Citizen Kane (an odditiy of it's time)

The release and production of Orsen Welles' Citizen Kane marked a new era in film history. Before the films release, Hollywood followed a strict style of film editing and acting. This mold would be broken and shattered by the unique aspects the film brought to the silver screen. The picture didn't catch on to the movie industry as an amazing achievement until several years after its release. Today the film is ranked as the British Film Institutes's top movie and heralded by critics such as Robert Ebert as one of the greatest defining films of modern day cinema.

Throughout the film several areas of classic movie rules that were considered "cemented" in Hollywood were broken. One of the largest areas and defining aspects of Citizen Kane was the cinematography. Before the film's release, shots that kept the entire picture on screen in focus were almost unheard of. Lens technology of that time didn't have the ability to properly focus the camera and keep everything clear without fading. To counteract this, the movies cinematographer Gregg Toland would develop composite shots (two shots mixed together) with special coated lenses to create a more overall focused shot. To further this, he used the same technique with different shots to create scenes with multiple layers such as one of Kane's most famous shots of medicine on the counter, Susan sleeping, and the back room wall all in different levels of focus.

By writing such an experimental and different film in a conservative age, Orson Wells was putting his entire career on the line. He had made several other successful movies at this point. But this was the first time that the studio had granted him supreme power over all aspects of a movie. If the movie itself went under, then the rest of his directing career would sink with him. Wells took an even greater risk by basing the movie on America's most powerful man William Randolph Hearst. Shortly after the movies release it seemed that everything that could go possibly wrong was set in motion. Wells career was never as successful but he slowly recovered after several years as did Citizen Kane. It was then that the film suddenly gained public interest and was upheld as a phenomenal picture. Today Orson Wells' movie is considered one of, if not the greatest film ever made by many film organizations, institutes, and critics.

Citizen Kane clip