Quiz #3: Citizen Kane

Film Noir

"Dark film," a term applied by French critics to a type of American film, usually in the detective or thriller genres, with low-key lighting and a somber mood. Deviation from the norm of the classical hollywood narrative style of filmmaking.

Cahiers du Cinema

"cinema notebooks". A vastly influential journal which gathered about it a group of young critics-Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol, Jacques Rivette, and Eric Rohmer- who were to become the major directors of the New Wave.

characteristics of french new wave

1. Jump cuts: a non-naturalistic edit, usually a section of a continuous shot that is removed unexpectedly, illogically 2. Shooting on location 3. Natural lighting 4. Improvised dialogue and plotting 5. Direct sound recording 6. Long takes

Production Code

1930: established "ground rules" of what could and couldnt be in movies, did not enforce it

Citizen Kane

1941, Orson Welles

Breathless (film)

1959, Jean-Luc Godard; French new wave

matte shot

A type of process shot in which different areas of the image (usually actors and setting) are photographed separately and combined in laboratory work.

deep focus

A use of the camera lens and lighting that keeps objects in both close and distant planes in sharp focus, used to emphasize tension. Allowed for longer shots than THS films previously

When was film noir coined?

After its creation; not called film noir at the time but the name came many decades later

Double Indemnity

Billy Wilder, 1944

Production Code Administration

Created in 1934, set of rules that control the content of the movie, lasted until 1968 when it was replaced by rating system

auteurs

Directors who also see themselves as artists. They want to control all aspects of their production, often writing, sometimes shooting or editing, their films.

Why does film noir develop?

Exposure to ww2, people want to see more social commentary/ reaction to what actually goes on

Motion Pictures Producers Distributors Association (Hays Office)

First organized in 1922, organized by Will Hayes, a conservative, to regulate the content of movies. Did not do much until 1930.

Diary of a Lost Girl

G.W. Pabst, 1929: Story of a girl who was raped and got pregnant, ends up in a brothel

cinemotographer for citizen kane

Gregg Toland: pioneered deep focus lense

Screenwriter for citizen kane

Herman Mankiewicz

The Red Shoes

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger 1948

Andre Bazin

Sees deep focus business/3 planes of interest as a way to preserve the realism and ambiguity of dramatic space.

pan and scan

The process used to transfer a widescreen-format film to the standard television aspect ratio. A computer-controlled scanner determines the most important action in the image, and then crops peripheral action and space or presents the original frame as two separate images.

Mercury Theater

Theater company founded by Wells that created theatrical productions, radio shows and motion pictures.

Bicycle Thieves

Vittorio De Sica, 1948

wide angle lens

a lens that allows for a wider angle of view and that can increase the illusion of depth within the shot

Neorealism films

an attempt after the war to see the world and the ordinary people living in it as it really was, politically left leaning

femme fatale

an attractive and seductive woman, especially one who will ultimately bring disaster to a man who becomes involved with her

James Naremore

argued that citizen kane is the sole work of Orson welles, obv not possible without RKO studios, but nonetheless all Welles' work.

Technicolor 3-strip process

color system that used three separate reels of negative shooting simultaneously, recombined in printing to produce a single, full-color print. Noted for its lush, saturated color

Bernard Herrmann

composer for Citizen Kane, was exceptionally good at creating additional sounds and music that deepened the emotional effects of the film.

Jack Cardiff

early grandmaster of color

fast film stock

film stock that requires relatively little light for capturing images

camera work in French New Wave

handheld, on the go, personifies a sense of new freedom in filmmaking, came from low budgeting.

Widescreen

in film, allowed for a way to differentiate itself from TV.

characteristics of film noir

lack of lighting, unstable heroes, lack of traditional romantic relationships, and do not fit the regular tradition of a "happy ending"

important things to note about citizen kane

matte shots, deep focus shots made from a wide angle lens. Modeled after William Randolph Hearst: a newspaper tycoon. Screenwriter friends with him so it was incredibly controversial.

prismatic perspective

narrative told by several characters not chronologically.

Acetate Film

new type of film that corrected the problems nitrate film had: did not spontaniously combust as easily and was much safer to use but still subject to shrinking, breaking, and degradation if not preserved properly.

What changes did ww2 bring to film technology?

rise of the TV caused film to be in direct competition to TV so film industry started to make wide screen films in color bc TV was not available in color, so people were still attracted to film.

How is citizen kane analogous to german expressionism?

tunnel like designs, space is oppressive, corners of the frame are blurred looking a little formative, ceilings are super low and invasive, etc.

duality in Kane

two of everything, 2 wives, two friends, 2 shots of the sled