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Citizen Kane (1941)

Bernstein: "Well, it's no trick to make a lot of money… if what you want to do is make a lot of money."

What's the story about?
The biographical film which shows the life of a wealthy man who owns the publishing world (newspapers, etc). We learn about his descent from idealism into a scary pursuit of ruthless power. The story is told in flashbacks, revealed by a reporter who wishes to know the meaning of Mr. Charles Foster Kane's dying words: "Rosebud".

The greatest movie of all time
Citizen Kane is often called this, and for good reason. No other movie shaped Hollywood and film-making the way this did.

Director Orson Welles was only 25 at the time, and forever influenced Hollywood like no other would. In this first lesson, we'll look at these techniques: Deep focus, Deep space, Low-angle shots, Backlighting, and Mise-en-scène. Check out PART TWO for more techniques used.

Deep Focus

In the past, only the people and things close up (the foreground) were in focus. Now, everything in the frame in focus at the same time: both the foreground and the background. This is known as deep focus, and Kane was the first film to employ this technique.

Deeo focus requires the cinematographer use the correct combination of lighting, composition and the specific camera lens in order to produce a larger depth of field. This specific placement of design elements is known as mise-en-scène. Cinematographer Gregg Toland had used this technique before in an earlier film he had worked on called "The Long Voyage Home", but this movie was the first time he had used it extensively.

Deep focus was particularly effective in scenes that depict Kane's loss of control and personal isolation. The space between the foreground and the background are symbolic of the his power: the space he commands, and the space in which he has no power.

The above movie frame shot is an excellent example of deep focus cinematography. There are 3 main planes in this scene: the mother up front, the father at the door, and a young Kane outside the window in the background. This gives the audience a choice of where to look, rather than limiting their attention to focus. Here, all the characters are looking at the paper - the viewer is given the chance to look at what is important in the scene through the "eye lines" of the other characters. The focus in this scene is on the mother signing away the control of her son's life - whom we can see is playing outside. Watch the scene below:

Deep Space

Deep space, also known as deep staging, is part of the mise-en-scène. It places significant actors and props in different planes of the picture.

Look at the two shots in the same scene. First, Kane is in the background, dwarfed by giant windows that are 6 feet above the floor. Now Kane is in the foreground, and the windows look of ordinary size. This is a great visual pun and shows how deep space can emphasize the power or significance of certain characters and props.

Watch the scene where these shots come from. Note at the beginning of the scene, the man is reading a newspaper - when he lowers the paper, we see a man sitting across from him. Mr. Kane then enters the scene.

Low-angle shots

Low-angle shots basically means shooting your camera from the floor, or closer to that level. By lowering the camera, Welles showed ceilings in many of his scenes for Citizen Kane. This was very new, because normally ceilings are hidden in movies - the sound stages usually have no ceilings, or are cluttered with microphones and other equipment. Take a look at the ceiling shown in the scene below - it's not often you see that!

Backlighting

The frame shot below is an example of extreme backlighting. Backlighting is light that is intentionally cast onto figures from the opposite side of the camera.

The backlighting in this scene turns the characters into silhouette figures because of the line created by the light. The characters appear anonymous because of the technique. This is an expressionist technique, especially in German Expressionism - lighting distorts reality in order to convey emotions. Cool, isn't it?

Mise-en-scène

As mentioned in deep focus, mise-en-scène is a french term which describes all elements place in front of the camera on set. It includes settings and props, lighting, costumes and make-up, and figure behavior.

In the above scene, we are introduced to the love of Mr. Kane's life - Susan Alexander. Look at the placement of the shadow across her face and the man's back in the frame. Mise-en-scène tends to be very important for realists.

Check out PART TWO for more techniques used…

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