the implied distance in the relationship in more important. The vast open space
between the two characters is another feature that highlights this distance and
is actually another example of Welles theatre mise en scene influence; that I
talked about earlier. Mise en scene in this shot is shown by Alexander being
dwarfed by the fireplace and statue demonstrating her submissive nature to both
Xanadu and Kane. Kane on the other hand shows his dominance by standing and
then sitting on the huge elaborate chair. At this point Kane is embracing his
position as the head on Xanadu and his power over Alexander. The dominance of Kane
and submissive nature of Alexander that the viewer understands from the
storytelling is enforced by the technical features. This is one of the
reason Citizen Kane is such a special film each shot is detailed to
fit the feeling of the characters in each varying point in the film. The
lighting in this scene is very low and creates the mood that the relationship
has gone dark and there is no longer any love or intimacy. This shot, the
distance, the lighting is in direct contrast to earlier scenes where their love
in blossoming and there is a high lighting key and they are close together. In
addition to the technical elements of lighting and camera angles the acting
also echoes the notion of distance. As Kane suggests a picnic in the morning
Alexander is forced to shout her responses as with Kane having to raise his
voice. The sound element demonstrates how far apart they are. They have to
raise their voice as each other to be heard across the separation of the room.
This again is in direct contrast to earlier scenes where quiet close talking
demonstrate intimacy and love between the pair. To conclude Welles and Toland
in this scene convey the message of the distance, lack of intimacy and the
general breakdown of the relationship between Alexander and Kane. They do this
through the camera angle, the lighting and the dialogue between the characters.
Works Cited
Louis Giannetti. Understanding Movies. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002.
Print.
"Orson Welles." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 May 2012. Web. 15 May 2012.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_Welles>.
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