Engineers hub

Citizen Kane is a good film because it effectively uses film language on
many different levels. The camera work and lighting are so meticulous that
with each viewing there is more to see and appreciate. The way the film is
laid out also sets it apart. The beginning of the film is actually the
ending of the story because in the opening scene the main character, Kane
utters the last words of "rosebud" and then dies. This sets the stage for
the retelling of his life and the search for the mysterious origins of
"rosebud". In Citizen Kane it is really the small things that make the
film so effective. A good scene that illustrates this point is in the
beginning when young Kane is playing outside his house and his parents are
talking about what is going to happen to him. As his parents talk they are
the focus of the shot and are in the foreground but in the background
framed through a window we can see young Kane playing out in the
snow. This type of shot is used later in the film when Kane throws a party
for his newspaper. Leland and Mr. Burnstein are talking about Kane and we
see a reflection of him dancing in a window, framed almost the same as the
shot when he was a child. This film also uses low angle shots quite often
which make the characters seem larger than life. These low angle shots are
most noticeable when Kane is first starting out as an adult and after he
loses the election. Mise-en-scene is also an essential element of this
film. In the scene where Leland is passed out on his typewriter the bottle
of alcohol is placed prominently in the frame, this type of shot is
repeated when Susan O.D.'s and the sedative is placed in the close
foreground of the shot. The use of focus in Citizen Kane gives the viewer
insight into what the characters are thinking or feeling. Often throughout
the film when Kane is talking business he will go out of focus and only
Leland will be in sharp focus. It is in these types of shots that we see
that Leland is thinking about the man that he once knew which ultimately
foreshadows the falling out they will have toward the end of the film. The
last thing that I will mention that this film does very well is the use of
transitions. For instance when Kane is looking at the picture of the
Chronicle employees and it transitions from the picture to the actual
people who are then employed by Kane. Also, when the newspapers run the
article of Kane and Susan's affair it transitions from her building door
with the 185 over it to the same shot on the cover of the newspaper. The
use of a slow fade is also used throughout the film when ever a character
is remembering. Needless to say, I think that Citizen Kane is a very good
film and will hopefully continue to stand the test