Dave Katzman- Kane chapter 3

As a huge fan of both Citizen Kane and Orson Wells, I was very excited to hear Carringer’s take on the film’s art direction.  Carringer discusses the importance of art and sketches and how the two influenced the film’s visual aesthetics.  The chapter discusses how a scene changes from the artist’s vision to the decisions made by the filmmakers in postproduction.  The artist creates the visual ideas for the scene but the end result is made up of plot points and character development that preceded the scene.  Carringer discusses one instance, in which RKO’s art department team created an idea for large hall to create the vastness, which would be important in portraying Kane’s life style and personality.  However, because of budgeting, the plans changed, and the filmmakers and producers chose to change the set to take advantage of a set already existing set to save money.  I loved hearing how a filmmaker must make quick and unplanned decisions in response to unseen realities.  After reading this paper I was inspired by Wells and all the film makers involved for created such a visually remarkable film that was able to stay fiscally reasonable.