Citizen Kane
(1941)
Screen Language
Film Foundation Degree
Citizen Kane has been considered as one the
best American films ever made.
Who was Orson
Welles?
Actor. Director. Writer. Radio &
Theatre Producer.
• When he broadcasted an
adaptation of the science fiction
novel The War Of The Worlds,
listeners were convinced that
America had been invaded by
Martians, and there was widespread panic.
• The War Of The Worlds made him
internationally famous/infamous.
The best contract
• RKO offered Welles the
complete control over his own
material directing, writing and
acting.
• RKO enjoyed a freer atmosphere
than the bigger studios.
Until the arrival of Welles only Charlie Chaplin wrote,
starred, directed and
produced in Hollywood.
Directors were lowly
creatures whose work was
interfered with on every
level by the heads of the
studios.
Hollywood factory system
"Most big-studio movies were
made in such a restrictive way
that the crews were hostile and
bored and the atmosphere was
oppressive. The worst aspect of
the factory system was that
almost everybody worked
beneath their capacity"
Inexperience
• Welles didn’t even know what a
medium shot was
• Amalia Kent, an RKO continuity
supervisor, explained him the basic
information about how films were
made.
• Wells asked Gregg Toland, a
celebrated cinematographer to
work with him and teach him didn't know anything about cinema.
Gregg Toland with Orson Welles on the set of Citizen Kane.
"Working on Kane in an
atmosphere of freedom,
the designers and
technicians came forth
with ideas they’d been
bottling up for years; they
were all in on the creative
process.”
Orson Wells, the Tarantino of the 40s:
'Youth and genius'
Citizen Kane was his first film. He
was 25. He co-wrote, produced,
directed and starred.
What was so innovative of this
film from others?
• Narrative
• Technical innovations
• Focus
• Camera angles
• Camera movement
• Lighting
• Sound and music
• Transitions
• Acting
The LIFE Magazine review of Citizen Kane observed that
Toland did "everything Hollywood has always said you
couldn't do; They shoot into bright lights, they shoot
into the dark and against low ceilings, till every scene
comes with the impact of something never seen
before."
Why did the film fail at the box office?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O0jJCKMX42c