17 Kasım 2016 Perşembe
13 Kasım 2016 Pazar
Analysis of Citizen Kane
Citizen
Kane is a film shot in 1941 by Orson Walles; who is also its’ producer,
co-author, director and star. The genre of the film is drama, at the same time
mystery. This is because the film consists drama in the flashbacks of the
characters, while the other characters actually try to solve the mystery of the
main character’s last words: ‘Rosebud’.
This film has been nominated for Academy Awards in nine different
categories. It has actually won one Academy Award for Best Writing (Original
Screenplay) by Herman J. Mankiewcz and Welles.
By being a quasi-biographical (a film that describes real life, behind a
façade of fiction), this film examines the life and legacy of Charles Foster
Kane who is played by Orson Welles.
The film starts with Kane Foster’s childhood, his separation from his
parents and Colorado due to poverty. Through the film, the impacts on Charles; of
being separated from his family and moving to New England to live with Mr. Thatcher is depicted.
Through the use of flashbacks; his story is narrated with the research of a
reporter, who is trying to solve the mystery of Charle’s last words before
he dies.
To
blend the settings, superimposition is used in the beginning of the film. This
technique gives the feeling of continuity and shows that there is a
relation/connection between the settings. This is the last scene, the scene
where the sequence of superimposition ends. The sign that says ‘No Trespassing’
foreshadows the story of the character. It means that he has no way out of the
life, he is designated to live. The ring fence further supports this sensation;
that he is trapped and there isn’t a way out. 
It continues with an establishing shot, This is a wide shot which is used to
show the setting and
showing the big landscape which the characters at the same time.
Even without the existence
shows the place where Charlie lives. of Charlie, his big picture shows his
significance to the movie.
There are many scenes where Charlie Kane is
shot with a low angle; whether a mid shot(first picture), long shot(second and
third picture) is used. The use of long angle indicates his significance. These
kinds of shorts are mostly used when he is speaking to the public. This is
because of the fact that he was a candidate to become a president, and that
makes him more important compared to the other characters in the scene who are
just there to listen. He is also always placed in the center of the frame,
which further supports the fact that he is important.
This is the scene
where her mother gives Charlie away because she doesn’t want him to grow up in
poverty and desires him to live a comfortable, rich life. During this scene,
close-ups are used to demonstrate the feelings of characters. So it’s possible
to see that the mother is sad and Charlie is angry.
We see Kane through a
window pane throwing snowballs, while Mr. Thatcher talks over a deal with the
parents of Charles Kane. Normally the director would make the conversation be
the main point in the frame by blurring the background but in this case, by the
use of deep focus shot, we sympathize with Charles because he is the
subject of conversation visually and literally.
This is the scene which comes right after
the one where Charlie leaves his own family. This is his only scene as a child
in his new home. The high angle which is used to shoot young Charlie and the
low angle which is used to shoot Mr. Thatcher, demonstrate the dominance and
significance relation between them. Although Mr. Thatcher is shot with a lower
angle(this shows that he has the authority); when it comes to placement his position ,which is near the left edge of
the frame, indicates that he is insignificant in the film. Oppositely, while
Charlie is shot with a high angle which shows his lack of authority, him being
positioned in the middle of the frame reveals the fact that he is important in
the film.
There are two
shots of the character Jed Leland. This shots are before a flashback( before he
starts telling a memory of him which is
seen as a flashback ) and after the flashback. Before the flashback the
character is shot with an eye level angle which shows that he is not
significant, nor trivial. But after the flashback, when the audience learns
that he was fired from the paper do to his nasty comments about Kane’s wife’s
performance, his value directly decreases. That’s why after the flashback, he
is continued to be shot with a high angle.
The use of deep focus is again visible. In
spite of the fact that Charlie is closer to the camera and more significant,
Jed is equally visible due to deep focus.
This shows that Jed is in relation with Charlie. In this scene deep
focus visually details the character’s thoughts and conflict by juxtaposing
them relative to the rest of the scene. 
This shot is a high angle shot which depicts
non-dominance of Kane’s wife. The shadow of Charlie covers half of his wife’s
face, which shows his impact and power over his wife. Also the use of low key
lighting helps the creation of drama in the scene and makes the audience feel
uneasy.
This is an example of an editing technique
which is used a lot in this film, and is called superimposition. The different
newspaper headings about the performance of Charlie’s wife are superimposed to
Charlie’s face expression, and/or to his wife herself, plus to the audience.
The music used in the scene, Kane’s expressions which are superimposed, and the
sequence of the shots create an oppressive/ negative mood.
This scene comes towards the end of the movie,
when Kane has everything that money can buy and when he lives in a castle with
his wife. This scene is very important in several ways. First it’s possible to
say that this is a wide shot which shows the setting. When it’s observed, it’s
easy to say that there is a lot of negative space, which depicts the character
as powerless. The use of low key lighting again creates drama, by the use of
shadows in the setting. The character is almost blended in the shadows, in a
very large room; so it’s possible to say that the character is now lonely,
within his own wealth.
Also, the use of
echoes exist in this scene. While talking to each other Mr. Kane and his wife
sometimes even can’t hear each other. This repeatedly stresses the truth which
is, despite the fact that they are
living in a huge mansion , they are very lonely and isolated.
Lastly, the sound design of the film is
apparent. There are no internal sounds which mean that all sounds in the film are
external. This indicates that there isn’t a major internal (psychological)
conflict in the film. Even though this
is an old production, during the movie sounds are synchronous most of the time.
In some particular scenes there are asynchronous sounds (ex: When the audience
applauses Mr.Kane’s wife after her performance), yet this is only because lack
of technology. Adding to this, ambient sounds can’t be heard, which shows that
the technical aspects of the film is well managed.
Throughout this film, the story of a boy
who is separated from his parents is told. The film starts and ends with the
scene that shows the “No Trespassing” sign, because there is no way that the
character can change his life after being sent to New England. Only if he could
stay in Colorado, he could have the chance to become a good person. With this
shift, Charles fall from childhood innocence into the world of glamour, glitz
and money. His face paced life cause him to hurt a lot of people and loose
friends. And the word ‘rosebud’, which is tried to be understood throughout the
film turns out to be the name of the sled that he used to play with when he was
a little boy. (The same sled that he used to separate himself from Mr.
Thatcher.)
The use of the word ‘rosebud’ as his final
words, reveals that he has lost his childhood innocence and became a bad
person. The bad part of the film is that he realizes this too late, and after
his deat rosebud is tossed into a fire and burned. So with his death, the only
thing remaining from his childhood and representing his innocence is lost.
10 Kasım 2016 Perşembe
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