Film History: Journal 5 Citizen Kane

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

Citizen Kane was a 1941 film, once forgotten to time but slowly began to be recognized as one of the greatest films of all time. Writer-Director-Star Orson Welles, loosely based the movie on the life of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, and as a result had the film almost completely blacklisted. It was unusual at the time that the movie studio "RKO," gave Welles as much freedom as they did, as he never had made a movie up until that point.

2) Find a related article and summarize the content. (on the film, director, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, etc.) You can use the library or the internet. We will discuss suitable references in class. Cite the article and copy the URL to your journal entry. You should also mention the title of the article and author directly in the answer. Summarize in your own words the related article but do not plagiarize any content.

http://www.filmsite.org/citi.html

Tim Dirk's "Citizen Kane review" is a full in depth total coverage of the film. He not only breaks down the film, but he speaks of the making of the film, the story behind the film, a review of the film, and even tells you every headline from the newspaper montages. Throughout the article he gets really in depth where he explains shots or techniques. Information like how Welles borrowed from other directors, and what future directors have borrowed from him.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class. How did the article support or change the way you thought about the film, director, content, etc.?

I think the article matches up very well with the film and what we learned about in class. It also really captures all the elements that Welles brought to the film and dissects it very thoroughly. It did not really change the film for me in any way, because I have seen the films numerous times and have read a lot on it, so I felt while it was a good article, I knew most of it already.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of 4 things: the screening, class discussions, text material and the article. I am less interested in whether you liked or disliked a film, (although that can be part of this) than I am in your understanding of its place in film history or the contributions of the director.

I more than have to agree with the people that consider this to be the greatest film of all time. The story made in the forties, feels like it could be made today and be just as relevant. The fact that Welles was so young and never made a film before, makes viewing the film even more impressive. I also feel that Welles use of actors that he had been working with already, added a lot to the film because they were obviously very comfortable with each other, and made for a more natural felling to the finished product.

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM

1(*)
I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.

2(*)
If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.

3(*)I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text.

4 (*)

have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper.

5(*)
I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.

6(*)I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way.I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.

7(*)
I did not so over-‐use direct quotations that the paper lack interpretation or originality.

8(*)
I checked yes on steps 1-‐7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.

Name: ______Marc Ennis___________________________

Date: ___04/14/2014_________________________

Dirks, Tim. "Citizen Kane (1941)." AMC Filmsite. American Movie Classics Company LLC, n.d.

Web. 12 Apr. 2014