In the shot from Citzen Kane, director Orsen Welles utilized film concepts such as mise-en-scene,

cinematography and sounds to portray the film’s protagonist Charles Kane’s isolated behaviour and lack
of empathy towards his wife, Susan Alexander. Additionally, these concepts were also used to portray
Susan's loneliness. A long shot was used at the beginning where Kane’s entire body was shown in
relation to his surrounding to his surroundings. The shot seemed to be continuing from a previous
conversation as Kane spoke the words “11:30,” and the camera panned with every step he took towards
the asynchronous voice of Susan off screen. The moment Susan came to view they continued
conversing, mainly from Susan stating that she’s lonely and feels trapped in the castle like structure of a
home, while solving the scattered pieces of a large puzzle. Kane then retreated to the large fireplace
which in turn may give the audience a deep focus on the shot.

Mise-en-scene in the shot perfectly portrayed Charles Kane’s isolation and lack of empathy for his wife.
Evidence of his isolation can be seen at the beginning of the clip when he took his time walking slowly
towards the voice of Susan, this could be a sign of him taking pleasure in his own company. Another
evidence of his isolation cab be seem in the moment Susan began to express her feelings on living in the
‘castle’ and the having little to no social interactions and fun, he retreated to the fireplace. His lack of
empathy was shown when he disregarded Susan's feeling and made a joke of it, later on he stated that
he doesn't want to visit New York, but rather remain where he was. The audience may interpret his
actions as some kind of trauma experienced when he was younger.

The gigantic puzzle and the scatter pieces represented the people in society (i.e. their friends and
family). When Susan went from asynchronous to synchronous in the shot she had one puzzle piece in
her hand and the moment Kane imitated this actions it symbolized how they both isolated themselves
from society. This showed the audience that Kane tends to isolate himself and because Susan loved him,
she followed his lead which in turn causes her to be lonely. Another detail that might have been looked
overt was the lathe chair Susan was sitting in. The chair can represent the grand life she has, but the fact
that she sat on the edge could possibly be a result of her feeling like a outsider to all the riches she
acquired through Kane. She is slowly inching away from the life she has come to know as it had made
her feel alone.