Orson Welles

A detailed Summary of Orson Welles

Orson Welles was an actor, producer, director, writer, and columnist who revolutionized the film industry by directing movies that depicted men and woman as real human beings. Throughout his writing career, Welles' characters reflected his own personality and inspired others to write about human struggles, both good and bad. An innovative, dynamic individual, Welles spent his entire life experimenting with different mediums and bringing to the world his vision of man's never ending struggle to conquer his own inner demons. Welles was a man whose life was one of paradox. His films reflected his inner conflicts and his attempt to assuage the two extremes of his own existence.

"For thirty years people have been asking me how I reconcile X with Y! The truthful answer is that I don't. Everything about me is a contradiction and so is everything about everybody else. We are made out of oppositions; we live between two poles. There is a philistine and an aesthete in all of us, and a murderer and a saint. You don't reconcile the poles. You just recognize them." [To Kennety Tynan, 1967]

Orson Welles is often referred to as a "Renaissance man", an individual who's ambitious and concerned with revolutionizing

Released in 1941, Citizen Kane was the most controversial film of his career and probably the most successful. It was critically acclaimed but did not receive financial rewards until much later. It depicted the life of William Randolph Hearst, a newspaper tycoon who controlled the press by manufacturing news. Hearst used hyperbole to sell papers and printed his version of the trust. He was a single-minded publishing legend who built an empire by selling newspapers filled with entertaining and often more exaggerated than factual. An egotistical, self-serving man, Hearst continually sought to expand his empire at the expense of others. Welles resented Hearst's power and prestige and took on Hearst in a crusade to destroy his reputation. Hearst did everything possible to stop the release of the movie and to discredit the producer/director. The campaign of disparaging remarks and smears was very hostile and impacted each man's reputation.

Throughout his career, Welles employs clever editing that shifts from one character to another and uses light and darkness to extenuate the action. His movies, like The Third Man and Compulsion, deal with characters who are flawed and have lost their innocence. He also uses bold music, and distinctive lighting to highlight the presentation of characters and plots. Bad guys are usually presented with dark lighting and good guys are typically depicted with brighter lighting. Villains are introduced with heavy music and heroes are represented with lighter music.

Camera shots are traditionally deep focused with long takes and sweeping movements. One of his most famous shots takes place in the movie The Lady From Shanghai. In this movie, there is a famous hall-of

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Category: People