Orson

Couple of weeks ago we have finally managed to venture to the Filmhouse just across the road from us, to watch a film that I longed to see for a very long time. It was Citizen Kane by Orson Welles, which I mainly wanted to see because of the cinemathography, thought the story turned out to be really good and well presented too.

My favourite were the scenes where Gregg Toland used composites of two differently shot materials to get a very deep focus (I especially liked the scene when Kane's friend writes a review of Kane's wife opera performance and subsequently gets fired from the newspaper - one character in the front fo the scene is balck and the light is focused on the main character set out by it from the dark background) and Simon's was the scene of Kanes political convention with that huge portrait of Kane shot from a very low angle. Toland apparently also designed all the necessary lenses himself and was not affraid to distort faces in close ups.

I must say that the cinematography of the film has not devaluated throughout the years since it was shot and is relevant even nowadays. I also apprecaite that Welles credited Toland at the same time (and size of credits) as himself (credited of couse as producer and director). A note to some of my clients who cannot even spell my website's name correctly...

Veronicahh has some more Orson on her blog.