Rosebud Film Analysis
Two main elements that Orson Welles brings together to give the story of Citizen Kane, are flashback storytelling and deep focus lighting. The narrative form of Citizen Kane is flashback storytelling, which basically means the film starts with Kane’s death and from there the audience goes back in time to explore Kane’s life. How the film does this however, is through the testimonies through Kane’s peers. The entire story is about this group of Journalists led by Mr. Thompson (William Alland) who are investigating what Charles Foster Kane’s last words “Rosebud” means. Through his interviews with several of Kane’s friends and family, the audience explores the life of Kane and figures out what rosebud actually means. The interviews however,
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An example of this is the scene where Charlie is being adopted by Mr. Thatcher. It presents Charley in the background, using deep focus, in which he is in full focus out of the window building a snowman. The audience can see the details of his outfit, as well as the snowman that he is building. Then in the depth of field, it shows Charlie’s dad which is in the house, away from Charlie but away from the table ( where Thatcher and Mrs. Kane is sitting), then it shows Thatcher and closer to the camera is Mrs. Kane. This scene and the depth of field in this scene, which this film is the pioneer to use deep focus, shows the power struggle that is happening. Charlie, who is the farthest away, has no power in the scene whatsoever, his destiny is being determined by his mother and Mr. Thatcher, who is closest to the audience in the frame. This thus leaves his father in almost like a purgatory of the scene. Located in the center, it shows that he has more power than Charlie does, however has no say in the boy’s destiny like his mother holds. Orson Welles couldn't have known what a masterpiece he was making with Citizen Kane. In the almost 80 years since the film’s release he has influenced cinema as well as TV as we know it. Without Kane, the world would not have The Twilight Zone, Lost, or even All in the
An example of this is the scene where Charlie is being adopted by Mr. Thatcher. It presents Charley in the background, using deep focus, in which he is in full focus out of the window building a snowman. The audience can see the details of his outfit, as well as the snowman that he is building. Then in the depth of field, it shows Charlie’s dad which is in the house, away from Charlie but away from the table ( where Thatcher and Mrs. Kane is sitting), then it shows Thatcher and closer to the camera is Mrs. Kane. This scene and the depth of field in this scene, which this film is the pioneer to use deep focus, shows the power struggle that is happening. Charlie, who is the farthest away, has no power in the scene whatsoever, his destiny is being determined by his mother and Mr. Thatcher, who is closest to the audience in the frame. This thus leaves his father in almost like a purgatory of the scene. Located in the center, it shows that he has more power than Charlie does, however has no say in the boy’s destiny like his mother holds. Orson Welles couldn't have known what a masterpiece he was making with Citizen Kane. In the almost 80 years since the film’s release he has influenced cinema as well as TV as we know it. Without Kane, the world would not have The Twilight Zone, Lost, or even All in the