1941: Citizen Kane: What Makes A Masterpiece?
Summary
TLDRThe video explores the groundbreaking nature of Orson Welles' 'Citizen Kane,' delving into its revolutionary impact on cinema. Originally a box-office failure, the film is now regarded as a masterpiece for its innovative use of deep focus, complex camera movements, and nonlinear storytelling. By utilizing visual techniques that pushed cinematic boundaries, Welles and cinematographer Gregg Toland redefined how films convey narrative and emotion. The analysis highlights how 'Citizen Kane' still influences modern filmmakers, while also reflecting on its themes of ambition, loss, and the duality of success and failure.
Takeaways
- 🎨 The term 'masterpiece' originally referred to a work created by an apprentice to prove their skill, but it now represents any great work of art.
- 🎥 Orson Welles was only 25 years old when he made 'Citizen Kane,' which is considered one of the most important films ever, despite being a box-office failure.
- 📽️ 'Citizen Kane' revolutionized cinema with its visual innovations, including the use of deep focus, which allowed the entire scene to be in sharp detail.
- 👁️🗨️ The deep focus technique let viewers absorb all aspects of a scene simultaneously, enhancing storytelling through layers of visual information.
- 📸 Gregg Toland's cinematography contributed to 'Citizen Kane’s' visual mastery, including low-angle shots, tracking shots, and complex camera movements.
- 🖼️ The film borrowed and expanded upon techniques from earlier films, such as deep focus and chiaroscuro lighting, and incorporated them into its storytelling.
- 🎭 The narrative of 'Citizen Kane' was groundbreaking, using flashbacks and multiple perspectives to present a non-linear, fragmented storytelling approach.
- 💔 The film explores themes of failure, loneliness, and the complexities of relationships, offering an ambiguous portrayal of its protagonist, Charles Foster Kane.
- 🧩 'Citizen Kane' forces the audience to piece together the story, breaking away from traditional linear narratives and paving the way for films like 'Rashomon' and 'Memento'.
- 🌹 Kane's last word, 'Rosebud,' symbolizes lost innocence and childhood, reflecting a deep yearning within the character for a simpler, happier time.
Q & A
What is the original meaning of the term 'masterpiece'?
-Originally, 'masterpiece' referred to the work that an apprentice would present before becoming a member of a guild, showcasing their mastery of a skill. It later evolved to mean any great work of art.
Why is 'Citizen Kane' considered revolutionary in cinema?
-'Citizen Kane' is considered revolutionary because of its innovative visual techniques, non-linear narrative, and its ability to profoundly shape the evolution of cinema. Its radical use of deep focus, complex camera movements, and storytelling techniques changed filmmaking.
What is deep focus, and how did 'Citizen Kane' use it?
-Deep focus refers to a technique where everything in a scene, from the foreground to the background, is in sharp focus. 'Citizen Kane' used this technique to allow viewers to observe multiple layers of action within a scene, enhancing the storytelling by presenting all elements at once.
How did the camera movements in 'Citizen Kane' contribute to its storytelling?
-The camera movements in 'Citizen Kane,' such as tracking shots and low-angle shots, were used to emphasize the power dynamics between characters and to provide the audience with an omnipotent perspective. These movements helped convey deeper emotional and narrative meaning.
What is the significance of the 'Rosebud' motif in 'Citizen Kane'?
-The 'Rosebud' motif symbolizes Kane's lost childhood and the innocence he left behind as he rose to power and wealth. It serves as a metaphor for his longing for simpler, happier times before being thrust into the complexities of adulthood and success.
How did 'Citizen Kane' influence later films with its visual techniques?
-'Citizen Kane' influenced later films with its use of deep focus, low-angle shots, and complex camera movements. These techniques were adopted by directors like Alfred Hitchcock and David Fincher, and became staples of modern filmmaking.
What narrative structure does 'Citizen Kane' employ, and why is it unique?
-'Citizen Kane' employs a non-linear, fragmented narrative structure, where the story is told through flashbacks and different perspectives. This was revolutionary for its time, as it allowed the audience to piece together the story from multiple viewpoints rather than following a straightforward, linear plot.
How does 'Citizen Kane' challenge traditional character portrayals in films?
-'Citizen Kane' challenges traditional character portrayals by presenting Charles Foster Kane as a complex, morally ambiguous figure. The audience is not directed to feel one way or another about him, and different characters’ perspectives on him reveal both his virtues and flaws, leaving interpretation open to the viewer.
What role did Gregg Toland play in shaping the visual style of 'Citizen Kane'?
-Gregg Toland, the cinematographer, played a crucial role in shaping the visual style of 'Citizen Kane.' He brought technical innovations like deep focus and chiaroscuro lighting, helping create the film’s distinctive, revolutionary look.
What makes the ending of 'Citizen Kane' significant in terms of its message?
-The ending of 'Citizen Kane' is significant because it reveals the meaning of Kane's final word, 'Rosebud,' to the audience but not to the characters within the film. It suggests that no single word or event can fully explain a person's life, reinforcing the film's theme of the complexity and ambiguity of human experience.
Outlines
🎨 Origins and Evolution of the Word 'Masterpiece'
This paragraph explores the etymology of the word 'masterpiece,' tracing its roots to the work presented by an apprentice to become a guild master. It then transitions into discussing Orson Welles, who at 25, created his own masterpiece, *Citizen Kane*. Initially a box-office failure, *Citizen Kane* became one of the most revered films in cinema, synonymous with greatness. The narrator introduces the concept of cinematic evolution and hints that certain films, like *Citizen Kane*, bring such radical ideas that they push the art form forward significantly.
🎥 Visual Innovations of *Citizen Kane*
The paragraph highlights *Citizen Kane's* visual innovations, particularly deep focus, which allowed the entire scene to be in sharp focus, offering a new way for audiences to interpret layered storytelling. While techniques like deep focus were used before, *Citizen Kane* popularized them in cinema. The scene where a young Kane plays in the snow while his fate is decided in the background exemplifies how deep focus brings emotional and narrative depth. The paragraph further emphasizes how *Citizen Kane* influenced visual storytelling by allowing multiple layers of meaning to be captured simultaneously.
📸 Camera Movements and Emotional Depth in *Citizen Kane*
This paragraph discusses *Citizen Kane’s* groundbreaking use of camera movements, such as the 'floating camera,' which adds an omnipotent, godlike perspective. The film's complex tracking shots are praised for their role in enhancing character development. Examples include the introduction of Kane’s second wife, where lighting and camera angles provide insight into her emotional state. *Citizen Kane*'s visual techniques, like low-angle shots and chiaroscuro lighting, contributed to genres such as film noir, further cementing its influence in cinema.
📽️ Visual Storytelling Techniques Influencing Future Cinema
The paragraph explores how *Citizen Kane*'s visual techniques, such as low-angle shots and extreme close-ups, influenced the way filmmakers portray character dynamics and emotional states. Welles and Toland employed transitions, superimpositions, and montage to push visual storytelling further. The low-angle shots were particularly significant in emphasizing power dynamics between characters. The visual mastery of the film not only advanced storytelling but also influenced future directors like Alfred Hitchcock and David Fincher.
🔄 Narrative Innovations and Nonlinear Storytelling
This paragraph focuses on the narrative innovation in *Citizen Kane*, which introduced a fragmented, nonlinear structure. The story, presented through multiple perspectives and flashbacks, allows audiences to form their own interpretations of Kane's life. The film's use of an omnipotent observer and newsreel segments contrasts with subjective viewpoints, showcasing its revolutionary approach to narrative structure. This nonlinear style paved the way for other films that challenge traditional storytelling.
🌹 The Enigmatic 'Rosebud' and the Meaning of *Citizen Kane*
The final paragraph centers on the symbolism of 'Rosebud,' the childhood sleigh that represents lost innocence and yearning for a simpler time in Kane’s life. This revelation, reserved only for the audience, adds a poignant layer to the film's narrative. The paragraph also reflects on Orson Welles' connection to his character and how Kane’s rise to greatness mirrored Welles’ own journey. The emotional complexity of Kane’s life—his success, failures, and dissatisfaction—is a testament to *Citizen Kane*'s depth and lasting impact on cinema.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Masterpiece
💡Deep Focus
💡Omnipotent Perspective
💡Chiaroscuro
💡Low-Angle Shots
💡Non-linear Narrative
💡Montage
💡Superimposition
💡Rosebud
💡Expressionist Cinema
Highlights
The word 'masterpiece' originally referred to the work an apprentice would present to become a guild member, showcasing their mastery over their craft.
Orson Welles was only 25 when he completed 'Citizen Kane,' which is now regarded as one of the most important films in history despite being a box-office failure upon release.
'Citizen Kane' is considered revolutionary due to its radical new ideas that significantly advanced the evolution of cinema.
One of the film's most famous visual innovations was the use of deep focus, allowing the entire scene to be in sharp focus, enhancing storytelling by showing multiple elements at once.
The film’s use of deep focus was pioneered by cinematographer Gregg Toland, whose small aperture technique allowed each layer of the scene to add to the narrative.
A significant scene shows young Kane playing in the snow, unaware that inside, his fate is being decided, with all three characters visible in one frame due to deep focus.
The use of a 'floating camera' in 'Citizen Kane' allowed for fluid movement, giving the audience a godlike, omnipotent perspective.
The film utilized innovative tracking shots and dissolves, such as the shot introducing Kane’s second wife, revealing her emotional depth in just 30 seconds.
'Citizen Kane' borrowed visual techniques from other films but implemented them in a way that advanced American cinema, such as chiaroscuro lighting, which influenced the film noir genre.
The film’s low-angle shots, revealing ceilings, emphasized character power dynamics and became a widely used technique in cinema.
The fragmented narrative structure, using flashbacks and multiple points of view, was revolutionary and influenced later films like 'Rashomon' and 'Memento.'
Welles combined visual tricks such as superimposition and extreme close-ups to project characters' inner worlds and emotions.
'Citizen Kane' departed from the typical Hollywood narrative by presenting a story of moral ambivalence, allowing the audience to form their own judgments about the character of Kane.
The meaning of Kane's final word, 'Rosebud,' was revealed only to the audience, symbolizing his lost childhood and yearning for simpler times before his rise to greatness.
The film pioneered new storytelling methods, making the audience work to piece together the fragmented narrative, which was unlike anything previously seen in cinema.
Transcripts
the word masterpiece has an interesting
etymology now it means any great work of
art but originally it referred to the
work that an apprentice would present
before becoming the member of a guild a
piece of work that displayed the full
command of their skill over their art a
piece of work for which they would be
worthy of being called a master Orson
Welles was only 25 years old when he
completed his masterpiece though a
box-office failure upon its release
Citizen Kane has been canonized as one
of the most important films ever made
the name itself has become synonymous
with greatness but why what makes this
film tower above all others hello and
welcome to a hundred years of cinema
we'll be taking a look at at least one
film each year from 1915 onwards to
track the evolution of film over the
last century the evolution of cinema is
a slow process occasionally a film
breaks out with a radical new idea
that shakes the median to its
foundations before being adopted by the
mainstream slowly over the decades each
new idea each spark of ingenuity and
experimentation pushes the form just a
little further and very occasionally a
film will emerge so radical so packed
with new ideas that the evolution of
cinema itself seems to skip 10 years
almost overnight Citizen Kane was one of
those films it can be hard now to see
Citizen Kane for the revolution that it
was its impact on cinema was so profound
and its techniques became so ubiquitous
that it's once radical ideas now seem
commonplace as innovation gave way to
the imitators the film now seems to
stand in the shadow of its own greatness
some of the ideas that are credited to
the film like the use of deep focus or
extreme low angled shots
do you actually originate from earlier
films but it was in Orson Welles and
cinematographer Greg tollens utilization
of these techniques as well as many
other innovations of their own right
that turned Citizen Kane into something
revolutionary let's talk first about the
visual innovations that came brought to
cinema
exactly who brought what to the table
and who deserves the credit between
Orson Welles and Gregg Toland has long
been the subject of debate
but it's indisputable that that combined
efforts helped create one of the most
visually rich and engaging films made up
until that point somewhere between tones
technical genius and Welles command over
his image and new vocabulary was added
to the language of cinema the most
famous visual innovation from Citizen
Kane was its use of deep focus whereas
earlier filmmakers had used different
focal lengths to separate the characters
from the background or to draw the
audience's eye to a particular detail
Citizen Kane had the whole scene in
crisp focus this was accomplished by the
use of an incredibly small aperture the
smaller the aperture the more of the
image the Tipene focus at one time Gregg
Toland had used similar techniques one
year prior in the John four film the
long voyage home but it was citizen
Kane's application of this technique
that was truly something new the
composition of the scene allowed the
audience to read the whole frame at once
much in the same way that one would read
a painting each layer adding an element
to the story in the foreground a
businesslike mrs. Kane arranges the
paperwork they would see her son taken
into the custody of mr. Thatcher for a
proper education in the mid distance we
see Kane's father fighting to keep his
son and eventually giving in to his
greed and in the background a young Kane
plays in the snow with childhood
abandoned unaware that inside his fate
is being decided for him and what
traditional film would have had these
three elements shot separately divided
Eater by cuts or by changes in focus but
Kane gives us all of these components at
the same time the significance of the
moment in a young Kane's life is
heightened by the audience's ability to
perceive each conspiring element in
unison shots allowing the audience the
ability to perceive every detail in a
scene a filmmakers a new concise way of
presenting complex ideas or
relationships using framing and blocking
alone moving on from Citizen Kane we
would see the use of this again and
again throughout cinema though the use
of deep focus is Kane's most famous
innovation Welles and Toland had plenty
of other tricks up their sleeve like the
use of their Rove
floating camera that seemed to move in
possibly through objects giving the
audience an omnipotent almost godlike
perspective on events the use of
tracking shots wasn't new but what was
new was the complexity and the amounts
of these shots and how they worked to
give the audience a deeper understanding
of the events and characters take the
shot introducing Kane's second wife we
see a face illuminated by lightning
later revealed to be Susan Cain a
nightclub singer at the El Rancho a
sneaky dissolve helps the camera pass
through a plane of glass and susan sits
alone drunk and distraught in seemingly
one movement and all of 30 seconds we
know who her character is what she does
and the depth at which the death of her
former husband has wounded her we see a
young cane in the snow slowly becoming
isolated in the frame as his parents
signed the paperwork they would see him
cast out of the family home this same
sentiment and camera movement is
reversed when years later Cain takes
control of his destiny shot from below
literally larger than life this kind of
visual storytelling through camera
movements would become a staple of
cinema borrowed by filmmakers as diverse
as Alfred Hitchcock and David Fincher
though the full list of visual tricks
that Welles and Tolan brought to Citizen
Kane may not have been wholly original
the effect and implementation pushed
them into mainstream American cinema the
chiaroscuro effect that Olin brought to
the lighting of the film was lifted
directly from expressionist cinema of
the Vimal Republic but he's used to
highlight the emotional states of
characters would be a direct influence
on film noir
that would emerge a few years later the
use of low angle shots that reveal the
ceiling had already been used by
stagecoach but Wells had the technique
influenced how the audience reads a
scene emphasizing the importance of a
character and the power dynamic in a
relationship its use of extreme
close-ups to isolate and amplify a
character's expression its use of
montage to condense the growing strain
of a 16-year marriage into a few short
minutes it's use of wipes and
transitions to take us from one scene to
the net
without breaking the dramatic tension
the use of superimposition layering
images on images to project a
character's mental state into the real
world
what Late Citizen Kane such a visual
masterpiece is there every little trick
every camera movement every dramatic
low-angle is there for more than just
appearances it's there to drive the
story forward and allow us a window into
the minds of the characters however the
rich complex visuals would have been
wasted if they didn't work in the
service of a story worth telling and
equally revolutionary in its approach to
how a film looks with citizen Kane's
approach to the kind of story that films
tell and how they tell it what separated
Citizen Kane from the kind of films that
preceded it was the overall ambivalence
of its tone it's a film about one of the
wealthiest most successful man in the
world and yet permeating the entire film
is the gloom of failure Kane is an
idealist standing up for the rights of
the downtrodden and vulnerable and yet
we see him compromise these ideals near
constantly it's a film about the love
and friendships in a great man's life
and how that greatness strained those
relationships until no love remained we
as the audience are not directed in our
feelings one way or the other were
simply given the facts of a man's life
and forced to come to our own
conclusions whether we love Kane or hate
him is entirely up to us and our
feelings are likely to change as we make
our way down the winding path that is
the film at its most basic the story of
Citizen Kane can be boiled down to this
after the death of a prominent newspaper
editor a group of reporters attempt to
pin down the significance of his
enigmatic last word however to get us
from point A to point B the film takes
us through a labyrinth of flashbacks and
different points of view a series an
incomplete subjective and occasionally
contradictory glimpses into a man's life
from the people who knew him best
throughout the film we take on multiple
perspectives the first being that of a
typical Hollywood film at the time an
omnipotent observer that glides through
the window of a sounder new mansion to
hear Kane's final words mo
only the audience is privy to the
artificiality of this perspective is
compounded by the use of superimposed
snow immediately after Kane's death were
given our second perspective that if the
news camera the news real quickly and
concisely lists off every major events
of Kane's life and therefore exactly
what's going to happen in the remaining
hour and 45 minutes of the film from
this point on the audience already knows
every major plot point of the film but
Citizen Kane isn't really a film about
the events that take place it's about
why these events take place how they
shaped the characters in the film and
how the characters shaped the world
around them it's about how greed and
ambition and uncontrollable
circumstances can transform a young
idealist into a jaded old man we're
given the actual events of the film
through the newsreel but the corrupting
forces that shape Kane into who he
becomes are explained through a series
of flashbacks of the five people closest
to him each one revealing a new piece of
the jigsaw that makes a per month life
this narrative technique was unlike
anything else seen in cinema it was a
radical approach to storytelling that
completely shattered the audience's
expectation of the linear narrative they
would receive when going to see a film
now all of a sudden and then you've
already seen could be rewritten or given
new meaning and it paved the way for
films like Kurosawa's Rashomon last year
at Marienbad or memento its fragmented
nature forces the audience to pick up
the pieces and rearrange them in a way
that most make sense to them by the end
of the film the reporters have failed in
their mission to uncover the meaning of
Kane's last words but as Thompson points
out I don't think any word can explain a
man's life it's only after this do we
return to the same omnipotent
perspective that opened the film as the
camera glides over the real labyrinth of
treasures that are now all that remain
of Kane's life its reveal to us the
audience and only the audience the
meaning of Keynes final words the name
of his childhood sleigh rosebud is a
metaphor for the loss of childhood a
yearning for a time before being thrust
into greatness and at the age of 25
having created one of the most
influential and celebrated films ever
made it's possible to Orson had many of
the same feelings if the legends are to
be believed Wells only saw the film once
in its entirety when it was first
completed six months before it was
released and then almost one or the time
and its premiere but he chose to leave
the cinema before it ended one has to
wonder whether the pain of Charles
Foster Kane his life letting equal parts
success and failure a man who had
everything in the world but still found
himself wanting whose greatness brought
him only misery cut just a little too
deep for a man who would become one of
America's greatest filmmakers hey thanks
for watching 100 years of cinema my name
is Charlie I want to say a massive thank
you to all the people that support me on
patreon including my new supporter Maxim
Sam I love Citizen Kane for all of the
reasons listed above but also just
because it's so fun and it moves so fast
so if you haven't seen the film or it's
been a while check it out and let me
know what you think in the comments
below
if you liked that video you can check
out more by clicking the links on screen
you can hit the logo to subscribe and
you can also follow a link to support me
on patreon to help me make more videos
as well as receive exclusive bonus
content thanks for watching I'll see you
next time when we'll be talking about a
film from 1942 and not to give too much
away but it is literally my favorite
film ever made
you
浏览更多相关视频
√ Critically Analysing Citizen Kane | Orson Welles
French Impressionism in Film
Pesquisa e Opinião Pública - Aula 07 - Rádio e Cinema
Experimental and Documentary Films: Crash Course Film History #16
Why Beauty is Killing Cinema
What is Mise en Scene — How Directors Like Kubrick Master the Elements of Visual Storytelling
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)