Hopefully you noticed as you watched Citizen Kane that it had a very different feel to it than the other films we've watched in this class. There are many ways in which this film is the first modern movie. For example, the J-cut and the L-cut, two techniques that are standard practice in every movie made now, were first used in Citizen Kane. Also, the technique of telling the story told through flashbacks had never been done before Cane but is often done now and not considered particularly groundbreaking anymore.
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| This shot is an example of the innovation used in this film. Cameras at the time could not get both characters in focus but Welles demanded that they both be in focus so they took each shot separately and then put them together. |
cinema during the era that we've focused on in this class. We started with Lumiere and Edison films that were just moving images without sound or much of a story. Then we evolved to silent films that did tell a story and used the tools of cinematography in more-and-more innovative ways until they culminated with the high silent era.
Then came sound and more innovations that compensated for the weaknesses of sound. Eventually Hollywood reached the golden age and then the golden year. Lots of movies were made and filmmakers figured out better and better ways to tell stories until Citizen Kane came along. This film really is a culmination of everything that happened before and the film that brings us into the modern cinematic age. Watch films before and after Citizen Kane and you will notice a difference.
When you comment about Citizen Kane, you need to answer three of the following questions:
- Why do you think so many great film lists put this film at the top? Remember the four criteria the AFI list creators use to measure a great film.
- What would you say the theme of this film is? Justify your response with at least three specific examples from the film.
- We know what the critics say but what do you think? Do you personally think Citizen Kane is a good movie? Why or why not?
- I wrote above that Citizen Kane changed the way movies are made. As you watched the film, did you notice moments that seemed like more advanced filmmaking then the films we've watched earlier in this class? If so, please describe what you say and explain why you feel it is more advanced.
- Make your own top ten list of movies we've watched in this class and write it in your response. What criteria did you use to make the list? Which film gets the #1 spot on your list and why?
- How about "rosebud"?
citizen Kane
ReplyDeleteI think that if i was gonna make my top ten list the first movie i would pick would be gone with the wind because i liked the way it was set up then destry rides again,it happened one night, the heart,the general,city lights, freaks, gold diggers of 1933,king kong then the dictator
we know the critics liked the movie but what did i think of it, i think the movie was ok i kind of got the point but i didn’t understand i didn’t get the whole rose bud thing or why he would choose that to be his last words i guess i could have been a little better if i understood it a little more but i give it a sideways thumbs up
i think the theme of this film was suspense just cause of him lying to his wife and people trying to find out why his last words were rosebud and him going a little crazy it almost reminded me of other movies we watched when he has a lot of money he gets a new wife and she realizes she doesn't want him he goes crazy just things like that
Graded.
DeleteI liked some parts of this film. It's much harder to get into an old black and white film than it is to get into a film today, at least for me it is. It kinda felt like the middle of the film was just filler to the beginning and end of the film. But aside from that, the film was just excellent and the shots were amazing. It was really mysterious and made you wonder what rosebud was.
ReplyDeleteI feel like if i hadn't already known what rosebud was it would've made the movie more interesting. It made the movie more mysterious and i liked that. The movie still left me in suspense in the end, although i already knew what "rosebud" was.
I feel like the shots used in this film were very innovative and cool. This was the first film we've seen in class where the camera moves with the shots, and some of the transitions were so cool!
Who wrote this?
DeleteJosh Payne
DeleteCitizen Cane
ReplyDeleteI liked this movie, but personally i don't think that it should have been the number one movie on this list.It didn't seem to be very much different from the other movies.I had a hard time trying to watch this movie, it wasn't that interesting to me.
I didn't get why he said "rosebud" when he died.Or why it said it on his sled when they threw it into the chimney.Nobody knew why he said it when he died and they never found out. I would have just given up on trying to figure out why. Instead of bugging people that he knew.
I think the theme is not to let your fortune get to you. Because he lost his wife because he didn't buy her anything or let her do what she wanted because he was to obsessed with what people would say about him.
Mariah Edwards
Graded.
DeleteI would say that the theme of this film is that no amount of money will ever make you happy. He buys his second wife her shot in the singing big leagues and she makes him miserable. He buys a newspaper and that causes even worse problems in his life. He even goes so far as to set up an entire political campaign but, that crumbles around his head.
ReplyDeleteWe know what the critics say. I personally agree with them. Citizen Kane is a mediocre movie at best. The entire world knows the words he whispered upon his death. He continues to be just as bad as all the other rich people he hated right after he gets out of their influence. His character development goes straight down hill from the time you first see him as a kid to when he drops dead. I don't even understand why he was still so obsessed with the sled in the end. He searched for it throughout the whole movie and then you find out it was just piled in with the rest of the crap he didn't care about? That's not how any logical or forward thinking person would treat their one and only possession they care about. I can't relate at all to the main character. But, that's just my opinion.
My top ten for the movies we've watched in this class would be King Kong, Destry Rides Again, The Great Dictator, It Happened One Night, The Artist, Freaks, Safety Last, The General, City Lights and The Wolf Man. The criteria I used to make the list included the reliability of the characters, the quality of the filmatic elements and the story line. The film that hands down gets the #1 spot on your list is The General. Chaplin always makes the best films and it had my all time favorite speech. It had the best message out of all of them. And finally I believe it was actually Chaplin's greatest film.
Graded.
DeleteCitizen Kane was a very odd film, Its hard to find words for how I felt or thought throughout the film. Well I thought the shots were good, really good in fact. I know Josh said that this film was recognized for its amazing shot choice but it still blew me away with the shot choice. It definitely had some very good ideas and opinions about all sorts of things.
ReplyDeleteI was constantly noticing advanced film making, with more than 1 person in each shot and having them all focused or even nobody on the screen and everything still focused. It also was crazy about the low and high angles and how they portrayed them. It felt like every shot was thought out very very thoroughly and had a meaning.
I can see why its made the top for lots of movie critics lists. I mean did you guys see the friggin shots and angles?! I realize ive been ranting about it now but it just really surprises me how such a old movie could have such creativity. At times it really didn't feel like a old movie but without color it definitely proved it it an old movie.
Graded.
DeleteTigger Payne 2nd
ReplyDeleteCitizen Kane
I think its theme is to look at a person by their whole and not a single piece. Every interview with someone about his life is a different example. The interviewer is just looking for the meaning behind rosebud but he instead finds out many different things about him that are far more interesting and they build his character a drastic amount from what you know at the beginning. It shows you that you shouldn't base your opinions of what you know about someone off of one thing but their entire life’s experience.
1 The Artist
2 Citizen Kane
3 It Happened One Night
4 The Great Dictator
5 Gone With the Wind
6 The General
7 City Lights
8 Destry Rides Again
9 Freaks
10 The Wolfman
I based this off of which movies effected me the most emotionally throughout the film. I feel like good movies should be able to pull a reaction out of people. My number one movie that we watched is The Artist. I think it was a brilliant concept and it was executed perfectly. It was one of the most original films I've seen. I dont know if other movies had this concept first so i could be wrong on the originality. It starts out happy and just slowly falls off of the rails for one character and gets better for the other. It is amazing that they can make you sad and happy at the same time. Also the fact that the type of stuff that happened in the movie happened in real life is also incredible. It also ends happily which is another good touch. It is also the movie i've thought back to the most out of all of them that we watched.
I think that rosebud resembled something that made kane truly happy before he became jaded to everything in the world. I also think he kept it to himself to keep if from being poisoned by public view so he could retain some happiness throughout his life. I also think it applies to real people everywhere. Almost like a guilty pleasure that you keep to yourself for your personal enjoyment.
Graded.
DeleteOne thought about "Rosebud": remember that this sled was what he was playing with when his mom gave him up. He got a new sled from his guardian the next year at Christmas but he rejected that sled. It wasn't the sled that mattered—it was his mom. They say in the film that his mother was the only person he really loved besides himself and Kane himself says he would have been a great man if he hadn't fallen into money. If his family hadn't accidentally ended up with the land that was worth so much, Kane would have been able to grow up with his actual mom instead of a guardian.
ReplyDeleteCan one word define a person's life? Maybe not.
Can a mother's influence—or lack thereof? Kane seems to have thought so.
Also, for those who are a bit baffled as to why the critics love this film so much, here is a review from Roger Ebert. It is a great read: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-citizen-kane-1941
ReplyDeleteYes I thought Citizen Kane was a good movie, I wouldn't say it was my favorite but i think it had a good movie. it was funny, it had drama and it had mystery and it was a pretty movie. So yes I did enjoy the movies.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason this movie is always number one on these list are...... First that it is just a good looking movie and was just filmed really beautifully. Second it became a cult classic, it just became popular just out of no where. and third it's what made the difference between a modern movie and a classic film it was just so innovated.
I felt like the whole rosebud thing wasn't that big of a mystery I felt like it was very apparent the whole film. like the scene where it was getting covered in snow I felt like that was yelling that was rosebud. or like the part when they said it was something that he had lost. I felt like rosebud presented his childhood and he lost his childhood so all he wanted was that.
The top ten I would choose are:
ReplyDeleteGreat Dictator
Freaks
City Lights
The General
Citizen Cane
Desrty Rides Again
It happened One Night
And thats not ten I know but those are the only ones that are worthy to be on this list.
My requirements where they had to have a hidden meaning that made the movie a bit deeper and also that there was some sort of comic relief.
I felt as to this movie was the movie that pushed us to where we are today. Not only do the cuts seem more smooth and feel as tho I am watching a movie made from more of a 'our time' but it also has a very crisp feel.
Citizen Kane
ReplyDeleteI think they put Citizen Kane at the top because it made so many new things that are used in movies today. Like the J and L cut. They helped so much of the movies today. They made the flash back thing to and a lot of movies today do that to.
My top ten list for this movie would be
The Great Dictator
Destry rides again
Gold Diggers
City Lights
The General
Safety Last
King Kong
It Happened One Night
Gone with the wind
The wolf man
I chose this list because those are the top movies i liked. starting from number 1 was my favorite. The Great Dictator was really really good. i loved the speech he said. It is really funny. Its about hitler and the war. Just everything that Chaplin does is so cool.
Citizen Kane was a good movie to me mostly because of all the new stuff they did in this movie. They made up so much things that helps a lot. But this movie was kind of confusing to me. There was some funny parts in this movie but i still don’t understand rose bud. I think rose bud is his second wife but I’m still confused about that whole thing.
Citizen Kane
ReplyDeleteI think Citizen Kane makes the number one spot on the A.F.I list because it changed cinema in so many ways. Not only did Mr. Welles develop deep focus he also used pan focus, and extreme low angle shots. The low angle shots that he chose were so low that the camera would capture the ceiling of the studio to showing that the set was obviously a set. So Welles had crew use Muslin fabric draped across the set to give a look of a ceiling. He would then hid booms mics in the fabric or in floor trenches to acquire his sound. I also think it took the top of the lis because not only did he revolutionize the way movies were filmed but he also changed the way people told the story of a film. Using multiple points of view, flash backs, and multiple narrators it opened up doors to new worlds for the film industry.
I thought Citizen Kane was a really good movie. I’d actually really like to see it again. I think one of the reasons it’s so good is Welles really knew how to make sound and imagine combine as one. He also was very conscious of his folly. Like the rain on the window at the “El Rancho”, or they way the library echo’s. He knew to overlap voices without losing the message of what people were talking about. I think Welles history of being in radio shows helped him piece the sounds and images together smoothly. Not to mention this movie is amazing just because of the makeup. To create older Kane they used a red plastic compound to allow the wrinkles on his face to move more naturally on his face. They also used several hair tuff to create his mustache. To get Welles to look like Kane it took six to seven hours to apply! They would begin makeup at two in the morning to be able to film at nine. Welles also used miniatures of sets to make the film look more expensive than it really was, and would work up to sixteen hours a day on set. He worked so hard he even broke his leg during filming, he continued to direct while healing and jumped right back into acting with a steel leg brace as soon as he could. Orson Welles sheer commitment to this film makes this a beautiful movie to me.
The list I created of films I’ve watched in class is this:
The Great Dictator
Gone With the Wind
Citizen Kane
Freaks
The General
Gold Diggers
City Lights
Safety Last
Nosferatu
The criteria I used is if the film had a good plot, the story was told well and effectively, if the film had good comedic relief as well as maintaining a sense of serious to the story, and if the film was bold. And what I mean by bold is doing things that people wouldn’t have thought of doing, expensive (or expensive looking) set design, crazy stunts, has a strong message or you know making fun of a dictator hell bound on taking over the world while he is still rising in power.
I think that the theme of Citizen Kane is an important one. Teaching people that children being raised by money is never a good thing, and that money can turn a pretty girl into a greedy woman. It is a theme that I think should still be talked about today, just because money will never go away and it would help people to see why greed is so terrible.
ReplyDeleteThe Critics are right for once, *gasp*. Citizen Kane is so important to the movie world, and a bad movie could never be important. It used things never used before in terms of cinematography and storytelling. And not only that, but it told a good story, a fun to watch story, and it washed the bad taste of Gone With The Wind from my mouth, so I thank it for that.
Rosebud the Sled is the main reason I am able to come up with the theme in the first place. It shows the theme because if he thought he could be raised by money, he wouldn’t have kept it, coupled with him saying that without money he would be a great man and we gots ourselves a theme. Not only that, it created the ENTIRE plot of the movie.
Citizen Kane is a wonderful piece of art. I completely understand why it's rated the number one movie on AFI's List. It fits into all 4 categories better than any other. Historical importance, cultural impact, technological innovated, and artistically valued. I know I use this term to describe lots of other movies, but Citizen Kane truly is, cinematic perfection.
ReplyDelete"Rosebud" represents regret. We can all identify with that because we all have things from our past that haunt us. No matter how many times you watch this film, you can always find different meaning for Rosebud not only in the movie, but also in your own life.
My top ten films we've watched in class:
A Trip to the Moon
Freaks
It Happened One Night
Gone With the Wind
Gold Diggers of 1933
Citizen Kane
Safety Last
King Kong
The Great Dictator
Destry Rides Again
I made this list based off the messages in the films. How well I believed the message carries through.
A Trip to the Moon takes the number one spot. And yes, I know it's not a feature length. I just love it so much.