News on the March: Welles’ Puzzle Pieces
The opening sequence of Citizen Kane is renowned for its brilliant cinematography and stunning sound design. As Orson Welles’ character utters his last words, the entire movie is setup as a puzzle for the audience to solve. As iconic as the first sequence is, I believe that the second sequence, a newsreel that in a traditional fashion tells the complete story of Kane’s life. News on the March is a very important scene to the film, because like a puzzle, it lays out all the pieces for the audience to see. And then, we are given a scene revealing that the News on the March reel was being viewed by reporters. It is here that the audience is given the directions to the puzzle, “Find out about Rosebud, get in touch with everybody that ever knew him, oh knew him well.” The movie puts the audience in the perspective of Thompson, the reporter, who by witnessing flashbacks (interviews) from the people closest to Kane, hopes to assemble the puzzle with the final piece, Rosebud. As I discussed in class, I believe Citizen Kane is a movie that gives audiences gratification for making basic connections. In order to achieve this, Orson Welles very carefully plants the seeds of information at the start of his film, ensuring little to no misunderstandings between the story and the audience.
	As the News on the March is an in universe product of Thompson covering Kane’s death, we must analyze the scene differently than we normally would. Orson Welles uses News on the March to convey ideas to the audience about Kane’s life, but even though the scenes are constructed like a normal film with decisions being made, it is shot like a newsreel and therefore does not follow the standard conventions of cinematography as closely. The mise-en-scene of News on the March is difficult to fully analyze since we move so quickly from shot to shot. However we can still identify some key factors of the mise-en-scene that highlight important aspects of the story. On the shots depicting Xanadu being shipped away, “To KANE” is displayed in big letters on all the crates. As we learn about the wealth and fortune that Kane amasses during his life, we learn that he was simply trying to fill a void in his heart, and all his worldly possessions never made him happy. We are given a shot of the countless newspapers reporting on Kane’s death, this tells the audience that regardless of the conflicting opinions of Kane, he was an influential figure in the movie’s universe. As the newsreel ends, we are shown the room from which the reel was shown to a group of reporters. We now are at the mercy of Welles’ storytelling techniques instead of the diegetic newsreel. The audience is met with a dark room of reporters, the only sources of light being the projection room and the white screen that was projected upon. Notable is that we don’t distinctly see any of the reporters’ faces, I believe that Welles is pushing the audience to self-insert as the reporters to find the truth about Rosebud, and in turn Kane’s life. Self-insertion is normally a literary device, but Welles is using it to drive the audience to be a central character in the story. Later on in the film while Thompson is talking to the people of Kane’s past before a flashback, it is almost always shot from the perspective of behind Thompson’s shoulder. This is another piece of evidence for the audience’s inclusion into the story. By rarely showing Thompson’s face like in this early scene, the members of the audience can more vividly imagine themselves in the situation interviewing and learning from individuals important to Kane’s life.
	The cinematography of the News on the March segment is not very complex, as it shot not as a movie, but as a traditional newsreel that prioritizes conveying information to a general audience above stylistic choices. The majority of the shots are stationary long shots over a variety of locales relating to Kane. When motion is involved, such as the moving of crates, and the paper press, panning and tilting shots are used respectively. When Thatcher gives his statement on Kane calling him a communist, we get a close up shot that is mirrored by a public speaker who proceeds to call Kane a fascist. This pattern we can analyze to mean that these cutting statements given against Kane are taken very seriously by the public, and go on to tarnish his reputation in his later years while he is already wracked by a troublesome love life. One important shot during the news reel is the aerial pan over Xanadu. Up close, it is a paradise on earth, but from far away, it is an isolated prison in which Kane keeps himself and Susan. It also reinforces the idea that during Kane’s later years, he isolated himself from the rest of the world, surrounding himself in luxury. When we get to the reporter scene, the cinematography consists of stationary shots switching between roughly three different positions. There is no consistent camera positioning relating to height, a trait that symbolizes hierarchy amongst characters. This is best explained as all the characters sharing the same range of knowledge in relation to Charles Foster Kane, they are on equal footing. How I would describe the cinematography in these early scenes is “easy to understand” it places the important factors of the scene in the middle of the frame and doesn’t use any complex angles. Welles is easing the audience into the film with these “easy” sequences, laying out all the pieces without any confusion. After all, conveyance of information between the characters and Thompson (the audience) is what the movie bases itself on.
	The editing of News on the March follows closely with traditional newsreel editing, using cross dissolves, wipes, and fades to black screens with text. All of the editing is fast, resembling more of a power point presentation while moving quickly from subject to subject. In a quick six minutes, it covers Xanadu, Kane’s acquisition of The Inquirer, his rocky political career, and the tragedy that is Kane’s love life. The shots during the description of Xanadu are rapid and stationary, giving the audience just enough time to fully understand the meaning of each series of shots (the construction of Xanadu, the collection of animals amassed by Kane). It is worth acknowledge again that the newsreel is diegetic and has the dual purpose of informing both the movie audience, and the news audience. Back in the reporters’ room, there are cuts made between changes in camera angles, following Thompson’s boss around the room as he thinks up the assignment to uncover the meaning behind Rosebud. An axis of action in the scene is the small coffee table in the middle of the room, which the camera cuts around to get to different angles of the room.
	One of my favorite parts of Citizen Kane is simply the opening jingle for News on the March, that being said, the diegetic sound that plays is very important to establish tone in the opening of Citizen Kane. The cheerful, aforementioned theme of News on the March fades into the somber obituary theme for Charles Foster Kane, confirming what we witnessed in the opening scene, our title character has died. The voice over goes on to describe Kane’s second marriage to Susan Alexander, and the construction of the Chicago Municipal Opera House, which we learn more about in the 4th act. Strange though is that in this segment of News on the March we do not hear Susan’s singing when the Opera House is mentioned, perhaps this is an in universe nod to the fact that Susan’s singing was never any good. The reporters are the first source of true dialogue we hear after Kane’s last words. The dialogue is unruly and without structure, a stark contrast to the newsreel’s scripted speech. The dialogue is also easy to follow, with jokes and conversations that could be heard in a place of work. This is another way that Welles hopes to insert the viewer into the story, by creating familiar situations for the audience to recognize.
	In conclusion, Welles uses the opening sequence to first setup the story for the audience, and then immerses the audience using self-insertion. News on the March is an extremely important because the audience is told the general story, and then delves into detail. I talked earlier about Citizen Kane being a puzzle for the audience and Thompson to solve. However it is also structured like a five paragraph paper. It presents a general thesis, “Who is Rosebud? Or What?” And then delves into details in order to prove the thesis. All throughout the story, the audience and Thompson have identical range of knowledge, until the final piece, Rosebud, is revealed. The audience has now one-upped Thompson and the rest of the reporters, gaining one valuable piece on information over the characters in the story. Without the knowledge of Kane’s life provided by the newsreel, I doubt audiences would be as able to understand and debate the themes present in Citizen Kane. By utilizing the choices made in mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, and sound, Welles achieved including the audience into the story and gave them a satisfying ending once they find out that Rosebud is the sled.