Neva Lilla, Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane is the most memorable film ever made, ever since watching it at a young age, I remembered the ending, and that really helped to put it into perspective when watching it again in with my concentrations on the editing and form the film.  Right from the beginning I noticed how much Orson Wells appreciated the use of the dissolve technique, as it was very common throughout the film to pass from one scene to the next.  It was a very effective way of transferring into the next scene and connecting each scene together.  Many great examples of this are found throughout the movie, an excellent example of one is during Charles Kane’s run for governor, the claps would continue into the next clip of him speaking at a rally, dissolving to the next clip of him speaking to another crowd.

           

I also noticed a lot of mise en scene throughout this film; a great example is the scene of Charles Kane as a young boy throwing snowballs at the window while his mom and dad talk to a banker about becoming the boy’s guardian, after she was giving a large amount of money.  That whole scene develops with not cuts. During those cuts the lighting is also done in a high key, to show more brightness to the young boy’s life, compared to the darkness of the later scenes, when Kane retires to Xanadu.   Orson Wells also was very focused on the camera angles throughout the whole film, most of the shots of Charles Kane were shot in a low angle giving the feel of power and control.  Most of the shots of the people Kane would talk to tended to be a little higher angle, giving the feeling of inferiority. 

            The spacing in this film is very distinctive, with very specific spacing set for specific meanings.  One of my best scenes that incorporated this concept is when Charles and Susan are in Xanadu, Susan working on a puzzle in a massive enormous room, Charles comes to talk to her and there is a huge space between them, there is even a couch between the two.  It is very obvious that he chooses not to sit closer to her, and so there is much louder frustrating communication between the two.  There was also a lot of repetition on some editing techniques that Wells tended to use a lot.

            The second to last scene, when the reporter talks about what he thinks rosebud means places this movie to the top of Excellency because he really sums the whole movie into one monologue, explaining what life really is, and what life means for those on the verge of death

“I don’t think any word explains a man’s life.” ~ Thompson