Citizen Kane: An innovation in film

 When asked how he got the confidence to create such an innovatively different film from contemporary cinema, Welles said “ignorance...sheer ignorance. There is no confidence to equal it. It's only when you know something about a profession that you are timid or careful.” Prior to Citizen Kane, Orson Welles had no filmmaking experience whatsoever. Citizen Kane was, in fact his first film. Little did he know that he would make a film that many people believe to be “the best film ever made.” One of the film’s aspects that entitle it to such respect was its innovation and ground breaking new techniques. (Orson Welle's Quote )


            One thing that made the film unique and new at the time was its filming techniques. Welles used many methods which were at the time, new and ground breaking. One of the technical aspects was the excessive use of deep focus shots. A lot of the shots in the film had everything from the foreground to the background in sharp focus. This made the whole film look very clear to the audience. Another aspect was the use of low angle shots. These shots were used to show perspective. This gave the audience a new perspective as the audience could see the ceiling above the characters. Filmmakers back then used sound studious to capture the sound of the characters, and so they virtually had no ceiling. The new perspective given to the audience gave the film a fresh new feeling.

            Citizen Kane also utilized a story telling technique uncommon back when it was released. Instead of a linear, story unfolding as the film progresses, it is told through a series of flash backs. The story follow a reporter named Thompson as he interviews Kane’s close friends and loved ones. This technique actually makes the story more interesting than it would be, on its own. Each character would tell their own, unique stories which were parts of Kane’s life. Many of the characters add their own personal opinions about Kane, how he affected them, and regards for his death. The storytelling technique effectively conveys Kane as a mysterious, complicated man, whose true personality will be unknown to the viewer.   

            The film also utilized symbolism very deeply. At the end, the audience could see where Kane’s last dying word “rosebud” originated from, and its meaning. While all of Kane’s possessions were being taken into account, all the useless junk with little to no value was getting burned. In the incinerator, was Kane’s sled as a child, with the word “rosebud” painted on it. Rosebud, being Kane’s last dying word, symbolizes when he was truly happy. The sled represented his childhood, the only time in his life when he was truly happy.

            Citizen Kane is probably revered by many as the greatest film ever made due to its many innovations in film. Definitely everyone who watched it was captivated and intrigued by its techniques which have influenced filmmaking and many of the new films we see today.            

The Godfather: an Interesting Shift In Power

It’s interesting how movies use certain techniques to emphasize the power of certain characters. Some films use clever symbolism, while others use direct characterization to state the obvious. Film such as The Lion King showed Mufasa’s dominance over scar with his masculine body and authoritative voice; while Scarface conveyed Sosa as a powerful man with intimidating dialogue and a big fancy mansion. All of these things point the audience to the fact that these characters are powerful, and should not be messed with. The Godfather uses several of these techniques to emphasize Don Vito’s power, and how it suddenly shifts to Michael when he becomes the Don.

                Through first scene of the film the audience can already interpret that Don Vito is the boss who runs the family. The man asking for a favor is acting as submissive as possible, trying to please Don Vito into helping him. Vito is simply slumped in his chair, deciding whether to act or not. The Don’s decision is finally made; he will help unless the man shows him respect and befriends him.  This use of indirect characterization shows the audience the Don’s principles, how he will only help people who respect him for who he is, a mafia boss. He won’t help people who ask a favor as if he was just some hit squad.  Just by the way he looks you can already tell Don Vito is powerful. He is regularly seen in a black suite, representing professionalism and importance. Don Vito is also usually backed up by several men as body guards, and travels in expensive cars showing his wealth. These visual signs help establish the fact that Don Vito is the head of the family.

                Michael on the other hand, is a civilian. Early in the film, it’s stated that he is a well known war veteran and is not involved in the family business. He is usually scene getting bossed by his older brothers, such as in the scene when he devices a plan to kill Sollozzo and McCluskey; where Sonny chuckles at his involvement with the family business. He is also never seen wearing a suite when he was still a civilian, further establishing he is not part of the family business.

                The sudden shift in power is first seen in the hospital scene. Michael, a lowly civilian, is looking down on his inured father. The scene almost gives a foreshadowing of the events to come, how Michael will soon become the Don of the family.

                As the story progresses, we see the Don losing his power, until he ultimately resigns and put Michael in charge. In this part of the story, it’s a complete opposite of we were seeing previously.  Don Vito is now the one not in a suite, while Michael is. Michael is also the one overseeing operations, and handling what the other men do. When Don Vito finally dies, it’s up to Michael to continue leading the family. Michael’s dynamic character also changes, prior to getting involved he was calm and easy tempered. When he became Don, his attitude quickly switched to an intimidating personality, and short tempered.

                The way The Godfather conveyed to the audience the power of Don Vito is established effectively. Just from the opening scene, the audience has a clear interpretation that he is in charge. The film also interestingly shows us how the power shifts from Don Vito to Michael, and also gives us clever visual hints to emphasize it. 

The Dark Half: a Wasted Potential

Stephen King’s The Dark Half revolves around the idea of supernatural events, where the protagonist Thad Beaumont has to stop his evil alter ego, George Stark. The film adaptation captures this idea perfectly, while it transitions from a happy to depressing mood to make the story more compelling than a consistent depressing mood. This transition though is wasted, as the ending fails to convey the spirit at the end of the novel, and leaves us with a meaningless and ambiguous ending.

            Using appropriate mise en scene elements, the adaptation effectively constructes the conventions of a horror film. The novel used vivid and strong descriptive writing to convey the antagonist as a powerful and murderous character. In one part of the book, King described a scene of a man who was murdered by his penis getting chopped off and stuffed down his throat, and how blood was all over the place. Since the antagonist is not physically scary, as being a sinister twin of the protagonist, the film used elements such as jump scares and dark lighting to stir fear into the audience, and was executed effectively. Prior to a murder scene, Romero used dark lighting to build tension with the audience, and to give the hint that the character was in danger. Stark’s hand suddenly jumps out of a door and rams the victim’s head into a wall, and the shot was taken in a way to surprise the audience. The cinematography of the film also conveyed the parts of the story well, such as close up shots used when characters were in tense situations, like sudden realization and fear. When Thad anxiously was talking to the police on the phone, his face filled the shot to show his stress and fear. The Dark Half is also considered one of Stephen King’s most gruesome books by many fans and critics, as it has numerous murders described in the most disturbing and vivid ways possible. George Romero’s use of special effects captured the gore perfectly, such as when Stark’s flesh was being ripped from his face. He does however use poor transitory scenes to go from one scene to these murders, and at times they feel abrupt and out of place. The adaption conveys the horror genre with its mise en scene elements, although these abrupt murders sometimes make the story unclear.

Despite conveying the horror theme of the novel accurately, the film veers off from the pacing of the Novel to make the story more pleasing and interesting to film viewers. In the story Thad Beaumont makes a pen name known as George Stark, to write more thrilling books in hopes of being a best seller. His plan succeeds, but George soon turns into an alter ego which manifests itself into the real world to live there. The novel paces consistently in a depressing tone, as the reader never feels that Thad is ever happy. He repeatedly experiences despairing events such as possession and distrust. The film however, gives the audience a new perspective, as it uses transition of how Thad was living a happy life, to how George’s reincarnation ruined it. The transition actually makes the story more interesting, as consistently pacing in a depressing tone for a film would be monotonous and boring. The film however wastes the potential of this good use of transition with its ending. Close to the ending of the book, a supporting character, remarks on how terrible it must be to be Thad; how a horrible creature crawled out from Thad to murderer into this world, and if he could even live with the memories and thoughts of the event. The film however, wastes the opportunity to use its transition to its full potential and neglects any ending to begin with. The film’s ending is simply a shot of all the sparrows flying away from Thad’s house, and the credits start to role. This ending is simply too ambiguous and meaningless to conclude the film, and wastes the film’s good use of transition from a happy to depressing mood.

The film wasted its effective use of transition with its ambiguous and meaningless ending, conveying no mood or feeling to sink into the audience. I liked its good use of filming techniques and mise en scene elements, which effectively conveyed a sense of horror and despair. Despite this, the film’s potential was wasted on a pathetic ending which didn’t capture the concluding spirit of the text, and failed to conclude the events of the film.