The film begins with a shot of a sign saying "No trespassing" in front of a castle, making the audience feel like trespassers who are about to see a secret. As the camera zooms in on a lit window, it reinforces the sense that this is where the audience is headed. When the light in the window goes out, it represents the death of Charles Foster Kane and the start of the mystery that will drive the protagonist. Clues in the props around the castle, like a caged bear and decaying ruins, set up Kane's feelings of anger and aging that will emerge later. The music builds suspense until reaching a close-up of Kane to increase curiosity about what is inside the

1. Film Opening Analysis – Citizen Kane (1941)
Director: Orson Welles
The film begins with a shot of a sign in the foreground bearing the message “No trespassing” with a
castle in the background. This creates the feeling that the audience is trespassing on the property
and that what they are about to see is a secret. A lighted window remains in the same position in all
shots so when the camera zooms in, the audience knows with a sense of inevitability that the
window is where they are headed. The light goes out when the camera has finally zoomed in to it –
representing Kane’s death and also the last hope of solving the mystery that will propel the
unnamed protagonist for the remainder of the film. Many of the props shown in this sequence give
clues as to the inhabitant of the castle. There is a gondola, creating a sense of exotica and also
displacement – the gondola has been taken from Italy and put into this incongruous setting. This is
rather like the character of Charles Foster Kane himself and is setting up the angst he will feel later in
the film. The caged bear represents repressed anger; again setting up Kane’s angst. There are also
ancient ruins, creating an atmosphere of decay and ageing. This is reinforced in the editing through
the use of dissolves which makes the shot feel as though it is slowly fading away. When the
snowglobe smashes, it is exaggerated emphasising its importance. It also shatters the silence
showing that he is alone and the close-up of the reflections in the glass fragments (distorted and out
of proportion) shows his insanity and megalomania. The music is suspenseful, climaxing when we
reach the close-up of him. This is to increase audience curiosity about what is inside the castle.
I liked the use of music to build up suspense and I would like to use this in my film too.