Citizen Kane Opening Scene Analysis

One of the most memorable film elements displayed in Citizen Kane is a camera technique called deep focus. This element is constantly utilized to add a larger complexity to both the plot and perspective. Deep focus makes anything and everything within the shot immediately relevant. It is portrayed in the scene where the youngest version of Charles Kane is throwing snowballs at the tin sign outside of his original home. First, a shot from far away from boy Kane where he is isolated against the white of the snow outside, the camera slowly pulls backwards into the window of a cabin where a charged conversation is taking place between 2 people we find out to be his parents, and a man titled Mr. Thatcher, who is about to take the young boy away. The camera rests about eye level with his mother and Mr. Thatcher, who are sitting side by side at a table in the foreground. Caught in the center of the shot is Charles, who can still be seen playing in the background through the window, and standing to the left we see boy’s father, further in the background as he makes fruitless attempts at asserting dominance over the situation. The positions of the
This same window turns out to be massive, dwarfing the now weakened man. However, his return to the man at the desk makes him seem larger again as Thatcher gives him some allowance and lets him “retain a great measure of control” over his newfound newspaper. In this scene, the Kane’s size runs parallel to his power over the given situation. Throughout the whole film, the cinematography complements narrative structure by symbolically representing the characters and their motives through positioning, perspective, and lighting (or lack