Orson Welles Essays

  • The Orson Welles Show

    874 Words  | 2 Pages

    Orson Welles’ career took place in the mid-thirties to late eighties in the twentieth century. He began his career at age fifteen, starting in Ireland, making his acting debut in the Gate Theater in Dublin. By eighteen, Welles started to appear in off-Broadway productions. It was then that he also launched his radio career. By age twenty, he had presented alternate interpretations of certain well-known plays and movies. At age twenty-two he was the most notable Broadway star from Mercury Theater

  • Orson Welles

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    Orson Welles 	Orson Welles was an actor, producer, director, writer, and columnist who revolutionized the film industry by directing movies that depicted men and woman as real human beings. Throughout his writing career, Welles’ characters reflected his own personality and inspired others to write about human struggles, both good and bad. An innovative, dynamic individual, Welles spent his entire life experimenting with different mediums and bringing to the world his vision of man’s never ending

  • The Theatre of Orson Welles

    2454 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Theatre of Orson Welles "I would have been more successful if I'd left movies immediately, stayed in the theater, gone into politics, written, anything”(Cramer). This quote from Orson Welles during an interview in 1982 produces questions about the career of one of the most celebrated filmmakers of the twentieth century. How could the director of Citizen Kane, the movie cherished as the best movie of last century, wished for his life to be void of the cinema? How could he wish to have continued

  • Analyzing Orson Welles Citizen Kane

    1121 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kane (CK), directed by Orson Welles in 1941, is a dramatic film which explores the corrupting nature of power due to an individual’s vanity which gradually leads to the collapse of one’s moral compass, as well as the futile search of his identity lost amongst his possessions. By incorporating multiplicity of perspectives on Kane’s life, Welles effectively communicates this message through the innovative cinematography and structure to the contemporary audiences. In CK, Welles conveys how the social

  • Analysis Of Orson Welles Citizen Kane

    1118 Words  | 3 Pages

    Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane is one of the first modern sound films. However, it was innovative in more than just sound, it introduced various cinematography techniques and structural ideas. With the help of Barry Fesler and Jamos D. Stewart, Welles introduced subjects such as deep focus sound, the use of voice texture, and the “lighting mix.” Moreover, he explored different camera angles, deep focus photography, elaborated on fluid continuity, and experimented with structure. Citizen Kane was produced

  • Film Analysis: Orson Welles 'Rob Kane'

    1109 Words  | 3 Pages

    Coward Kane Orson Welles created a masterpiece. Orson Welles created Citizen Kane. Orson Welles created a change. Orson Welles created. Like the series of sentences jigsawed together, Citizen Kane is a film with a plot infused with build- ups of megalomaniac Kane’s life is what rhetorically drew in the audience. Through the realistic relationships of Charles Kane the audience were given the taste of an accumulated story line of who he was. Welles infiltrated the subconscious of his viewers through

  • Orson Welles Citizen Kane: An Individual's Identity

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    consciousness). Orson Welles’ revolutionary film Citizen Kane (1941) examines the psychologically damaging effects of parental neglect and the morally corruptive impacts of an unchecked pursuit for power and influence. However, the prevailing notion posited through the film is that the subjectivity of human experiences negates an absolute holistic

  • Shadowing And Lighting In Orson Welles Citizen Kane

    613 Words  | 2 Pages

    film Citizen Kane, it is clear the director, Orson Welles, created a picture unlike any other during this era on its release in 1941. The film is about the dying last words of Charles Foster Kane, a man who rose to fame from nothing. A journalist is on a mission to find what these words mean, and through stories from main characters, the audience is taken on Kane’s journey. Whether it’s the use of shadows and lighting, camera angles, or sound, Welles creates a picture comparable to noir films from

  • Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons

    2357 Words  | 5 Pages

    exchanging ideas and information, and it is no more at its best in light entertainment than literature is at its best in the light novel.” - Orson Welles Orson Welles was passionate about film. By the young age of 25, he had directed, produced, and starred in what is today considered by most to be the greatest movie ever made, Citizen Kane. About a year later, Welles began work on his next film project, The Magnificent Ambersons. Based on the novel of the same name by Booth Tarkington, The Magnificent

  • Hello, My Name Is Orson Welles

    1581 Words  | 4 Pages

    Name Is Orson Welles Orson Welles liked to reuse certain elements throughout his films. He liked a good deep focus shot. He liked low key lighting. He liked the grotesque side of life, blocking actors in groups of three, low camera angles and especially pointy bras. He also liked to open his movies in a certain predictable way. In Citizen Kane, he used the announcer in "News on the March" to introduce the subject and main character, Charles Foster Kane. In The Magnificent Ambersons, Welles himself

  • Orson Welles' Citizen Kane

    2683 Words  | 6 Pages

    Orson Welles' Citizen Kane Having success the first time around is very uncommon. Orson Welles's first feature film richly realizes the full potential of excellent craftsmanship. Citizen Kane is almost indisputably the greatest achievement in the history of filming. In 1941, this film was considered by many as the best film ever made. This film is about the enormous conflict between two twentieth-century icons, publisher William Randolph Hearst and the prodigy of his time, Orson Welles

  • Comparing Orson Welles 'Macbeth'

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    Roman Polanski and Orson Welles. Many of these film directors take the tragic story and mold it into a similar interpretation with different adaptations. For example, PBS produced a Macbeth film that revolved around the Soviet Union. The play by Shakespeare and the film directed by Orson Welles (1948) have many similarities, but Welles finds differing points of interest in some of the scenes in the play. Welles’ utilizes elements from Shakespeare’s

  • Breakfast Montage Clip in Orsen Welles' Citizen Kane

    694 Words  | 2 Pages

    Citizen Kane, is a 1941 American film, written, produced, and starred by Orson Welles. This film is often proclaimed by critics,filmmakers, and fans as one of the best if not the best film ever made. Citizen Kane is an unbelievable film becuase of how advanced it is compared to other films of its time. In the film, the producer used many different narrative elements to capture the audiences imagination. It truly is astounding how the filmmakers used certain editing techniques, sounds, and different

  • The Nature Of Ego In Orson Welles's 1941 Film Citizen Kane

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    The nature of ego is a fundamental concept in Orson Welles’ 1941 film ‘Citizen Kane’. Through presenting the life of Charles Foster Kane, Welles explores how time and place are critical in the development of an individual’s ego. The ideas of childhood and adulthood life and Kane’s need for control in his public and private environment assist in shaping audience’s understanding of the nature of ego. Essentially, Welles uses Kane’s life to explore how time and place are crucial elements to consider

  • George Orson Welles 'War Of The Worlds'

    676 Words  | 2 Pages

    Great Depression which lead into multiple hardships and times of unease. Orson Welles decided to broadcast a revised version of the book, “War of The Worlds”, but implemented that the radio play was occuring in real time to make the play more exciting. Unfortunately, some citizens believed that the radio play was an actual phenomenon that was occurring worldwide. This frightened many people around the world. Orson Welles is guilty of violating the Clear and Present Danger Clause because he did

  • Cinematography and the Film Citizen Kane (1941)

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    Within this well-known film, Orson Welles (director) portrays many stylistic features and fundamentals of cinematography. The scene of Charles Foster Kane and his wife, Susan, at Xanadu shows the dominance that Kane bears over people in general as well as Susan specifically. Throughout the film, Orson Welles continues to convey the message of Susan’s inferiority to Mr. Kane. Also, Welles furthers the image of how demanding Kane is of Susan and many others. Mr. Welles conveys the message that Kane

  • Citize Citizen Kane: Film Analysis

    617 Words  | 2 Pages

    focusing in on the most popular themes of Orson Welles’s work, pertaining to society & life, as well as mystery, I’ve come to find numerous aspects essential to those themes when looking at the many films of Orson Welles. For instance, the aspects in which plays a major part in Orson Welles’s films when focusing on the themes pertaining to society & life, and mystery, is mainly that of the cinematic and literary aspect. These aspects of film allows Welles to play with camera angles, lighting, music/sound

  • Shadows In Citizen Kane Symbolism

    1153 Words  | 3 Pages

    is “don’t judge a book by its cover”. This phrase indicates the fact that it is nearly impossible to truly evaluate the life and feelings of a person just by what can be seen about them. This is the case in the film Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles. Charles Foster Kane is a man who would appear to the general public as having it all. A very popular man, Kane owns a successful newspaper company for which he is known worldwide. He builds a gigantic mansion for his second wife and himself

  • Analysis Of The Film Citizen Kane

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    Orson Welles’s 1941 film Citizen Kane, is a significant and brilliant film. They knew that it was going to be such a great film that the slogan on the original citizen Kane posters said “It’s Terrific!” it may have been on the vague side, but it was certainly accurate thanks to its introduction incredible camera techniques, avant-garde storytelling, the use of special effects make-up, and new cinematography methods. These methods changed the way Hollywood films were made. Citizen Kane made cinematic

  • Citizen Kane Techniques

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    directed and starring Orson Welles. The movie debuted in 1941, eventually becoming one of RKO’s most prevalent films of all times. The main character Charlie Kane is played by Orson Welles and is often argued to be a portrayal of the media mogul William Randolph Hearst’s life. There are several reasons why the film grew in popularity, whether being the decent acting by fresh faces of Hollywood, or the creative, unique and innovative cinematic techniques developed by Orson Welles. Cinematic techniques