Citizen Kane

The use of cinematography in Citizen Kane out did previous movies before it, and inspired many that came after it. My first example of a technique used is deep focus. This is used many times throughout the movie, almost always with Kane in the center of the shot, even though he may be far off in the background. The way deep focus is used with Kane in the center, shows you that he is the one who is important to what is happening in that scene. Like when Kane's parents are sending him away with Mr. Thatcher the whole time you can see him in between the parents and Mr. Thatcher in the background, because he is the one that is actually important to that scene. Another technique used is the crane shot, this is also used multiple times. One way it was used was to give the effect that you were trespassing. The camera would go up and over fences with No Trespassing signs on them, or would enter the restaurant by coming in from above and looking down into the window, which gave you the feeling that you were intruding. A third time it was used was at the end of the movie to move over all of Kane's belongings, this time it was used to emphasize the huge amount of stuff that Kane owned.