Citizen Kane: Deep Focus Photography

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Citizen Kane is famous for its perfecting the style of deep focus photography. This technique is used throughout the entire film in several scenes but is used very notably in the film's first scene proceeding the news reel. Not only is this scene a perfect example of deep focus photography, but it also uses the technique in a way that aids in telling the story. The blocking of this shot shows so much without the actors really having to say anything. The real art of deep focus photography and blocking within a shot is that the entire scene could have been shot without any dialogue and the exact point would come across just from the framing of the scene. These nuances in visual storytelling is what makes Citizen Kane considered one of the greatest …show more content…
Taking during the scene, but not being listened to, he never leaves frame like Charles, but while he is trying to talk to his wife he is blocked by shadow. Intricacies like this tell so much about this dynamic in place of anyone having to say anything out loud. Charles’ father stays in the background with him having little to no say in the decision being made. But the way he is simultaneously closer in frame than Charles, but blocked by shadow depicts an illusion of control. He argues at first, but after being told about the money they would receive backs down and changes his tune. He never had a say in it at all. The banker on the other hand, is paired in the frame with Mrs. Kane. While she is closer to the camera, he is taller, almost looming. As the scene continues and Mrs. Kane gets up the positioning changes a little bit. She walks through the two men and toward the window where we still see Charles playing. In this shot she is the farthest besides Charles, even blocking him for a moment, again exerting power over him, and making him disappear much like they are literally doing by sending him with the banker. As she walks closer to the window the largest in frame is the banker. Next to him in frame is Charles’ father, this positioning seems
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Film Analysis: Citizen Kane

The film Citizen Kane was a great example to demonstrate the different film forms like Mise-en-scène, sound, narrative, and editing. All of these were huge parts in this movie. First, the Mise-en-scène and visual elements were the most significant to me. Throughout the movie the director would make the lighting really dim to correlate a bad event with that scene. Or, he would put a bright spot light on a specific person if he wanted to bring attention to that character. Also, the narrative was non-chronological…

Words 284 - Pages 2