The Cinematic Touchstone: "Citizen Kane"

Widely considered the greatest American film of all time, Orson Welles' Citizen Kane changed the history of film making and Hollywood. Welles, who was 26 years old at the time of the film's release, not only directed the film but also starred as the lead role and co-wrote the screenplay with Herman J. Mankiewicz. I could go on for hours debating why Citizen Kane is considered a classic but I would like to focus on solely the film making innovations Welles and his crew were responsible because they are absolutely fascinating. Citizen Kane changed the way movies could look and how they could be told forever.

Film historians view Citizen Kane as Welles' attempt to create a new style of film making by combining all previous techniques into one. Welles once said that in preparing for Citizen Kane, he watched the John Ford film Stagecoach over forty times. Welles went on to say: "I wanted to learn how to make movies, and that's such a classically perfect one." One of the standout features in Citizen Kane is its cinematography. The most innovative technical aspect is the use of deep focus. In most of the film's scenes the foreground, background, and all elements in between are all in sharp, clear focus. Assisted by cinematographer Gregg Toland, Welles used special lenses and lighting to create the deep focus effect.

Citizen Kane uses a unique storytelling technique by eluding the traditional, linear narrative and tells the story of Charles Foster Kane in overlapping flashbacks using different points of view with different narrators. This was virtually unheard of in Hollywood films. Another story-telling technique used in Citizen Kane was the use of montage to condense time using episodic sequences. In one particular scene, Welles uses montage to show how Kane's first marriage fell apart compiling fifteen years of story into two minutes of screen time.

Welles and company also developed several visual effects to make film less expensive when shooting crowd scenes or large interior spaces. By using miniatures and precise cutting of shots, Susan's opera performance scene looked incredibly well done and fluid. Other scenes using miniatures, such as many shots of Xanadu make the film look more expensive then it actually was. Another phenomenal visual effect was the make-up for the film created by artist Maurice Seiderman. Welles, who played the role of Charles Foster Kane was 26 years old at the time of filming as previously mentioned. Seiderman used a plastic compound to produce the make-up for the old Kane which took six to seven hours to apply on young Welles' face.

Finally, the last innovation of Citizen Kane is the use of music and soundtrack to create moods and emotion. Welles used many radio techniques and pioneered a technique of his own called "lightning-mix" using related sounds to link a complex montage into a cohesive and smooth narrative. 

In conclusion, Citizen Kane redefined what film making meant to Hollywood. Not only did Welles impact how movies were made but he also served as a launch point for many other famous people in the business. Composer Bernard Herrmann, editor Robert Wise and cinematographer Gregg Toland enjoyed immense success after working with Orson Welles on Citizen Kane. Welles' masterpiece was made so early in his career that he rarely ever lived up to expectation thereafter. But lucky for us his greatest work defined an era and remains one of the best American films in history to this day.