Still Image Analysis: Citizen Kane Allison Stewart

1. Dominant Image - The mother of Charles Kane, who is signing custody of Kane over to Thatcher, who sits right next to her, is the dominant image of the shot. This shows her power over Charles Kane, who runs around in the background, not holding any power. - It also shows how important Mary Kane is to the scene, her decision the single- deciding factor of the course of Charles’s life.

2. Subsidiary Contrasts The second thing the audience sees after looking at Mary Kane and Thatcher is little Charles playing in the snow, completely oblivious to what is taking place in the scene. This shows his childish naivetés and allows the tragedy of what will occur next to wash over the audience. This contrast shows the stark differences between the innocence and happiness of a childhood, and the tightly restrained, dreary, and black world of business, which Kane will further delve into as he grows up with a dreary, dark business man himself.

3. Color Values- Dark Gray Light The foreground and middle ground of the image is veiled in dark shades, varying from a light gray to a deep black. This assists in drawing the audiences attention to the house initially, and then allows their eyes to wander to the innocent soul, playing without a care in the world. Young and naïve Kane resides where the color value is pure white, as he parades around the snow. This signifies his innocence and naïve nature to what is happening. Charles's father, who is dressed in the same color as the background, seems to melt into it. This signifies his lack of power the situation. Also, his gray clothing, paired with his midnight black pants, shows his good vs. evil sides, as Mrs. Kane mentioned that he had abused Charles’s in the past. Mary Kane seems to be dressed for mourning, symbolizing she is giving up someone she truly loves, but believes it would be better for him to go away. Finally, Mary Kane has a strip of white the sticks out from her black attire, showing that she may have a good reason for sending Charles Kane away,

5.Character Placement In the frame, Mary Kane sits in the bottom right corner-> This allows the audience to be more intimate with her emotional decision of deciding to send Charles away Mr. Thatcher sits between the husband and wife-> He provides a figurative and literal wall to their relationship, as they fight over whether to give Charles away to him Charles’s father sits distanced from the other two main adults-> Shows his difference of opinion, and that he has no power in the decision itself Charles Kane is far away from the three main adults and sits in the middle-> Shows how powerless he is in the decision and how he is the topic of conversation

4. Staging The staging of the still image is that Charles, Charles's father, and Thatcher are all fully visible to the audience. This shows their full intents for the outcome of the scene, even if is not their desired Mary Kane’s profile is the only thing the audience can see of her. This symbolizes how one side of Mary Kane may be harsh, unloving, and unemotional, because she is so willing to give up her son to a stranger, but on the unseen side, she truly cares for her son and just wants a better life for him.

6. Composition Charles's father is looking diagonally down at Mary Kane, who looks down as she signs a paper. This diagonal composition line symbolizes the unrest and tension occurring in the household, as the decision Mary Kane is making will change the course of Charles's life forever. Mr. Thatcher and Mary Kane are on the same eye line-> Shows that they attain the same opinion Also, when the screen is segmented into three different parts, Charles and Mr. Thatcher are put together, foreshadowing that Charles will leave with Mr. Thatcher.

7. Depth In this still image, everything is in focus, allowing the audience to observe everything in the scene. It shows that everything is important to the outcome of the following decision, whether the object will influence the decision, or experience the outcome of the decision himself. This allows the audience to sympathize with Kane more, as he is innocently enjoying his childhood, right before it is snatched away from him.

8. Angle The Camera sits eye-level with Mary Kane, and Mr. Thatcher-> Shows that they have the power in this situation The Camera sits a little bit above the head of Charles-> Shows how the situation is going completely over his head at the moment and that he is powerless against his mother and Mr. Thatcher

9. Framing The Frame tightly sits around the three main adults, showing that they are trapped in their current decision, and that things will change drastically because of this. Young Charles Kane is framed by the window, drawing the audience’s eyes towards him, showing how his story of tragedy and sorrow begins here. Also, it symbolizes how Kane cannot escape from this event.

10. Lighting Charles father-> Half of his face is in shadows, and the other half is illuminated-> This shows how he seemingly cares for Charles, but on the other hand, can have the tendency to beat him Mr. Thatcher-> Some of his face is lit, but he is mostly cast in shadows-> It shows how he is a mysterious figure to Charles and does not care about how the boy will take to being thrown to a new caretaker Mary Kane ->Her face is fulling illuminated, but half of her is not shown and in the dark-> Shows her full intentions in making this decision, but shows that she has good intentions in giving Charles over to Mr. Thatcher