Citizen Kane Film Techniques

What makes Citizen Kane so special? Orsen Well at twenty-five years old created a masterpiece that is considered to be one of the greatest films ever made. Wells was an innovator that approached filmmaking with a new eye and a fearlessness of trying things differently. Film editing, sound, and lighting proved to be a critical part in the making of the film. Wells manipulated the scenes and changed the order of time effectively. He used both costume and makeup to convey the narrative while also creating visually stunning art. Citizen Kane is a movie that gives no clear answers to the viewer's questions and provided no clear ending. Wells demonstrates the depth of the story and yet the simplicity of one man's journey in a back and forth mystery

The nonlinear narrative used in Citizen Kane was not used often in film at that period. The film began with the main character Kane whispering the words "Rosebud" before releasing a snow globe from his hand and then dying. The film then takes a journey to find the meaning of Kane's last words as Wells successfully comes full circle by the end of the narrative. This narrative told from five different character perspectives allowed the audience to become emersed in the chaotic world of Charles Kane as the story danced through different times in Kane's life. The viewer watched the manipulation of time as the breakdown of his first marriage conveyed in a montage

2 Jacobson of scenes. Wells did not use organized chronological story telling, and yet the viewer remained captivated in the narrative. Wells had a background in radio and sound and created many radio dramas before making Citizen Kane including the well known War of the World. The sound in Citizen Kane is sometimes subtle and sometimes deliberatly loud. The deliberate sounds of emptiness at the castle as Kane and Mary fight to the horrible singing of Mary at the opera house are just a few examples of how Well's coupled sight and sound to give a full picture of the