Briefly explain how Welles merged editing and sound techniques to convey the gradual failure of Kane’s marriage to Emily

What will be an ideal response?

Answer: The ideal answer should include:
1. It’s difficult to isolate the editing in this film because it often works in concert with the sound techniques, not to speak of the fragmentation of the story.
2. Often Welles used editing to condense a great deal of time, using sound as a continuity device.
3. For example, to demonstrate Kane’s gradual estrangement from his first wife, Emily, Welles features a series of breakfast scenes, using only a few lines of dialogue with each brief episode.
4. Beginning with some honeymoon sweet-talk, the mood quickly shifts to slight irritation, then strained annoyance, bitter resentment, and finally silence and alienation.
5. The sequence begins with the lovers sharing the intimacy of the same medium shot. As the marriage deteriorates, Welles cross-cuts to separate shots of each, even though they are sitting at the same table. The one-minute sequence ends with a long shot of the two at opposite ends of a lengthy table, each reading a different newspaper in silence.