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Citizen Kane

            Orson Welles was a director ahead of his time. His portrayal of Kane shows his acting ability, but this film is not about acting. It is about a powerful man whose downfall creates a reaction unexpected to anyone. It is also about the mystery of one word. But what is it mostly about? Style. Citizen Kane uses camera, lighting, and set techniques to show Kane's rise and fall from power. This fact makes the camera almost one of the film's characters. The camera allows each of us in the audience to see the world as Kane would see it. This is accomplished by revealing much about the film's characters through their relationship with the camera. Does Kane fear his first wife Emily? Does he feel he is better than his second wife Susan? Is he happy with his grandiose palace, or does he feel trapped within its walls? All of these questions are answered almost wholly through his relationship with the camera. .
             It is Welles' use of camera techniques that made Citizen Kane such a milestone in the development of cinema. He experimented with new techniques and in doing so forever changed the face of film. For example in the scene where he dines with his first wife Emily the camera angle is manipulated to show the breakdown of their relationship. At first they are a happy couple sitting close and shown together, but as time progresses they are shown further and further apart. The growing space between them on screen depicts perfectly the chasm that was developing in their relationship. Another example occurs much later as he watches his first wife Susan assemble a puzzle. They have moved from New York to Florida where Susan has begun to feel trapped. She complains about this fact to Kane who does not relent in his insistence that they stay at Xanadu. This occurs on two occasions. The first time the camera shows the couple on the same plane, Susan sits while Kane stands beside her. However by the second conversation Susan has moved to the ground and Kane looms over her.


Essays Related to Citizen Kane

1. Citizen Kane

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  • Word Count: 306
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2. Citizen Kane

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3. Groundbreaking Cinema - Citizen Kane

"Citizen Kane" is known in history as one of the best films of all time, but what makes a movie "the best movie of all time?" There are actually many different reasons a movie could be considered the best, but few have ever achieved something even close to the genius of Orson Welles that is "Citizen Kane." ... What Orson Welles has done with his masterpiece "Citizen Kane" has created one of the first movies in American history that perfected the idea of visual storytelling. The first scene of "Citizen Kane" is, in my opinion, is the best example of visual storytelling because there are...

  • Word Count: 973
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4. Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane broke down every frontier, surpassing films of its time through the use of camera techniques, setting, scene transitions, soundtrack, and suspense. ... Citizen Kane opens in a mystifying way, with suspenseful music narrating the changing of the settings. ... When a viewer remembers a film, they will remember the way in which they felt, so being that Citizen Kane kept people on the edge of their seats in search for "rosebud", it surely makes a memorable and great film. ... Citizen Kane invokes the viewer within each new scene, each new smooth transition, and each new character....

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5. Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane broke down every frontier, surpassing films of its time through the use of camera techniques, setting, scene transitions, soundtrack, and suspense. ... Citizen Kane opens in a mystifying way, with suspenseful music narrating the changing of the settings. ... When a viewer remembers a film, they will remember the way in which they felt, so being that Citizen Kane kept people on the edge of their seats in search for "rosebud", it surely makes a memorable and great film. ... Citizen Kane invokes the viewer within each new scene, each new smooth transition, and each new character....

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6. Citizen kane as a remembered person story

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7. Framing of Citizen Kane

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  • Word Count: 1979
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8. Citizen Kane

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9. Final Paper - Citizen Kane

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  • Word Count: 3526
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