Citizen Kane talks about how the assignment given to a journalist to investigate and explain the last word of a wealthy newspaper magnate, Charles Kane, turned into a revelation of the his life and how he reached his astonishing heights. Many themes are found in this film; however, one of the most prevalent themes was the misconception of living the “American Dream.” Typically, films released during that time showed that living in luxury was something desirable with little to no downsides. Welles, however, was one of the first directors to demonstrate that living the "good life" is not as desirable as most would think. In Citizen Kane, cinematic techniques enhance the narrative by strategically using formal features (e.g., deep focus, positioning, and lighting) to expose the myth of living the “American Dream” and depict the characters. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Deep focus, a stylistic technique that uses wide-angle and small apertures to simultaneously bring near and far planes into focus, was used in many scenes within this film. This technique added the greatest contribution to Citizen Kane's cinematography, enhancing plot development and the audience's perspective. For example, the deep focus technique was used during the scene where little Charles Kane was about to be taken from his parents and adopted by Mr. Thatcher. Kane was shown alone throwing snowballs at a sign. In my opinion, this technique helps portray Kane's innocence and true happiness before it was tampered with by his acquired wealth. Additionally, his isolation within this scene could represent how he started out alone and will find himself alone at the end of the film. Later, during the conversation between Kane's parents and Mr. Thatcher, Kane, despite playing outside, also concentrated. This helped develop the plot because it simultaneously showed who the conversation was about and also allowed the audience to engage in the conversation about who was talking about them. The use of deep concentration within this film made the staging more evaluative. A perfect scene where the staging became more evaluative was when Susan left Kane. The staging was strategically chosen to portray how Kane treated Susan and controlled her life. Throughout the film, he gives Susan the same treatment as a child. This was reflected by the youthful decorations placed around the room he built for her. Kane dictated Susan's life, almost as if he had confined her to a "cage". Essentially, most of the rooms in his mansion were set up to his liking while he confined Susan to a room filled with materialistic objects and decorations that he couldn't care less about. Furthermore, the ceilings and dimensions of the rooms chosen for Kane's mansion in this film perfectly resembled the limitation of the lives of these two characters. Kane was used to living exactly the luxurious life he wanted without limitations, which his mansion's size and high ceilings resembled. Instead, Susan grew accustomed to living her life within Kane's limitations, which explains why the room he gave her was so "cage-like" and had a fairly low ceiling. In addition to deep focus, placement also enhances plot and storytelling. Positioning also plays an important role in the scene where Kane's parents and Mr.