Maxence_G's profile

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Tuesday, May 9th, 2023 1:57 AM

Live Poll: Orson Welles's Best Shot

The cinematography of Orson Welles' as been recognized again and again as groundbreaking in cinema. Many people can cite specific formidable shots from his films.

Which of these famous images is your favorite?

Note: I had to limit myself to 10 images of Citizen Kane

List: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls568333851/

Poll: https://www.imdb.com/poll/ls568333851/

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1 year ago

@Maxence_G (AKA Cinephile / Nolanfan),

Please correct this minor typo:

The cinematography of Orson Welles' as been recognized again and again as groundbreaking in cinema.

The cinematography of Orson Welles has been recognized again and again as groundbreaking in cinema.

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@dan_dassow​ & @Maxence_G 

The statement "cinematography of Orson Welles" implies he is the cinematographer, which he is not.

A more accurate statement would be to speak of his visual style or the look-n-feel of an Orson Welles directed movie, IMHO.

For your consideration, an alternate phrasing might be:

Orson Welles directed movies have been recognized time and again for pushing the visual boundaries of cinema. Critics and audiences alike often cite specific formidable shots from his films, as both iconically memorable and stylistically groundbreaking.

Which of these famous images from an Orson Welles directed movie is your favorite one?

Also, I don't think the work of Gregg Toland can be underestimated on 'Citizen Kane'. I am not saying Orson Welles isn't a genius, but the film was clearly a team effort. Don't forget Toland earned six Oscar nominations for Best Cinematography.  Plus, he was voted one of the top 10 most influential cinematographers in the history of film by the International Cinematographers Guild in 2003 and would be in my personal top five of all-time.

(edited)

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@urbanemovies​ 

I will write "cinematography of Orson Welles' films", and I will mention in the intro the "great cinematographers who worked with him". But, in a poll about ALL Orson Welles' films, I do not think that Gregg Toland ought to have a prominent place in the poll. I am not underestimating his work, I have been familiar with the story of Citizen Kane's production since I first saw it 5 years ago. It is simply that his poll is not about Toland, and Toland was not the cinematographer on the 8 other films listed in the poll.

Thank you for rewriting my introduction. I will incorporate some of your suggestions, but I will also try to polish it on my own. Because I'm not very comfortable with polls in which only the idea is mine.

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@Maxence_G​ I agree 100% with that take. I am not interested in giving the cinematographers more credit, or Orson Welles less credit, just in making the statement accurate. 

It is no coincidence that all of Orson's films have great cinematography, despite working with different cinematographers over his career. He has a great eye himself, as well as, I am positive that he influenced these shots and/or voiced his opinion on these constructing these shots (either the end goal or their set-up), so he deserves some of the credit. But, ultimately the execution of the shot is cinematographer's responsibility, and even if they were doing what Orson wanted, they are plenty of ways they could have messed the shot up.

FYI, I rewrite them for myself and it is also the easiest way to make my point for me. If you are able to pull something useful out of them in whole, part, or not at all, I am fine with that.

I would advocate for not using the phrase "honorable mention" as I think it makes light of their contributions and that they were minor players when it came to actually filming the movie, IMHO. You could say it was a team-effort, that he partnered or collaborated with amazing cinematographers, or something else more neutral. 

Note: One must give an honorable mention to the amazing cinematographers who worked with Welles throughout his career.

Also, the phrase "again and again" says what you mean, it just sounds weird to me, when the common English idiom "time and again is used more often to describe that exact situation. 

Thanks to the mastery of shadows, mirrors, angles and deep focus, the cinematography of Orson Welles' films has been recognized again and again as groundbreaking in cinema by fans and critics alike.

(edited)

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@Maxence_G,

The whole poll looks great and I think your note about giving the cinematographers some credit is fairer now.

However, you still have the repeatedly phrase wrong, you say "time again and again", when it should be "time and time again".  

Thanks to the mastery of shadows, mirrors, angles and deep focus, the cinematography of Orson Welles' films has been recognized time and time again as groundbreaking in cinema by fans and critics alike. Obviously, this would not have been possible without the help of the amazing cinematographers who worked with Welles throughout his career.


Some of the most memorable images of Orson Welles' films are included in this poll. Which one is your favorite?

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@urbanemovies​ 

Correction done.

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@Maxence_G​ Thanks for the quick response. Let me know, if you need any help with any missing images.

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1 year ago

@Maxence_G,

This really is an impressive collection of images.

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1 year ago

I tweaked the intro.

I am quite disappointed I could not find this image on IMDb.

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@Maxence_G​  

The globe drops-nurse enters image from above is now in the Citizen Kane media index. Some other Orson Welles film images for your consideration,

Lady from Shanghai

Citizen Kane

The Trial

FYI, I agree the IMDb media indexes are really light in quality images for this poll topic. A better resource might be filmgrab.com, they have a library of film images from each of Orson Welles' fifteen directed films. If you see something you want to add, post a screenshot and I will help you get into the right media index, so you can use it in your poll suggestion.

(edited)

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@urbanemovies​ 

Thanks.

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1 year ago

#2 for me.

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1 year ago

@Maxence_G,

Please, correct title to: Orson Welles' Best Shot

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@urbanemovies​ Thanks for your prompt attention. I am sorry I didn't catch it earlier and you had to go back again.

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1 year ago

Congratulations, @Maxence_G 

Poll Title: Orson Welles's Best Shot

Live Poll: https://www.imdb.com/poll/T-xmsw2aeMc/

Please change the "Poll Suggestion" to "Live Poll" in the discussion thread title and change the settings so that it appears under "Praise" now, rather than "Idea."

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1 year ago

Citizen Kane is definitely dominating the poll. 

63% of the votes. 

Touch of Evil (aka. The Greatest Film of All Time) gets 25% of the votes. 

Together the two films get 88% of the votes. 

(edited)

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@Maxence_G​ ,

Please change the "Poll Suggestion" to "Live Poll" in the discussion thread title and change the settings so that it appears under "Praise" now, rather than "Idea."