Citizen Kane broke all the rules because to Welles there were no rules within art, to create was paramount, to find new ways to communicate was intoxicating to him, so he simply went out and did it without any consideration for anything other than finding new ways to tell a story. The protagonist Charles Foster Kane, becomes an enigma to us, a puzzle that will never be solved, on one hand charismatic, on the other a complete fraud, he is all too human. Citizen Kane employs creative storytelling techniques as well. Acting almost as a biopic (biographical film), Citizen Kane portrays a long period of time realistically, allowing the characters to age as the story goes on. Instead of being told in a linear, completely chronological manner, Kane’s story unfolds in overlapping segments that add more information as each narrator adds his or her story. …show more content…
The flashbacks are given from the perspectives of characters who are aging or forgetful, which casts doubt on the memories being discussed. These are unreliable narrators whose own opinions and interpretations affect their accuracy. The storytelling techniques succeed in depicting Charles Foster Kane as an mysterious, a distressed, complicated man who, in the end, leaves viewers with more questions than answers and inevitably invokes sympathy rather than contempt. Welles's achievements in this film marked a new direction in cinema. Many critics argue that Citizen Kane, with its inventive use of lighting and shadow, is the first film noir, or at least the direct predecessor of noir, a genre that employs dark, moody atmosphere to augment the often violent or mysterious events taking place. Citizen Kane introduced Hollywood to the creative potential of cinematic
In this essay I shall concentrate on the plays 'Road' by Jim Cartwright and 'Blasted' by Sarah Kane with specific reference to use of language and structure of dialogue as examples of dramatic techniques.
Throughout the years, many directors have been making movies that seem to "scare the hell out of people". From thrilling to just suspenseful scenes, Alfred Hitchcock explores different techniques to ensure that he captures the audience's attention.
Mise-en-scène, cinematography and editing are used in all forms of cinema. Within the “Declaration of Principles” scene of Citizen Kane, lighting, blocking and panning are three of the main sub aspects that work in unison to consistently demonstrate important aspects of the film. Welles uses these attributes to portray to the audience how this younger Kane is an important newspaper owner, with an even more important document. He creates a scene that has a heavy emphasis on panning to continuously preserve a frame that centers Kane while also lighting the document so viewers can constantly see the important plot and characters of the movie.
The first movie I would like to concentrate on is the film that is considered to have started the development of the genre – M by Fritz Lang (1931). Born in Germany and originally starting his career there, Fritz Lang shot this film in Germany as well, before moving to the U.S. later in life. This film was also later translated in the United States in 1933 (Garncarz 219-25). Although, earlier in the 20th century Hollywood had already produced a number of films that had similar features to “film noir” (among them are Nosferatu (1922) and Sunrise (1927)), but which still were shot more in the stylistic traditions of horror (Wexman 49). This film (M (1931)) was also the first one to start a whole line of black and white movies with similar characteristics and techniques used in them. Although color movies have already taken their established place in the film industry, the decision to shoot films in black and white was a creative technique that provided films with a certain atmosphere and allowed using more denominated shadows and light accents. Everything in this film, from complex, maze-like narrative which includes crime, police and court and leitmotif as a background music to the shadows on the columns and in the windows and simple shots that presuppose something horrifying. Lang also explores an unsavory subject in his work which is now considered one of the features of “film noir” (Brégent‐Heald 125-38). M’s plot and narrative shifts from protagonist’s to antagonist’s point of view (the viewpoint of Hans and the cops trying to catch him), blurring the boundary between
Before Citizen Kane, filmmaking was easily predictable and virtually all the movies used the same stagnant camera angles, same lighting, and similar sets. Citizen Kane broke all the settled rules and introduced exceptional storytelling and Cinematography methods to the Hollywood.
Film noir (literally 'black film,' from French critics who noticed how dark and black the looks and themes were of these films) is a style of American films which evolved in the 1940s. " The Internet Movie Database LTD. Film noir typically contains melancholy, and not so moral themes. Another characteristic of film noir is just because the main character has the title hero, that does not mean that he will always be alive at the end of the book, or that the hero is always "good." Marlowe in The Big Sleep is a prime example of this concept.
It is true because most of the film noir greatly influenced by the German expressionism style, where most of the scenes are shot in night time, uses of extreme artificial lighting in film, chiaroscuro lighting creates the high contrast lighting to produce the focus points, deep shadows and obscured scene such as rain to highlight the confused emotions of the character in films. According to Jerold J. Abrams (2007), he mentioned that the evolution of film noir, Neo noir have been formed after classic noir, while neo noir is certainly new but some things never change. In this statement, although neo noir are formed after classic noir, but the techniques of film noir in classic noir are still retained and continue to be used in Neo noir
Film noir, by translation alone, means dark film, and by that measurement Sunset Boulevard certainly fits the genre. A gloomy story that follows a jaded and sarcastic protagonist, Joe Gillis from his initial dire circumstances to his untimely death, Sunset Blvd. earns the description “dark” several times over. But there is more to film noir than crushingly depressing plotlines. There are common motifs and icons that are found in most film noirs, such as crime, dark alleys, guns and alcohol. Deeper than this, film noir features certain visual elements, character archetypes, and themes that create a unique style of film. Although some have argued that Sunset Blvd. fails to represent some of these elements, it has become known as one of the most iconic film noirs ever made. Sunset Boulevard (1950), written and directed by Billy Wilder exemplifies the film noir style through its use of visual elements (lighting, shots and angles), memorable characters, themes and overall structure of the film.
Throughout the course of a lifetime, a common phrase heard is “don’t judge a book by its cover”. This phrase indicates the fact that it is nearly impossible to truly evaluate the life and feelings of a person just by what can be seen about them. This is the case in the film Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles. Charles Foster Kane is a man who would appear to the general public as having it all. A very popular man, Kane owns a successful newspaper company for which he is known worldwide. He builds a gigantic mansion for his second wife and himself, surrounded by intricate and expensive statues. Kane seems to be perfect in every single way, and one may think that he is the happiest man alive. However, Charles never had the things that
Orson Welles’ career took place in the mid-thirties to late eighties in the twentieth century. He began his career at age fifteen, starting in Ireland, making his acting debut in the Gate Theater in Dublin. By eighteen, Welles started to appear in off-Broadway productions. It was then that he also launched his radio career. By age twenty, he had presented alternate interpretations of certain well-known plays and movies. At age twenty-two he was the most notable Broadway star from Mercury Theater and, because of this, BBC radio gave him an hour each week to broadcast whatever he pleased. That’s when, at age twenty-five, he broadcast War of the Worlds, which caused panic due to the “Martian invasions”. By the time he came into Hollywood, Welles could write, direct, cast, star, and edit movies without disturbance from the studios. It was during this time he created Citizen Kane- the only movie he completely finished. He retired from Hollywood at age thirty-three in 1948, but still continued to create his own films.
Films that are classified as being in the film noir genre all share some basic characteristics. There is generally a voice-over throughout the film in order to guide the audience's perceptions. These movies also involve a crime and a detective who is trying to figure out the truth in the situation. This detective usually encounters a femme fatale who seduces him. However, the most distinctive feature of the film noir genre is the abundance of darkness.
Film Noir was extremely trendy during the 1940’s. People were captivated by the way it expresses a mood of disillusionment and indistinctness between good and evil. Film Noir have key elements; crime, mystery, an anti-hero, femme fatale, and chiaroscuro lighting and camera angles. The Maltese Falcon is an example of film noir because of the usage of camera angles, lighting and ominous settings, as well as sinister characters as Samuel Spade, the anti-hero on a quest for meaning, who encounters the death of his partner but does not show any signs of remorse but instead for his greed for riches.
When we think of the greatest films in history, certain names come to mind: Griffith, Murnau, Kuleshov, Hitchcock, Spielberg, Tarantino, and the list goes on. Good movies allow actors to be praised for years, but great movies make their directors indelible for centuries. The director of a film is equal to a novel writer, which defines the auteur theory (Module 13). The auteur theory(politique des auteurs) gives special attention to film directors over any other role in the filmmaking process, arguing that a film is a reflection of the director’s artistic vision. The man behind the theory just so happened to be one of the most recognized directors of the French New Wave, François Truffaut, who stood at the heart of the movement, starting in
Through materialism, Kane became a self-invested individual. The highly acclaimed Citizen Kane creates drama and suspense for the viewer. Orson Welles designed this film to enhance the viewer’s opinion about light and darkness, staging, proxemics, personal theme development, and materialism. Creating one of the most astounding films in the cinematography world, Welles conveys many stylistic features as well as fundamentals of cinematography. It is an amazing film and will have an everlasting impact on the world of film.
Creative works are organised into a specific genre. Genre can be concisely defined as a set of conventions and expectations which audiences will grow accustomed to over time. Conventions within a genre will limit and shape the meaning perceived by audiences. Through time, as contexts alter, so do values; though conventions remain the same. Some composers make their texts more appealing once they challenge the original conventions of a genre and thus attract a wider audience. By doing this, composers are able to present their audiences with new themes and values relative to their social contexts. Crime fiction has often adapted these processes and has become a genre of its own with intriguing plots fuelling the audience’s inquisitive nature. English director, Alfred Hitchcock (also known as ‘The Master of Suspense’) was an expert in creating the desired amount of suspense within a crime film. He was able to transfer the values of his context on to the silver screen and subvert traditional conventions. Hitchcock’s film ‘Rear Window’ (1954) displays a perfect example of how the conventions of crime fiction can be appropriated to still involve the traditional features of crime. Through his use of exquisite cinematic techniques and immense detail, responders are given the thrill they expect of the genre.