Preview

How Does Citizen Kane Use Mis-En Scene

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
705 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Does Citizen Kane Use Mis-En Scene
Citizen Kane Cinematography is the process of capturing moving images on film or a digital storage device. Mis-en-Scene is used to represent the director’s role of what appears in the shot. This can include lighting, setting, costumes, props and actions of who or what is in the shot. Citizen Kane was a revolutionary film and advanced many film techniques that are still used today. Citizen Kane was released in 1941; Directed by Orson Wells who also stars in the film at the age of 25. It was him film debut. Citizen Kane used Mis-en-Scene and deep focus to show themes in the film. Some major themes in Citizen Kane include loss, materialism, and the American dream. In one of the first scenes in the movie, Kane is a child playing outside in the snow. Inside his mother is talking to Mr. Thatcher about Kane’s future. Kane’s father is against Kane going away, but Kane’s mother makes the final decision. As the shot zooms out Kane is getting smaller as his mother is getting bigger. This shows the importance of his mother, his mother had all the power in the shot, and next to her was Mr. Thatcher who was bigger than Kane’s father. Mr. Thatcher is more important than his father because he is getting Kane, as his father has no decision in that. Kane is very small in the background, showing …show more content…
Guaranteeing things Kane will keep his word to. But in the shot as Kane is creating the declaration, Kane steps into the shadow. Darkness and shadows foreshadow evil, as Kane will not live up to these rules. This begins to show his dark side, as his dream is becoming a nightmare. Kane is followed by greed for power, wealth and immortality. Later in the movie Kane was sent the declaration in mail by Jedediah, his closest friend that Kane fired. Kane rips up the declaration. Throughout the film, you see that everything that Kane wanted has faded away from his childhood, to the love of his life, to his

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Citizen Kane

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Citizen Kane is often regarded as the greatest American film of all time. It expertly executes many different aspects of film making as an art form. Orson Wells used a new style of shot framing called Mise en Scene to show the dynamics in a scene. He also used lighting in ways that had never been used before. As the star of the movie as well, Orson Wells delivers an all time great performance as Kane. All these things add up to create one of the greatest movies to ever grace the silver screen.…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • 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
  • 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
  • Good Essays

    Orson Welles' film Citizen Kane has been consistently ranked as one of the best films ever made. A masterpiece of technique and storytelling, the film helped to change Hollywood film-making and still exerts considerable influence today. However, at the time of its premiere in 1941, it was a commercial failure that spelled disaster for Welles' Hollywood career.…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Classical Hollywood films in the Golden Age in the United States contained complex storylines with cause-and-effect. For Hollywood filmmakers, the Classical Hollywood style was a persuasive and effective form of storytelling. Classical Hollywood cinema was by no means simplistic, as many films have complex plot webs. Because Classical Hollywood filmmakers used continuity editing, their focus was not to be as artistic as possible. One of the biggest differences between Classical Hollywood cinema and the Soviet Montage cinema lies in the causal agents—psychological vs. social.…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The classic masterpiece, Citizen Kane (1941), is probably the world's most famous and highly rated film, with its many remarkable scenes, cinematic and narrative techniques and innovations. The director, star, and producer were all the same individual - Orson Welles (in his film debut at age 25), who collaborated with Herman J. Mankiewicz on the script and with Gregg Toland as cinematographer. Within the maze of its own aesthetic, Citizen Kane develops two interesting themes. The first concerns the debasement of the private personality of the public figure, and the second deals with the crushing weight of materialism. Taken together, these two themes comprise the…

    • 3329 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The non-linear narrative of Kane’s life is told from five distinct perspectives and the only thing that the audience hears from Kane himself is his final word, “rosebud”. The long shot of the nurse entering the room through the shattered glass of the snow-globe is representative that nothing is seen as it is and prompts the viewer to ponder on the appearance vs the reality. Subsequent to signing the declaration of principles which state “I will provide the people of this city (…) all the news honestly” the low angle shot of Kane tearing up the “Declaration of Principles” is symbolic of him being prepared to distort the truth for his own image. Robert Eberts 1998 review supports this claim by stating that the film “covers the rise of the penny press (…) the growth of journalism” Thus, the modern audience is able to interpret the sincerity and genuineness of media, which is integral in contemporary times, and comprehend the impossibility of completely interpreting an individual’s…

    • 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

    She plays a major role in Charles life and I believe her to be a round character in this story. Kane seems to fall in love with Susan because he is mistakenly believed that Susan will love him for his charm. As their relationship continues, she is forcefully being transformed into some prize that Charles wants people to see her as. As she realizes that her identity is being stolen from her, she is driven mad and the only way she can save herself from this is to leave Charles. Susan plays a symbolic role in Charles life. When he met Susan, he marriage ceased, his ambitions for Governor failed and he lost the respect of the people. Everything he fought for was gone. And Susan’s departure from his life represented the time his mother sent him away.…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The way films are created and pieced together has progressed greatly over the past century, where before 1910 there was little use of film techniques such as special effects, animation, complex transition sequences and many more. However the introduction of film techniques have helped films gain a sense of genre and establishment as they were used to create specific intensities set out by the director; this is where roles corresponding to certain areas were introduced such as cinematographers, production designers and lighting directors. A classic example of a well-known director would be Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980) who is famous for creating suspense films like The Birds or Psycho. I am mentioning him as he had revolutionised the way films…

    • 2415 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Movies have long been known to create a portal through which its viewers can transcend through their own realities and experience the unimaginable. The visual, sounds, and narrative of great movies immediately attract the focus of its audience as they move into a trance for those 1-2 hours of screen time. While many great movies introduce their audiences to varying experiences that heighten their senses and grasp their focus, some measure of relatability is necessary to connect with audiences. Such concepts of implementing elements of realism into the various facets of a film help establish a relevant connection, through which audiences can relate. However during the Hollywood Classical era, introducing such techniques of intensifying realism in movies was often unconventional and not an achievable goal for directors and cinematographers. The techniques required to implement such elements were either not well known or plausible. There were some movies during this era that did defy such tendencies and broke barriers in terms of delivering a movie that differentiated through such concepts like realism. Two famous films that have utilized certain techniques in creating an intensified form of realism in their own ways are Citizen Kane, by Orson Welles, and Double Indemnity, by Billy Wilder.…

    • 1643 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1941, the sophisticated and classical screenplay, Citizen Kane was released to the public in America. The motion picture is known to be as probably one of the world’s most famous and highly-rated films, with its remarkable scenes, and use of literary devices. Director, star, and producer of the film were all the duty of one man by the name of Orsen Welles. He stars as Charles Foster Kane, who was ripped away from his parents during childhood, then went on to live a very lavish lifestyle, but never knew what real happiness was. Throughout Citizen Kane, Welles presents the idea of the American Dream as living a rich and prosperous lifestyle, but illustrates at how unsatisfactory that this “dream” really is through the use of lighting, sound,…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    When producing a film, there are two techniques that can be applied. The first being realism, where the importance of the story overshadows the art of production. Second being Formalism, where an emphasis is placed on the production of the film, often resulting in enhances visuals and sounds effects. Although production has advanced since the first motion pictures in the 1890s, the key components of a good film hold steady. Formalism and Realism are accomplished in all great movies.…

    • 1417 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Citizen Kane

    • 1306 Words
    • 6 Pages

    One example is when they put out the article "Charles Foster Kane Defeated, Fraud At Polls". From that headline you would believe that he was beaten by some illegal purpose, but it was just a headline getting people to read the article and the enjoyment of writing against your enemy. Next, when Kane got all the writers from the chronicle to start writing for the inquirer. He put out an article that said "The Greatest Newspaper Staff In The World" and had a picture of all the new guys standing together. As you can see there it is not so much false information, but he said they are greatest writers in the world. When all these guys came form the opposing newspaper. While watching the film there are many other times that Kane portrays yellow journalism. He was out to help the poor people of the community and just have fun with the newspaper.…

    • 1306 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Alfred Hitchcock Essay

    • 783 Words
    • 3 Pages

    It is said that a director’s main objective is to create films that capture their audience’s attention and one director who has defiantly demonstrated this in all his film is Alfred Hitchcock, using various film techniques and his very own cinematic style.…

    • 783 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays