Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane is considered to be one of the best movies of all time. This is because it introduced a variety of new cinematic components to film that had never been used before. Orson Welles brought many new things to the table with his creation, opening the eyes of filmmakers and influencing later works. One of these components being lighting and the use of shadows.

In the movie there is a scene where Kane's wife Susan becomes upset about the generous severance check that Kane had sent Jed Leland after firing him. She yells at him in a high shrieking voice about the man who wrote such an awful review about her singing and says she is going to quit. Kane waits patiently and listens to her for a while but then stands directly in front of her, blocking all the light from her face. She becomes very intimidated and this shadow technique shows that Kane is much too powerful of a person for her to argue with.


In another scene at the beginning of the movie, the men from the newspaper are in a room deciding what to talk about regarding Kane's death. The only light in the room is coming from the windows, which is an example of single source lighting. Because of this lighting, we can't make out the faces of the men and it leaves us only with silhouettes, especially the main reporter. This use of lighting is effective here because it shows the audience that these are less important characters and it isn't necessary for them to be scene. The more important characters of the movie are often shown fully with light.

In one scene, the lighting that was used was not as effective as the other uses in the film. This is when the reporter goes into the Library to read Thatcher's journal and when he is in the vault, a beam of light shines down on the spot where he sits down to read. This makes us think that this is a moment of truth where he finds out everything he needs to know, but in reality he discovers nothing. Therefore, this lighting is not really necessary.

The use of lighting helped to set the tone of a dark, moody atmosphere. Lighting and shadows were also used to create the impression of power and dominance that Kane had. This was achieved by casting his shadow on someone inferior to him and having his shadow be big and stand alone representing his wealth and independence. Lighting is used by Welles in Citizen Kane not because it was necessary but because it adds to the story. Shadows were used to evoke emotion from the audience in certain scenes and keep the dark ominous feel of the movie.

In the movie The Godfather, lighting is strategically used to highlight faces and hide or show emotions. Shadows are used to hide the eyes of the characters so that the audience can't tell what they are thinking at that moment. Lighting in both The Godfather and Citizen Kane is critical in sparking emotion and showing power and importance in the story. Without the use of these dramatic shadows in Citizen Kane, the film definitely would not be as exciting or critically acclaimed as it is now.