Citizen Kane Opening
How does
Welles create an air of mystery in the opening of Citizen Kane?
Welles used
the technique of fade to black in the opening to create mystery when changing
from the different angles of the house this in effect makes the audience query
why we are concentrating on this old mansion and why there is one window lit.
The audience
continue to question as the camera slowly moves up the defensive gates and
fences making the audience feel as if slowly entering the grounds as well as
this there is an edgy suspense of prison and danger with the prison bar like
gates.
Welles uses
the use of taunting music which is slow and gradual with occasional sharp interjections,
music is a key element in thrillers as it sets the scene and creates the
correct emotions which the audience should be attaching themselves to for the
full effect of the movie.
Welles uses
the set of a periodic mansion, which is quite fairy tale similar, but with a
dark edge and with uninviting features, keeping the audience in suspense as if
they are being kept from the secret within the house. The features of the house
consist of large daunting front doors and windows with grand gates and sat on
large grounds.
He uses
props such as the snow globe, this is quite a main feature of the opening as it
is what the old man was holding before he died.
When he died the globe smashed this could be used as a symbol, as the
glass shattered and the water leaked away it could resemble the end of his
life, he as the water was free to go from the entrapment of the globe this
might be the intention. This is another question on the audiences’ minds as
well as; why was he holding a globe, why did the director concentrate on the
globe smashing and when it did smash have the “gold fish bowl” effect?
Within the
opening there was a lot of shadowing used in the shot composition this makes
the audience think of mystery and leaves them in suspense to what is going to
happen.
Welles uses
extreme shots when in the bedroom of the
mansion, he closes up on the snow globe when in his hands and when it falls
this makes the audience concentrate only on the snow globe and understand that
it may have some importance or relevance for later on in the film. There is
also an extreme close up on the man’s lips before he dies as he says “rose bud”
this creates the effect of mystery as the audience have the question “who is
rose bud?” and why did he say it? Another effect I noticed was the snow inside
the snow globe was having the shaken up effect inside the globe as well as on
his lips this is quite mysterious as it isn’t realistic and is quite strange. The
use of non-diegetic sound is still very gradual with the adding of diegetic
sounds; the glass breaking and the old man speaking.
In the very
beginning the shots seem to consist of the house with one lit window in the top
right corner of the screen the rest of the mansion is dark and in shadows this
creates an air of mystery as it seems we are meant to go to the window. As the
shot stays still the light quickly switches off this then cause a jump shot to
inside the room where the outside seems bright and lighter. With this the
camera at a certain angle creates the man, and when the nurse enters, to be in
silhouette. This creates the effect of mystery and makes the audience question
why did the man die?, what was his nurse for? and did the silhouette symbolise his death?
