How Does Toland Use Cinematic Techniques In Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane, in what is considered by many to be the greatest film of all time, showcases the genius of Orson Welles and the talent of Gregg Toland with its remarkable scenes and performances, cinematic and narrative techniques and experimental innovations in editing, photography and sound. In viewing the “Love Nest Confrontation” scene, Welles and Toland used a combination of different techniques that include deep focus cinematography and exotic camera angles to give the audience an in-depth view/perspective of the exchanges and dialogue going on between characters; the leveraging of character’s movements to control who and where the audience focused on; and the use of both triangular composition and chiaroscuro lighting to provide a sense of mystique to the audience.
The scene begins with Emily Kane (played by Ruth Warrick) telling Charles Kane (played by Orson Welles) that she’s going to 185 West 74th Street to find out the meaning of a letter that she was given and that he can come with her if he’d like. Charles’ appearance in this scene and the letter ‘K’ that he wears around his indicate that he is no longer the same young man that was seen earlier in the film and that his ego has gotten bigger as he seems to think of himself as a self-important tycoon.
During this shot of the scene, alternating; over the shoulder close ups of both Charles and Emily are used to give the audience an in-depth view/perspective of the two character’s exchange and dialogue as their facial expressions and their eyes communicate just as much as their words with the audience. The light that shines in Charles’ right eye is clearly seen when he is stunned to hear the address that Emily reads to him.
The scene then cuts to the exterior of the building at 185 West 74th Street. The number 185 is clearly seen above the door of the building and will come into play in transitioning into the following scene. There are shadows on the doorway from both Charles and Emily, and also of the maid who answers the door and calls Charles by his name, which proves to be somewhat of an omen of what is to come for him in this scene.
As they walk in and begin to walk upstairs, a very low camera angle is used, the ceiling can be clearly seen, and there is a lot of light in the background of the shot.
In addition to these techniques, the control of character movements is leveraged to focus the audience’s attention to the different characters and areas within the frame. As with any composition, movement will always be dominant to things at rest. Thus, when Charles and Emily were met by Susan Alexander (played by Dorothy Comingore) at the top of the stairs; and all three characters stop moving; the backlit James W. Getties (played by Ray Collins) moves in and captures the audience’s focus because he is the only thing that is moving within the frame.
After a series of movements and shifts of attention from the audience, there is a movement away from the camera, and then back again to the deep focus shot. The entire shot is all in focus with large amounts of light being used. Then, the triangular composition is used once again, this time with Charles in the center. This exchange can be compared to the exchange that Charles had with his parents and Walter Thatcher as, once more, there were two people talking about Charles’
fate.
Charles’ face is backlit for much of the scene, perhaps to symbolize the unknown values and motivations of his character at that point in time of the film. Then, there is a line of heads that form on the left side of the frame that include Emily, Susan, and Charles. The movement of each character goes down the line, and then comes back up again to Getties. Again, the audience’s attention is shifted back and forth in a great composition by Welles and Toland. As the scene draws to a close, there is an over the shoulder view from Charles left shoulder.
In conclusion, Welles and Toland used a combination of different techniques that included deep focus cinematography and exotic camera angles to give the audience an in-depth view/perspective of the exchanges and dialogue going on between characters; the leveraging of character’s movements to control who and where the audience focused on; and the use of both triangular composition and chiaroscuro lighting to provide a sense of mystique to the audience. The use of these techniques gave a stronger viewing experience to the audience because they allowed for a deeper connection between the characters and the audience by the use of different points of view during the scene; as well as the different uses of composition to focus the audience in on one particular person or area within the frame.