Preview

Citizen Kane Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
940 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Citizen Kane Essay
If you had the power to control someone's emotions, would you seize it? If you could make someone laugh, make someone cry, feel jealousy, or pride; then you would be one powerful figure in history and life today. This is the job of a Director. Their talents and capabilities are an artform of leadership and individuality that can influence a nation if not the world. In the film Citizen Kane, Orson Welles directs the stage to illustrate the story of how sometimes life places you on a path that you don’t want or desire. With outstanding cinematography and personal style, Orson Welles emphasizes that Power and acceptance can be bought for a price.

Camera art is a form that Orson welles used to his advantage to convey certain emotions while
…show more content…
We are able to see different styles that helped tell the story, that are common in many of his films. For example, Touch of Evil- another one of his movies- opens up with a long and continuous shot or mise en scène to create suspense. This usage of camera work and environment helps Welles define his way of directing and how he likes to keep the audience in a very long moment of suspense, such as the scene at the end of Citizen Kane when the audience is shown all the many statues and treasures that Kane had building up this emotion of pity, sympathy, and almost mocking way of representing his life and what he stood for. This long shot, like the one in Touch of Evil build the audience up into thinking that whatever was supposed to be happening was not going to happen immediately, but with time. And, whilst one shot ended with quite a large explosion, the other ended with the major climax of what “Rosebud” actually was. We are also also able to see an important aspect to Welles through his acting career. While this is not uncommon for many directors, Orson Welles performs in all of his movies, making him not only a recognizable director, but actor as well. Orson has the ability to present power in all of his movies in a way that influences audiences enough to make them understand the meaning behind a film. Touch of evil represents a woman who is confronting a man named Hank. Though small in size, the woman has this

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film by Orson Welles, its producer, co-author, director and star. The picture was Welles's first feature film. Nominated for Academy Awards in nine categories, it won an Academy Award for Best Writing by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Welles. Considered by many critics, filmmakers, and fans to be the greatest film ever made, Citizen Kane was voted the greatest film of all time in five consecutive Sight & Sound polls of critics, until it was displaced by Vertigo in the 2012 poll. It topped the American Film Institute's 100 Years ... 100 Movies list in 1998, as well as AFI's 2007 update. Citizen Kane is particularly praised for its cinematography, music, and narrative structure, which were innovative for its…

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Who is Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) and what where the defining moments of his life? These are the questions that lead Thompson (William Alland) and the viewer on a captivating goose chase through the memories of Kane’s closest associates. Like the many possible meanings contained within the word kane, such as the Irish interpretation “little battler”, the Japanese translation of “money” and “gold”, the Welsh’s interpretation of “beautiful”, and the Hawaiian’s definition as “man”, friends and family each had there own interpretations of Charles Foster Kane. Collectively, these views show Kane as a character that was thrown into a position of power and money, and that underneath the façade of glamour and monetary possessions, he was a lonely and complex individual deprived of a normal childhood experience.…

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Citizen Kane Reaction

    • 268 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Citizen Kane (1941), which is considered as the groundbreaking movie in the history of filmmaking is no doubt the most brilliant movie. This movie is the masterpiece of Mr. Orson Welles. Welles did not only written, directed and produced Citizen Kane but also played lead role in the movie.…

    • 268 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Aesthetics In Citizen Kane

    • 1015 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The film “Citizen Kane” used many different types of aesthetics to portray the scenes and characters in certain ways. The movie used music to help show what emotion the viewer should be getting from certain scenes. “Citizen Kane” had the characters dress in certain ways to show the differences in what their lives were like at certain points in the movie. These elements in the film help the audience contextualize what the characters are supposed to be like. The film also used different sound effects to describe the scene, such as emphasize the size of certain rooms where the movie was taking place. All of these are a type of aesthetic that are used in the film to help us perceive the scenes in certain ways and to make us feel certain emotions…

    • 1015 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Citizen Kane, a classic American dramatic film, is considered to be the ultimate classic masterpiece and the world 's most famous and highest rated film, as it is ranked the number one best film of all time. It was the first movie Orson Welles, a theatrical genius, co-wrote, directed, and produced at only an age of twenty-five years. The subject of this movie is the life of Charles Foster Kane, known as Citizen Kane, which is played by Welles himself. Dating back to 1941, Citizen Kane set a high standard for the art of cinematography as it made cinematic advances and technical innovations on many fronts. A new style of film making was created with innovations varying from the use of deep focus technique, camera positions and angles shots, story telling and aural techniques.…

    • 887 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Citizen Kane - Module B

    • 796 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Citizen Kane is Orson Welles dramatic portrayal of the devastating effects of one mans obsessive egotistical drive for notoriety which steadily isolates him over time. Through the use of time and place, the film shows the changes and effects of Kane’s ego throughout his life. From his childhood, to the height of his ego and later to its decline and the negative affects these had on Kane.…

    • 796 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Citizen Kane's longevity is attributed to its ability to cast a light on contemporary values and criticize (or satire) their influence in operating a society. Many critics such as Robert Ebert claimed this film to be “the greatest movie of all time” 50 years after it was released. Orson Welles 1941 film incorporates a series of cinematic techniques to keep the viewer captivated by the plot whilst engaging with Welles depiction of; the emptiness and corruptive nature of wealth and the necessity of love.…

    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Citizen Kane is a film open to many interpretations and analyses. It tells the story of its main character through the complex points of view of those who knew him. Or thought they knew him. The character of Charles Foster Kane is played by, and done so in an enigmatic performance, by Orson Welles. The intrinsic bias and prejudice of the “narrators” in this film creates conflicting accounts of who Charles Foster Kane really was. Kane was a private man; closely guarding his true identity, making it difficult to differentiate the private Kane from his public identity. Throughout the film’s development of Kane, several inconsistencies and contradictions arise in the depiction of the character’s personality. All of these issues make it difficult to form a solid portrayal of whom Kane actually was. However, there is enough evidence to conclude that Charles Foster Kane was a noble figure sabotaged by his own anti-social behavior and his search for love, his inability to find and provide it, and the way this haunted him to his dying day.…

    • 1327 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since the beginning of film, very few single films have changed and influenced the industry as much as Citizen Kane. It is considered a masterpiece and will often be cited as “the greatest film of all time”. Barsam says “Citizen Kane is important to your study of the movies because, within the borders of film history – 1895 to the present – it marks a major turning point between the films produced before it and those produced after it.” (2016) Orson Wells who produced, directed, and stared in the movie, used many new techniques both in challenging traditional narrative, as well as using new technical elements to create this revolutionary work.…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Orsen Welles’ ‘Citizen Kane’ depicts an accurate portrayal of the human experience through its revolutionary cinematic techniques that continue to resonate even with a modern audience. It is through these techniques that the significance of perseverance is given its true value, as they highlight the search of Charles Foster Kane, newspaper and business tycoon, to secure his ideal, the American Dream. He also strives to find love without knowing how to give it himself. These themes, which remain to be so relevant, even for today’s audience, reinforce the significance of perseverance and its’ place in every human experience.…

    • 1164 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Orson Welles used light and shadow not as a necessity but to give scenes a certain meaning and atmosphere. He used lighting expressively to inject viewers with desired emotions. Prior to that moment movies and their messages were transmitted from the screen to the audience through the content of the film rather than the way it was shot. (Alton, 87) In other words, ‘Citizen Kane’ can be seen as the first time ever for a filmmaker to use the technicality of filmmaking in conjunction with the content to deliver to the audience what the filmmaker what trying to communicate. A perfect example of a scene where the use of lighting to convey meaning can be seen is at the beginning of ‘Citizen Kane’. After witnessing a news reel about the death of the…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Citizen Kane

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Citizen Kane “the best film of the 20th century” according to the AFI and many other film organizations. André Bazin describes this film as “a discourse on method”. What Bazin is basically trying to say is that Citizen Kane is a technical movie for its time. Citizen Kane is a realistic film and it is number one because of it 's cinematography, the framing, editing, kinetics, storytelling, soundtrack and it 's overall message.…

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    By many, Citizen Kane is one of the greatest films ever made. Orson Wells, at age 25, directed, produced, and starred in this film. Citizen Kane is a memorable film for countless reasons. The film brought about controversy because it fictionalized the life of William Randolph Hearst, a powerful newspaper publisher. The film draws remarkable parallels with his life and his relationship with his mistress. There is also speculation that the film is loosely based on Wells' life as well. This movie tells the fascinating story of the life and death of Charles Foster Kane, a narcissistic newspaper runner, politician, and a wealthy millionaire. What makes this movie spectacular is not only the acting of the actors, but the symbolism and cinematic effects. The techniques used by the cinematographer brought this film to life. This is what sets Citizen Kane apart from other films.…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Citizen Kane Analysis

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Pick 2 out of the 3 images and analyse in depth how their composition affects the storytelling of Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane. Word Count: Max 600words.…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Citizen Kane Expressionism

    • 1748 Words
    • 7 Pages

    One of the greatest expressionism and realism film- The Last Laugh- directed by German Director F.W Murnau, was released in December 1924. The exaggerated camera shots in this film give the audience a strong sense of anger, disappointment, and compassion of the Hotelportier. Facial expression and characters’ action stick out from the film. Selection of the camera settings are mostly set on the street or the apartment which intimated our society: a piece of our real life circumstances. His film characters establishment seems like there are somewhat similar people that live in our society, but the exaggeration of the characters’ expression rejects the possibility of an actual person living in the world. However, because of the obvious character expression, the probability of the truth of the story is even more outstanding. Another remarkable film that combines expressionism and realism, director Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, was published in 1941. As the same subject matter using expressionism, Welles relatively puts more efforts on extreme camera angles. Moreover, comparison to Murnau’s realism style, Citizen Kane is more like telling a historical incident, which an…

    • 1748 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays