1. The narrative structure of Citizen Kane, the way the story is told, is one of the film’s most distinctive aspects, and certain episodes in the film serve more than one function. What functions does the “News on the March” newsreel serve? What does it provide for you, the viewer? A: The newsreel provides a good backstory about Mr.Kane and a brief little history about his life from his childhood to his death. It also tells us about the Xanandu Castle-like manor that he lives on.
2. The story of Citizen Kane is told primarily in flashback, and some episodes are related more than once by different people. What is the effect of this? Do the different versions of events contradict each other? Is there any significance to who tells what?a)This effect gives the vewer different perspectives of the scene. b: There are many point of views, said by many people, but the reason that there is so many people talking about flashbacks, this is the main reason because they are trying to find the reason behind the words "Rosebud", the famous last words said by Mr.Kane. I think the effect of multiple people talking about the past of Mr.Kane and flashing-back upon these events really helps tie all the events together in the end helping us, the sudience, understand the events better.
3. Many people (including Welles himself) have referred to the whole “Rosebud” devise as “dollar book Freud,” a cheap and superficial plot device. What do you think Rosebud contributes to the film? Is it meant to “explain” Kane’s character? Does it? Assuming you haven’t guessed already, do you feel cheated when Rosebud is explained at the end? A: I think Rosebud definetly contributes to film because even though we don't find out untill the end of the movie to find out what Rosebud really means. I think it is meant to explain Kane's character and maybe also something hidden in his life. Maybe it was a bad event in his life or even maybe it has a deeper meaning. I have read the synopsis and when Rosebud is explained, I do feel kind of cheated. It is a little cheap. Rosebud could have been the brand of Kane's sled when he was a boy and it represents the happieness and joy that Kane had when he was a kid before he got taken away from his family. This is my best guess and I think it is pretty plausible.
4. When Orson Welles first saw RKO studios, he is reported to have said, “This is the biggest electric train set a boy ever had to play with.” Is this feeling reflected in Citizen Kane? In what ways? A: I think this feeling is reflected in Citizen Kane because the quote: "This is the biggest electric train set a boy ever had to play with", it reflects Kane's rise to fame. Kane litterally went into this newspaper company and absolutely made it one of the most, if not the most, successful newspaper company. So in a way, the newspaper company is the train set and Kane is the boy playing with it.
5. Citizen Kane employs much “depth of focus” photography, which allows people and objects to be in sharp focus both in the foreground and the background simultaneously. In which sequences is this particularly evident? What does this technique contribute to the film? A) In one of the first couple scenes, Kane is about to be taken away to New York. When he is playing outside and his parents are inside, you can see that his parents are in fous but you can also see through the window that Kane is still in focus too. When more than a couple objects are in focus, I think, the object that is still in focus, but farthest away, that that object or person will soon contribute or something will happen.
6. Citizen Kane is frequently compared to film noir, with many critics calling it an early film noir. What elements of film noir does Welles use in Citizen Kane? Can you think of any reasons why it isn’t a film noir in the traditional sense? A: I think Citizen Kane is not a Film Noir movie because, it is kind of a up beat movie per-say. This kid gets taken away to New York and becomes one of the biggest newspaper moguls of all time. Also film noir movies are normally dealing with dark and eep subjects such as, death, sadness, anger etc. There are a couple examples of film noir in Citizen Kane, for example, when the reporter went to go see Kane's ex-wife, Susan Alexander, in the bar to get more info on the meaning of Rosebud, we see that Susan is quite sad, depressed and she even yells at the reporter to get out. She is also getting drunk.
2. The story of Citizen Kane is told primarily in flashback, and some episodes are related more than once by different people. What is the effect of this? Do the different versions of events contradict each other? Is there any significance to who tells what?a)This effect gives the vewer different perspectives of the scene. b: There are many point of views, said by many people, but the reason that there is so many people talking about flashbacks, this is the main reason because they are trying to find the reason behind the words "Rosebud", the famous last words said by Mr.Kane. I think the effect of multiple people talking about the past of Mr.Kane and flashing-back upon these events really helps tie all the events together in the end helping us, the sudience, understand the events better.
3. Many people (including Welles himself) have referred to the whole “Rosebud” devise as “dollar book Freud,” a cheap and superficial plot device. What do you think Rosebud contributes to the film? Is it meant to “explain” Kane’s character? Does it? Assuming you haven’t guessed already, do you feel cheated when Rosebud is explained at the end? A: I think Rosebud definetly contributes to film because even though we don't find out untill the end of the movie to find out what Rosebud really means. I think it is meant to explain Kane's character and maybe also something hidden in his life. Maybe it was a bad event in his life or even maybe it has a deeper meaning. I have read the synopsis and when Rosebud is explained, I do feel kind of cheated. It is a little cheap. Rosebud could have been the brand of Kane's sled when he was a boy and it represents the happieness and joy that Kane had when he was a kid before he got taken away from his family. This is my best guess and I think it is pretty plausible.
4. When Orson Welles first saw RKO studios, he is reported to have said, “This is the biggest electric train set a boy ever had to play with.” Is this feeling reflected in Citizen Kane? In what ways? A: I think this feeling is reflected in Citizen Kane because the quote: "This is the biggest electric train set a boy ever had to play with", it reflects Kane's rise to fame. Kane litterally went into this newspaper company and absolutely made it one of the most, if not the most, successful newspaper company. So in a way, the newspaper company is the train set and Kane is the boy playing with it.
5. Citizen Kane employs much “depth of focus” photography, which allows people and objects to be in sharp focus both in the foreground and the background simultaneously. In which sequences is this particularly evident? What does this technique contribute to the film? A) In one of the first couple scenes, Kane is about to be taken away to New York. When he is playing outside and his parents are inside, you can see that his parents are in fous but you can also see through the window that Kane is still in focus too. When more than a couple objects are in focus, I think, the object that is still in focus, but farthest away, that that object or person will soon contribute or something will happen.
6. Citizen Kane is frequently compared to film noir, with many critics calling it an early film noir. What elements of film noir does Welles use in Citizen Kane? Can you think of any reasons why it isn’t a film noir in the traditional sense? A: I think Citizen Kane is not a Film Noir movie because, it is kind of a up beat movie per-say. This kid gets taken away to New York and becomes one of the biggest newspaper moguls of all time. Also film noir movies are normally dealing with dark and eep subjects such as, death, sadness, anger etc. There are a couple examples of film noir in Citizen Kane, for example, when the reporter went to go see Kane's ex-wife, Susan Alexander, in the bar to get more info on the meaning of Rosebud, we see that Susan is quite sad, depressed and she even yells at the reporter to get out. She is also getting drunk.