Media analysis (Movie Review Sample)

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Media Analysis
Media production constantly employs variety of stylistic tools that are meant to enhance the experience of the audience while interacting with the media whether it is through watching, listening, or reading. Apart from the characters/actors through whom the story of a media piece is told, other factors such as camera, genre, lighting, special effects, sound effects, music, and symbolism have a great influence in how the audience experience, perceive, or understand the particular media. This paper will explore how the use of such tools influences the entire media production by specifically focusing on symbolism and its aspects. For this purpose, I will explore aspects of symbolism in the 1941 film titled Citizen Kane. The remarkable production of this classic masterpiece directed by and starring Orson Welles, has been acknowledged as one that was way beyond years. Among many other interesting qualities, the symbolism is quite captivating.
The words Rosebud by Charles Kane, just before his death, carry quite an immense connotation; of all the symbols used, this word carries the most significant meaning with regard to Kane’s life. It is an element which recurs to not only emulsify the entire narrative but also provide an emotional reminder that the story’s chief protagonist is laden with irony. It is a metaphor and a symbol for the life that Kane basically pursues. It is an auditory representation of the simplicity, love, innocence, and happiness which defined his peaceful life in ‘Little Salem’. Therefore, the juxtaposition between the life that Kane actually possesses and his former life cause him to drive himself in whatever direction he thinks will restructure the lack of his relevant ideals. For example the attempts at a doomed political campaign and the ‘sallambo’ operation all of which Susan Alexander plays a central role, are efforts to attain public love. The irony of it all is that the pursuit of these ideals that comprise Rosebud is causing him to drive away his connection to them. The Rosebud could also signify something that Kane never truly had, that being a family. He had lost his parent while still a child, and the Rosebud symbolizes his wish that he could have been able to maintain a family of some sort.
Susan Alexander’s Jigsaw puzzles symbolize her means of trying to fulfill her obstinate existence with Charles Kane. It also stands for the many fractured personalities and unresolved issues that have affected the lives of Susan and Kane. It also highlights the contradictory characteristics of an individual that puts others in constant conflict once they are exposed to the entire set of elements that define one’s character.
Jewels are another symbolic aspect in the film. Usually, jewels are considered, pervasively, as a show of ide...