at the time "kane" was produced and released, welles and toland (among others) insisted that welles gave lighting instructions that fall normally under the director of photography's responsibility. many of the transitions in the film are done as lighting cues on set (such as the transition at the opening of the film from the outside of xanadu into kane's bedroom for his death), where lights are dimmed up and down on stage. apparently, welles was unaware that one could achieve the effects optically on a film so he instructed the crew to dim the lights the way you would on a theater production, which led to the unique dissolves. different areas of the frame dissolve at different times, based on the lighting cue. however, the visuals were truly a collaboration, as toland contributed great amounts of technical expertise that welles needed so that he could achieve his vision. years later, welles acknowledged, "toland was advising him on camera placement and lighting effects secretly so the young director would not be embarrassed in front of the highly experienced crew."