citizen kane
... Also, because of soft lighting you are aware of Susan's chest moving up and down. Because of the backlight in the hall and the soft light in the room we are able to surmise that there is more than one person trying to get into the room. It is the backlighting behind the door that is very bright and pulls our attention to the light coming in from under the door. These are very important elements that are used to convey information in this scene. By seeing the medicine bottle, glass and spoon, and also knowing that people are scurrying around outside the bedroom door, the feeling that something is overwhelming wrong. As the door is forced open, because of the strait on long shot and the back lighting, our focus is on Charles Kane and the butler. As they move toward the bed where Susan is lying, the same strait on long shot is used and because Charles Kane and the Butler move towards the camera and we lose sight of both their heads. We can only see them from the chest down because the camera hasn’t zoomed out. Until Charles Kane reaches over and lifts Susan's head, we cannot see it because it is buried in shadows. As Charles Kane picks up Susan's head and looks at her face, her face is in a shadow. There is also a shadow on Charles Kane's face as he does this. As Charles Kane turns to say, "Call the doctor", his whole face is in the light because of the overhead or the backlight from the door. In the doctor scene, we can see two lights, and although they are very bright, we cannot see the overhead light that is causing such brightness. As the doctor walks over to Charles Kane, who is looking at the bottle, the...