A Comparison Of Framing Lighting And Set

A Comparison Of Framing, Lighting And Set Design In Citizen Kane And The Scarlett Empress Essay, Research Paper

The folowing essay is a comparison of the films Citizen Kane

(1941) dircted by Orson Welles and Josef Von Sternberg’s The Scarlet

Empress. (1934) Specifically it will concentrate on how the two directors

use set design, framing and lighting to comment upon the psychology of their principle characters.

Welles’ Citizen Kane tells the story of an aging press tycoon and

would-be politician Charles Foster Kane. A man whose arrogance alienates

him from everyone who loves him, leaving him to die alone inside the vast Gothic castle of a home that he builds for himself in Florida. The film is highly regarded for its filming techniques, including aspects of set design, framing and lighting. Von Sternberg’s The Scarlet Empress tells thestory of the rise to power of Catherine the Great of Russia who overthrows her imbecile husband Peter to lead the nation. This film is also renowned for its cinemetography, lighting and set design (rather than its historical accuracy). What follows shall be a comparison of two specific sequences, one from each film. I shall describe each then explain how the elements mentioned earlier are similar in each and how they relate to their characters symbollically and their respective films as a whole. The story of Charles Foster Kane unravels in a series of flashbacks told to a reporter by the people who knew him. In the film’s fourth flashback, Kane’s second wife, Susan, recounts her life with Kane to the reporter, Thompson. The viewer has learned earlier in the film that Kane has failed as a publisher, politician and as a husband to his first wife Emily. Kane puts all his hopes and aspirations into promoting Susan’s opera carreer. The untalented Susan fails miserably and attempts suicide. The following sequence occurs after Kane tells Susan she can quit singing:

A dark and gloomy night-shot of Kane’s estate, Xanadu, fades in with a mansion high on a hill. The shot dissolves to a closer, but equally dreary, exterior of the mansion. Both shots are accompanied by eerie brass music building to a slow haunting crescendo. The mansion dissolves into a close-up of Susan’s face and hand over a jigsaw puzzle.

“What are you doing.” Kanes voice echo’s as if in a deep cavern. The camera pulls back to the right, still on Susan as she reacts by looking left off screen. The scene cuts to a deep focus shot of Kane walking through a fifteen-foot archway, half-lit/half in shadows. Kane tiny in the background under the archway, is dwarfed by the giant statues in the foreground, middle-ground and background as well. “Jigsaw puzzles.” Kane answers his own question with the same deep echoing voice. The sequence cuts back to Susan sitting at the tabled jigsaw puzzle, still looking offscreen. She drops a piece of the puzzle, sighs then props her head in hand seemingly in despair.

“Charlie. What time is it.” The shot reverses to Kane approaching. He is almost entirely shadowed in darkness.

“Eleven thirty.” Kane replies. Still walking, Kane turns to his left. The camera pans right, following him.

“In New York.” Susan asks.

“Hmm...” Kane asks not hearing.

“What time is it in New York.” she asks impatiently.

“Eleven thirty,” he repeats. Kane continues across the room still engulfed in darkness. As the camera pans right, more of the room’s immense grandeur is revealed. A huge staircase leading to a large second story balcony, more giant statues and the grandest of fireplaces fill the palatial hall. Kane and Susan continue their conversation as Kane stops beside Susan seated in front of the fireplace. Susan’s voice takes on a sarcastic then pleading tone as she tells Kane she is bored, then begs him for a trip to New York to have some fun. Kane walks to the fire place, turns to face outward in a stance of stolid resolve.

“Our home is here Susan. I don’t care to visit New York.”

This sequence is highly symbolic and significant to the film’s narrative. The exterior establishing shot is dark and gloomy. Welles creates an almost haunted house effect. This is Kanes home. It reflects Kanes own dark and sombre mood at this point in the film. Kane has failed miserably at all attempts to bring happines to his life. Inside the mansion Kane is dwarfed by Welles’ giant set pieces. By lighting the colossal statues and fixtures from behind and not lighting Kane’s face, he is cast almost entirely in darkness Kane is literally and symbolically overshadowed by Xanadu. This place he has built stands as a greater monument to his life than do his actual acheivments. The deep focus shot in this scene helps to convey symbollically Kane’s stature at this point of the film . Earlier in the film Welles shot himself from the floor level /up to create Kanes powerful imposing stature. He even had to remove sections of floor to accomodate the camera and had to create ceilings for the scenes in the newspaper’s office where they could be seen. It made Kane appear larger than life. In the Xanadu scene Kane appears tiny in the background. He has lost any power he once had; power in the publishing business, political power and the power to be happy. This deep focus shot also creates a seemingly vast distance between Kane and Susan onscreen. It is symbollic of their

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать