Analysis Of The Film Citizen Kane By Orson Wells

Intro I have chosen to use an extract from the film ‘Citizen Kane’, directed by Orson Wells (1941) for this assignment. The technical aspects I have chosen to explore will be the use of both mise-en-scene and editing. Synopsis The clip I have selected from Citizen Kane is a montage scene that shows the protagonist Charles Foster Kane eating breakfast with his wife Emily. The scene is presented in the form of a narrative exposition from the mind of Jedediiah Leland, who is the ex business partner of Kane. The entirety of the scene is comprised of Kane and his wife conversing with one another whilst eating breakfast. (Scene time code: 49:23-52:42). Analysis The use of elliptical editing in the form of a montage is a dominant force in the make up of my chosen extract. This helps condense large sections of time that comprise of many years into smaller transitions that are more aesthetically pleasing to the audience. ‘This simple and basic technique allows narratives to span large spatial and temporal distances without the need to follow dull action’ (Duckworth, 2008). In this particular scene it is important to note that only time has been manipulated, not space, as the narrative occurs in only one setting for the duration of the scene. A slow dissolve is used as Leland’s recollection of Kane’s relationship with his wife takes the viewer to the breakfast table. ‘The dissolve is defined as a gradual change from the ending pictures of one shot into the beginning picturesShow MoreRelatedOrson And Citizen Kane, Touch Of Evil, And Othello, Make Him A Great Auteur? 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