Post Production and Release of Citizen Kane

Seeing as how the first chapter in The Making of Citizen Kane, is already taken, I'll discuss the post production chapter. However, the most interesting thing about this chapter, was the discussion of special effects. Special effects nowadays seem to go hand in hand with any film. No matter what movie is released, be it sci-fi, comedy, etc. it's bound to contain special effects. This was no different from Citizen Kane, despite the fact that films made during that period hardly contained such sophisticated effects. I digress, for what I found truly fascinating is that Kane contained special effects in the first place. Many of the shots portrayed in the book that contained such effects were surprising. For example, the way that the surrounding image blends with the beach that was shot (during Kane and his guests' travels to the Everglades) is deceptively realistic. I had no clue that a majority of the shot was simply a special effect. Then again, if Citizen Kane was made now, I'm sure the level of high definition in which movies are shot would make the special effects sequences far more obvious. Still, you have to commend Welles on a terrific job relating to the special effects.