Cory Petras, Citizen Kane

          When you think of films that set a new standard for filmmaking, you probable think of "Citizen Kane". "Citizen Kane"  directed, written, and produced by Orson Welles, who also stared in the film. This film is considered the greatest film of all time. Orson was a genius when doing this film, using new lighting techniques, and camera angles that had never been used before.

In the scene on the left, you can see how Orson used low lighting, showing a lot of shadows giving the scene a eerie feel, you can tell that it was scene that he wanted to make the viewer feel as if it was a little secretive, or  that he shouldn't be there. the mood set by the lighting could be interpreted many different ways. this scene is also filmed in film Noir style, which Orson perfected, In a sense was the father of this style.

In this scene you can see the Noir Style of filming, but also the low camera angle that was used. this was used to show authority, to show the hostility in the room. this is where Orson shined best, he was able to portray the mood of a scene by the lighting and camera angle, if you watched this movie with no sound, you would still be able to understand the mood of each scene. Its quite ironic to think one of the greatest films of all time was created by a 25 year old rookie who had never done a film before. Welles was given full control of this movie which had never been done before. but how could they not with Welles creativity.
Another film technique Welles used in Citizen Kane was deep focus. this is when all aspects of the scene is in perfect focus. this technique isn't easy to achieve, but Welles mastered it in this film.

You can see if the two images above how clear the image is, so you can see what is going on in the background, Welles wanted the viewers to see what was happening.

           To sum everything up, wells was a pure genius when it came to film. his work in "Citizen Kane" set a new standard to filming. Welles used low lighting techniques, low camera angels, and deep focus in this film. Welles integrated Film Noir Style which he in a sense created. Welles did all this at only 25 years old, and in his filming debut. and when you put all of this together he created one of the greatest films of all time.