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…
Who is Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) and what where the defining moments of his life? These are the questions that lead Thompson (William Alland) and the viewer on a captivating goose chase through the memories of Kane’s closest associates. Like the many possible meanings contained within the word kane, such as the Irish interpretation “little battler”, the Japanese translation of “money” and “gold”, the Welsh’s interpretation of “beautiful”, and the Hawaiian’s definition as “man”, friends and family each had there own interpretations of Charles Foster Kane. Collectively, these views show Kane as a character that was thrown into a position of power and money, and that underneath the façade of glamour and monetary possessions, he was a lonely and complex individual deprived of a normal childhood experience.…
Alfred Hitchcock: An English film director and producer. Nicknamed “The Master of Suspense”, pioneered many techniques in suspense and thriller genres.…
Alfred Hitchcock’s films changed the film industry and shaped it into what it is today. His horror films such as Psycho and The Birds had a huge impact on the horror films of today, for example, the scene I will be looking at in The Birds shows all of the crows silently on a school climbing frame. In the famous horror film Jeepers Creepers (2001) the ending scene shows the…
Discuss the ways in which Hitchcock sets the scene for the audience in the opening minutes of his film 'Rear Window'(1954) - 500 words…
Think of the last suspenseful movie you watched — one that made you feel nervous about what might happen to the characters. Can you remember how the movie created that suspense? Think about the music, the lighting, the camera angles, and how quickly or slowly the plot moved along. Write at least half a page reflecting on how the movie built that suspense.…
Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in his career lasting six decades. He remains one of the most popular and most famous filmmakers of all time. People recognised him due to cameo appearances in his own films and…
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.…
Renowned as ‘the master of suspense’ Hitchcock achieves tension and suspense by taking innocent, ordinary characters and placing them in a situation beyond their control where a vulnerable victim is murdered. The combination of thriller with crime is illustrated through the use of several cinematic devices such as sound and lighting. Throughout the final scenes where Jefferies is confronted by Thorwald, the re-curing flash of the camera light bulb which dissolves into complete darkness heightens suspense and the anticipated thrill within Hitchcock’s respective audience, reflecting his subtle subversion of the genre to suit his purpose. The juxtaposition of silence and urgent whispering with the digetic booming sounds of Thorwald’s menacing footsteps forebodes the characterisation employed by Hitchcock to enable the establishment of a villain detective reflecting how the text engages with crime and its associated social and moral…
Hitchcock tends to define suspense in his films by "concern for how a character will respond to a threat about which the audience is already informed. Here, viewers feel suspense for the character rather than fright or shock with the character, [unlike his definition of surprise]" (Cohen 126). In this article, Cohen talks about a second kind of suspense, which she calls conceptual suspense. She describes it as "extending the suspense situation into a larger social/historical arena. This type of suspense makes it possible for certain films to continue to be suspenseful not only when the outcome is known but also when supposedly realistic elements in the film no longer reflect the contemporary practice" (Cohen 127). When watching Shadow of a Doubt through the lens of…
One of the main concerns in Hitchcock’s film is that deception can be achieved by one hiding in plain sight. This concept is evident throughout the train scene Thornhill is hiding in plain sight from the police. A medium low angle shot of Thornhill glancing at a stranger reading a newspaper with a headline of “Manhunt on for U.N killer” suggests that Thornhill is now seen as an individual wanted by the police. The use of a low angle shot makes Thornhill appear taller and more menacing. The use of the low angle engenders the audience to believe that Thornhill is a vicious murderer. As a result, Thornhill wears black sunglasses as a way to stay incognito within the crowd. The sunglasses act as a way to hide his true identity in order to deceive…
As the man who helped to shape the modern day thriller genre, Hitchcock was fluent in manipulating the audience 's fears, and suturing them into a state of association with the characters and the world in which they exist. The main point of Vertigo being a thriller is the plot – Scottie, the protagonist and victim of a planned murder of an old friend’s wife – whom he falls in love with, an impossible love as she ‘dies’ and in turn, he continues his downward spiral into mad obsession. These semantic elements are true to…
“There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.” Alfred Hitchcock said so eloquently. He was not the man of horror, mystery or sudden shock—no, Alfred Hitchcock was a man of suspense. He understood the mind and how the anticipation of something was even more fearful than the unknowing. Hitchcock, to this day, will remain one of the most phenomenal directors of all time because of his keen eye for creativity in the simplest of forms. He created art out of the “artless.” Most importantly, he created suspense from lighting, building up nerve-racking situations, and the use of his directing and filming skills. The film Rear Window is no exception to this.…
This is an article written about Alfred Hitchcock’s film Psycho. It talks about how Psycho was one of Hitchcock’s experimental films because it was so unlike the norm of the day. It discusses how he assembled certain elements of film to create a frightening experience for his audience.…
realistic aspect of scary situations. Hitchcocks masterful directing leads the audience to be the frist to understand what is going on. The characters are left in the dark until the suspense reaches its climax. As the impending danger builds, the viewer is allowed to wtiness the situation before the character. This raises the level of suspense making it more realistic. Hitchcock takes normal situations and adds a terffiying twist. The twist is always something that has never happened, but is definetely possible. Hitchcocks The Birds is an excellent example of this. He takes normal situation with normal birds and turns them into killers. As the birds gather behind one unsuspecting victim, only the audience is allowed to see the impending danger. The woman is calm and collected as she waits on the bench. Hitchcock adds a little scare music and the woman suddenly realizes she is being watched. She whips around in horror and the birds are there ready to attack. This scfene is not a common occurance, but to an overactive imagination it could become a very real possibility.…