Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) was widely influenced for the look and feel of this film by the production context making it considered as the greatest film ever made.

In 1938, Welles radio broadcast of War of Worlds got him his first step into fame. This led to him being hired by the Film Production studio RKO in which they gave him full control over creating a new creative film. As long as it stayed under the budget of $500,000, the film could be anything Welles desired. His history of working in theatre production caused the film to have used many features used in stage productions such as lighting, long-take, Brechtian techniques etc. Also, many of the cast were trained to act on stage, rather than on-screen, due to being a part of Welles’ theatre group.

William Randolph Hearst, an American businessman, politician and newspaper publisher, was the inspiration and who Citizen Kane was based off of. Because of this, Hearst used his power to suppress the amount of theatres that Citizen Kane was able to be shown in, which limited the film’s views from the Box Office, which harmed Welles career despite Welles denying the accusations. Although, the character of Citizen Kane highly described Hearst’s life rather well, which led to the boycotting of the film. In 1956, Citizen Kane was finally revived and achieved the appreciation and success rates that it deserved.

A deep Focus Lens was used within Citizen Kane, making the scene very innovative, as it was a new invention created by cinematography, Gregg Toland. This is just one of a number of elements that made Citizen Kane such an incredible film. This was highly effective in some scenes as it allowed the audience to see things differently, as it allowed everything in the scene to all be focused at once. For example, in one scene, Kane was the same size as a window however his size got smaller as he walked towards it. This was a creative metaphor within the film to display how Kane’s power and influence got smaller. Without this advanced use of technology, and many others that were used plus Welles’ extreme creativity, Citizen Kane would not have been as successful as it is now and has been for decades, making it the greatest film ever made. 

I believe that the best scene within the film “Citizen Kane” was when the main character Charles Foster Kane signs the “Declaration of Principles”. This is because a very well-used feature used in this scene that stuck out to me was the lighting use. This is when Charles is explaining to two other characters how important his document is and how it displays rules that should be followed for his newspaper. The lighting is used so that you are able to see the character’s faces clearly, apart from Kane’s; who is in complete darkness. This could be a metaphor for him slowly becoming alone and foreshadowing his tragic death. It is also used as irony due to Kane himself, later on, forgetting these rules and produces anything he wants. This shows him going off the rails because he’s refusing his own instructions that he deemed so important to other people.

Kane is proven to be a dreamer and one with a desire for people to love and rely on him, this is shown by this quote from earlier on in the scene: “I’ve got to make the New York Inquirer as important to New York as the gas in that lamp”. It is shown to the audience, later on in the film, that he wants love from everyone, despite himself not having any love to give them, just like the gas in the lights. Everyone loves his newspapers but not he personally, as no one cares to get to know him. The technology used to present the lighting was amazing for the time it was produced. The costume in this scene was another prominent feature that was used. The creative use of Mise-En-Scene was what I liked most about this particular scene. The two men in this scene are both well-dressed in suits, whereas Kane is unpresentable in an untidy uniform. This emphasises to the audience his oncoming increase of apathy and lack of control with the company which, again, foreshadows he going off the rails.

In this scene, the Brechtian technique of “breaking the fourth wall” has been used. Jedidiah is the one telling the story in a flashback, therefore he knows how it ends, unlike the audience. Therefore his quote: “I have a hunch it might turn out to be something important”, as he stares right into the camera, is foreshadowing to the audience by directly addressing them. Cinematography is another well-used feature within this scene. Firstly, throughout the song, the camera is facing upwards to Kane. As though the audience is beneath him. Also, it appears to be a long-take lasting two minutes. This forces the audience to watch the entire time he is signing the document, despite us knowing the lie. Also, the lens is fully in focus allowing us to see the clear faces of each character, this way the lighting is what’s used to draw attention towards Kane. Almost like an opposite spotlight. The amazing use of Mise-En-Scene, foreshadowing and breaking the fourth wall is why I chows this specific scene as my favourite as also why, I believe, Citizen kane was the greatest film ever made.

Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) has been regarded as the best movie ever created. It is consistently being used as a comparison and the gold standard of films for many directors, actors, and producers. It has kept it’s novelty for decades after its release which proves that it is extremely well-known and difficult to top.

This film, Citizen Kane, was released by the famous studio “RKO” in 1941. In this time period, it wasn’t as well developed as modern studios are today. However, many films were not produced by large companies at this time, therefore the fact that this movie managed to be produced by a largely known studio already shows that it is significantly better than most movies released in this century. Sound was already introduced to the film- making world along with a start to incorporating in colours using the technicolour process famous to have been used in The Wizard of oz. However, this process was very expensive and so for a long duration film, like Citizen Kane, it was ultimately decided to leave it as black and white. This appeared to be a better choice for the film anyway because the contrast of lighting helped intrigue the viewer and displayed his changes throughout the film in terms of his money, physical health and his personality. The darkness at the end of the film foreshadows his death due to the drastic change of lighting contrast which creates a setting of sadness.

RKO had a beneficial impact on the film’s display and success. Cameras had been improved to create a better developed fluidity within the film in terms of movement. Not many films at the time were able to depend on these types of things. An example of this is during a scene at the beginning of the film, A camera moves from showing the front of a room, moves through a table in which it opens up, and then closes again to show the other side of the room after the camera comes out again. This was an impressive effect which allows the audience to appreciate the film much better compared to many other films. 

Overall, Citizen Kane was a masterpiece due to many reasons but mostly because of its incredibly well used and sophisticated technology and help from its studio system which made it very well-made for its time. Despite the film not being anywhere near as well-developed as films in this day and age, the studio systems still managed to portray a very amazing plot of the famous Charles Foster Kane. Its use of sound mixing, lighting, foreshadowing, and use of cameras lead it to be the most famous movie of all time.