From the Opening Sequence of Citizen Kane to the Final Shot of the Birds: a Filmic Microanalysis of Three Painted Scenes Dario Lanza Vidal
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From the Opening Sequence of Citizen Kane to the Final Shot of The Birds: A Filmic Microanalysis of Three Painted Scenes dario lanza vidal Abstract the essence of this proposal, this study aims to perform a microanalysis of three scenes, this article aims to highlight the impor- all well-known, and submit them to a “moving tance of matte painting in cinematographic away” examination, going from detail to a gen- construction and to emphasize the analytical eral view. The examples were chosen for their value of these pieces of artwork. To this end, single common characteristic: they involved, three painted scenes were chosen and sub- without the viewer’s knowledge, painted scen- jected to a multifaceted analysis that under- ery. They all provide examples of the manu- lines their contribution as pictorial creations, facture of filmic images through pictures, a their role in landscape painting tradition, and mechanism known as matte painting, a typical their function as an element of filmmaking con- resource in cinematographic construction but struction, within a set film model, while provid- one that has received little analytical attention. ing evidence for the unique ways in which this Matte painting is both a show of filmmaking technique connects film and painting. trickery and an example of special effects, and it is traditionally linked to other special effects Introduction such as pyrotechnics, animatronics, and fluid simulation. However, due to the particular na- Filmic microanalysis—that is, the study of cer- ture of this resource, located somewhere be- tain filmic elements as a means of achieving tween cinematographic and pictorial, it offers a the compression of a cinematographic piece in wealth of interpretation considerably superior its totality—is an extraordinarily useful tool for to that of the other special effects to which it highlighting the importance of certain aspects is often linked. This article aims to investigate that routinely escape analysis in other ways. in detail whether or not a painted scene has It proposes to draw attention to certain “small its own analytical value that would enable it to fragments, micro-sequences that can be scruti- be studied through the prisms of both pictorial nised under the analytical microscope in order representation and cinematographic narration. to observe the condensation of the lines of That is to say, the intent is to discover whether force that make up the film from which they are the painted scene has a multifaceted analyti- extracted” (Zunzunegui, Closer Look 9). Taking cal value precisely due to its hybrid nature, a condition of being neither one nor the other, which so far has held it back from specialized dario lanza vidal holds a PhD in information research. and communication technologies and is an as- The scenes chosen for this in-depth analysis sociate professor in the Faculty of Fine Arts in the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. His main are from the films Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, research focuses on techniques for pictorial simu- 1941), Spartacus (Stanley Kubrick, 1960), and lation within the cinematographic medium. The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock, 1963). Of course, journal of film and video 73.1 / spring 2021 33 ©2021 by the board of trustees of the university of illinois the nature of the study means that any selec- step will involve considering the more pictorial tion of works is necessarily incomplete, and dimension of these representations in an at- another catalogue could have been chosen that tempt to shed light on their value as pictorial would have been equally valid. However, these texts, their significant function as landscape films were chosen in an attempt at a sufficiently paintings, and the description of the cinemato- diverse selection that would allow this article to graphic landscape provided by the painting as examine different approaches to this particular well as the attitude of the author in the commu- phenomenon of painted scenes, essential and nicative process. omnipresent in the history of film. The author’s Next, observing from a greater distance interest in undertaking this study has its roots away, this article will seek to link the paintings precisely in the aforementioned scarcity of with the filmic texts of which they are part, analytical research into this unique element of asserting the value of the paintings’ narrative cinematographic construction and in the role— contribution to the cinematographic story and tertiary, rather than secondary—that pictorial attempting to discover whether or not it is pos- representation has traditionally occupied in sible to recognize the characteristics of the film film studies. model from the painted image. The gradual distancing over the course of these three levels Methodology of analysis is essential for avoiding “the hyper- trophy of a microscopic study which tends to- The objective of this work, a method for ana- wards self-satisfaction in the partial discovery lyzing painted scenes, means that the shots which it refuses, consciously or unconsciously, must be observed from a perspective that to link with the overall dimension of the text” will inherently be multifaceted. For this, it is (Zunzunegui, Landscapes 94). This should help particularly pertinent to apply a method based achieve a more complete view of the scene in on the positions of Panofsky, who suggested context. beginning any analysis of a visual work with the description of its formal characteristics—its Views of the Xanadu Mansion in Citizen format, tonal palette, represented motives, and Kane, by Mario Larrinaga, Chesley technique—before going on to elevate one’s Bonestell, and Fitch Fulton scrutiny to an iconographic level. This involves highlighting the importance of the meanings Among all the matte paintings created by implicit in representation and interpreting the Mario Larrinaga, Chesley Bonestell, and Fitch codes mobilized by the author in his or her Fulton for Citizen Kane, the most memorable communicative act. It is then necessary to are probably those used to produce the open- move on to an iconological level, in order to ing sequence, which shows the exterior of relate the work to its narrative, historic, or cul- the decadent mansion of Xanadu through the tural context. linking of six situational shots that are actu- Using Panofsky’s proposal as a vehicle ally six matte paintings interwoven with a false for this study’s analysis, going from detail to tracking shot approaching the window of the overview, and taking on each of these painted bedroom in which Kane is dying. This sequence scenes by looking first at their status as ex- has been analyzed on numerous occasions and amples of trickery, this article will begin by de- from varying points of view, but the pictorial scribing the content of the representation and nature of the scene has always proven elusive, investigating the technical processes involved and it is this condition that this essay will use in its construction. However, obviously, it would as a basis for its first analysis. be better not to be limited to a mere instrumen- The sequence begins with a vertical track- tal description of these techniques, so the next ing shot of the wire fence from the “No 34 journal of film and video 73.1 / spring 2021 ©2021 by the board of trustees of the university of illinois Trespassing” sign before proceeding to a shot all in a ruinous state of neglect. Above all of showing a faraway view of the Xanadu mansion these spaces, the bedroom window remains lit, from the exterior railing. The foreground here constant in the same place in every shot, serv- shows the “K” of Kane forged high up on the ing as a magnet for the eye and as the center gate, and all that is visible beyond the railing is of the discourse. In this way, the window, its a painting displaying the mansion on top of a location unchanging as the shot approaches, hill in which a window lit from within contrasts causes the “rupture of the visual central unit” with the dark palette of the night. The point of cited by Mereghetti. This effect would have view chosen for this composition is low, mean- been difficult to achieve without the precision ing the mansion is shown in the upper area of afforded by the construction of the sequence the painting, near the edge. In this image, all using matte paintings. the space from the gate in the foreground to Working as matte painters on the RKO staff, the mansion window toward the back, includ- Larrinaga, Bonestell, and Fulton were able to ing the murky terrain in between, is in perfect use the optical printer that Linwood Dunn had focus. Thus, the deep focus characteristic of been perfecting since the 1930s and that would the film is apparent from its very opening shot. come to be so important to Welles and to this In fact, the in-depth focus that brought fame film’s visual design. In fact, the device scarcely to the film’s director of photography, Gregg found quite the starring role in filmic narration Toland, often was produced not only through that it did in Citizen Kane. Naturally, the film the skillful use of lens and diaphragms but owes its extraordinary visual quality to Toland’s also through shots filmed separately and then excellent photography and to its innovative composed in the lab using an optical printer. deep focus, but also, as mentioned previously, However, with the traditional secretiveness to a great degree to the shots composed “invis- surrounding the use of special effects, Toland ibly” by Dunn on his optical printer. Dunn him- never acknowledged that this extreme depth self remembered that as soon as he had shown was often “reinforced” using optical printing. Welles the potential of the optical printer, it This fact was later confirmed by Bordwell, had become indispensable for the producer: Staiger, and Thompson, and it was a device “Telling Orson about the optical printer was that would prove fundamental to the construc- the kiss of death.