Citizen Kane Speech Scene Significance Essay

Citizen Kane Speech Scene Significance In Citizen Kane, the scene of his speech is easily considered one of the most important scenes in the entire film. I think that this scene really does a good job of establishing what kind of person Kane is and how he will rise to power. The purpose of this scene is to show that Kane as an incredibly powerful and influential individual who will stop at nothing until he reaches the top. This scene achieves this by setting a certain tone by using pacing in relation to tone, by using compositional elements and by using dialogue to further emphasize the tone. The main thing that this scene is that is establishes a tone for not just the scene, but for the whole movie. The scene’s goal is to establish a powerful and dominant tone for Kane and everything he does. One way it establishes this tone is by using certain pacing. In this scene, the film includes a variety of different length shots and dialogues. It includes many short shots of the crowd’s reaction and some longer shots of Kane explaining his key points. I noticed that there would be a few short shots and then a long shot and then a few shorter shots. I think the pacing was very fitting and added to the overall effect positively. I think the choice to have longer shots and not cut when Kane is demonstrating the most vital points of his speech makes him seem more powerful. For example, shots 11, 14, and 16 are longer to make sure Kane’s points are uninterrupted and received as confident and powerful. The next element used to emphasize the tone of this scene is through the use of compositional elements. How the characters are placed and how the camera is manipulated have a great effect on this scene. For instance, throughout his entire speech, there are encouraging government officials behind Kane on stage always cheering after everything he says. This idea is also used when the crowd is shown cheering for Kane. The use of these shots and arrangement of characters gives a feeling of great power to Kane because the crowd is reacting very positively. In this scene, there are also a low angle shots used to demonstrate Kane as powerful. Another important use of compositional elements is in shot 17 when Gettys is shown leaving looking defeated with the huge crowd off in the distance. This scene shows the audience that Kane will without a doubt win and take down Jim Gettys and that the voters are behind his cause. Another thing that I noticed is that in nearly all the scenes Kane was shown front and center as the main character of the shot, which helped to establish his dominance. The last key element used to establish a powerful and dominant tone for Kane is the use of dialogue in the scene. Nearly all of the dialogue in the scene is spoken by Kane and all of it is

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