Citizen Kane Topic Paper
“Citzen Kane” is a bold movie and is an acknowledged milestone in the development of cinematic technique. The intriguing opening is filled with mesmerizing lap dissolves and camera movements from one sinister, mysterious image to the next, searching closer and closer it seems. The film's first sight is a "No Trespassing" sign hanging on a giant gate in the night's foggy mist, illuminated by the moonlight. The camera pans up the chain-link mesh gate that dissolves and changes into images of great iron flowers or oak leaves on the heavy gate. On the crest of the gate is a single, silhouetted, wrought-iron "K" initial (for Kane).In a sequence of views, the subjective and curious camera, approaches the castle and violates the "No Trespassing" sign by entering the neglected grounds. This is the first cinematic technique we see Welles use—the subjective camera. The subjective camera is “a camera shot or film style that provides the audience with the specific vision or perspective of a character in the film or the point of view of the film's
Orson Welles also uses shadows very efficiently. Such as when the camera enters the house through the window and all the viewer can see is a silhouette. He can create moods very effectively this way; making sure the viewer is feeling exactly what he wants them to feel. Welles creates these shadows by using unconventional lighting techniques. He seems to be using light and shade to make the viewers feel like they’re looking at a picture. During most of the movie, Orson Welles uses the dissolving technique to switch from scene to scene. This makes the movie flow because he is using transitions to get from one point to another. In the film's final shots - a reversal of the film's beginning images, a dissolve shows the exterior of the Kane's impressive mansion at dusk, panning up with the black smoke of his burning possessions pouring from the chimney filling the sky. The smoke of Kane's youth - his sled, and the infamous Rosebud - disappears into the night sky. The camera pans down the chain-link fence where the sign "No Trespassing" is visible
Some topics in this essay:
Orson Welles,
,
BOARDING HOUSE,
Flashbacks Welles,
kane’s life,
camera pans chain-link,
white page,
cast ages,
orson welles,
subjective camera,
pans chain-link,
technique welles,
camera pans,
cinematic technique,
trespassing sign,
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Approximate Word count = 708
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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