Citizen Kane - Art Direction
Many think of KANE as the work of Welles, the auteur, which is surprising, given that its most remembered aspects are credited to Welles' crew: Toland developed his deep-focus photography while shooting THE LONG VOYAGE HOME (1940); Mankiewicz had long desired to create a multiple flashback plot (to which he added the Rosebud gimmick); and Perry Ferguson gave Kane's house the sense of infinite depth with clever innovations of muslin ceilings and incomplete sets bordered by black velvet.
Robert Carringer in The Making of Citizen Kane, while insisting on the collaborative nature of this and all films, lauds Welles' role in collecting and collating the contributions of others. Before we reject the idea that KANE is primarily Welles' film, we must remember that it is through his crew that an auteur shapes his work. With the talents of those surrounding him, Welles created the first celluloid version of his world filled with beams of light and pools of darkness. The film also delves into the themes of power, perception, passion and love that pervade his body of work. Though the innovations may not have been his, he encouraged their use and melded them into a cohesive whole. Doubt not--this is Welles' film.
Although credited as an assistant, the film's art direction was done by Perry Ferguson. Welles and Ferguson got along during their collaboration. In the weeks before production began Welles, Toland and Ferguson met regularly to discuss the film and plan every shot, set design and prop. Ferguson would take notes during these discussions and create rough designs of the sets and story boards for individual shots. After Welles approved the rough sketches, Ferguson made miniature models for Welles and Toland to experiment on with a periscope in order to rehearse and perfect each shot. Ferguson then had detailed drawings made for the set design, including the film's lighting design. The set design was an integral part of the film's overall look and Toland's cinematography.
In the original script the Great Hall at Xanadu was modeled after the Great Hall in Hearst Castle and its design included a mixture of Renaissance and Gothic styles. "The Hearstian element is brought out in the almost perverse juxtaposition of incongruous architectural styles and motifs," wrote Carringer. Before RKO cut the film's budget, Ferguson's designs were more elaborate and resembled the production designs of early Cecil B. DeMille films and Intolerance. The budget cuts reduced Ferguson's budget by 33 percent and his work cost $58,775 total, which was below average at that time. To save costs Ferguson and Welles re-wrote scenes in Xanadu's living room and transported them to the Great Hall. A large staircase from another film was found and used at no additional cost. When asked about the limited budget, Ferguson said "Very often--as in that much-discussed 'Xanadu' set in Citizen Kane--we can make a foreground piece, a background piece, and imaginative lighting suggest a great deal more on the screen than actually exists on the stage." According to the film's official budget there were 81 sets built, but Ferguson said there were between 106 and 116.
Still photographs of Oheka Castle in Huntington, New York, were used in the opening montage, representing Kane's Xanadu estate. Ferguson also designed statues from Kane's collection with styles ranging from Greek to German Gothic. The sets were also built to accommodate Toland's camera movements. Walls were built to fold and furniture could quickly be moved. The film's famous ceilings were made out of muslin fabric and camera boxes were built into the floors for low angle shots. Welles later said that he was proud that the film production value looked much more expensive than the film's budget. Although neither worked with Welles again, Toland and Ferguson collaborated in several films in the 1940s.
Peter Cowie in his "Study of a Colossus": "Kane is all things to all men."
Jorge Luis Borges: "CITIZEN KANE is a labyrinth without a center."
Francois Truffaut in his "Citizen Kane": "We [the French cinephiles] loved this film because it was complete: psychological, social, poetic, dramatic, comic, baroque, strict, and demanding. It is a demonstration of the source of power and an attack on the force of power, it is a hymn to youth and a meditation on old age, an essay on the vanity of all material ambition and at the same time a poem on old age and the solitude of human beings, genius or monster or monstrous genius."
“Mr. Kane got everything he wanted then lost it. Perhaps Rosebud was something he couldn’t get or something he lost.” In the final shot, the latter is confirmed.
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