The Shining.

the shining

The Shining is a 1980 horror film directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on a novel by Stephen King (same name) The film made a massive stamp in the film industry because of its unique take on the horror genre. The film follows the story of Jack (Jack Nicolson) and his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall) moving into the large Overlook Hotel for the winter after Jack has taken the job as the caretaker there. However not all is as seems when the isolation of being in the hotel for so long starts to take its toll on Jack and he develops into a violent character with one aim in mind: to kill his family.

The scene I will be analysing is the one in which Jack first enters the Gold Room during his five month stay at the Overlook Hotel. The scene begins with a long shot backwards tracking Jack as he angrily walks down the hall towards the Gold Room after his wife has accused him of hurting their son, Danny (Danny Lloyd). As he walks the non- diegetic music mimics his actions, with sharp high pitched violins playing at moments when he has physical outbursts such as punching the air. The camera then pans to the right as Jack slowly walks into the dark room after pausing briefly to show him reading the sign stood outside the doors that reads ‘The Gold Room.’ Usually a pause like this in generic horror films would show apprehension and uncertainty but because of how Nicolson holds his character, I am lead to believe that he knows exactly what he is doing, this may be a warning to the audience that he is being driven into the myserious room by something more powerful than himself. Jack strolls into the room and reaches to the left for a light switch and calmly flicks them on one at a time, this is shot from behind Jack with him standing more to the left meaning a large proportion of the screen is filled by the impressive set that is the Gold Room. As the lights come on we are greeted by the extravagant glow of the golden tiled walls, similarly coloured carpet and bright red sofas. The whole setting is expensively decorated giving us an indication of the standard the hotel holds but also foreshowing the references to the 1920s as I know that this era is famous for their flamboyant parties. This is a perfect example of how the mise en scene has been set up specifically to make the viewer think of a related topic, in this case the topic is the 1920s. As Jack goes to sit down at the empty bar he inspects the counter, the high pitched violins in the non-diegetic music are still continuously playing and only stop when Jack mutters under his breath "I'd give my soul for a glass of beer."

After this is said the editor cuts to a mid shot of Jack sitting at the bar, from this angle I can see no indication of life behind him which emphasise the feeling of isolation that being in a large empty hall already has.Jack is positioned perfectly in the centre of the screen meaning all the focus is on him, this is a famous technique used by Kubrick in many of his films. This shot also gives me the opportunity to really focus on the emotions Jack is portraying through his facial expressions, it is clear to me that he is very emotionally frustrated however this feeling is swiftly changed by the sense of relief that he is overcome with at the appearance of Lloyd the bartender, who he greets like an old friend. Lloyd’s impossible appearance is coincidently placed just after Jack states that he would "give his soul for a glass of beer." Giving your soul away is an act that is generally done when making deals with the devil, making Lloyd’s mysterious entrance even more questionable and uncomfortable. I also noticed that Lloyd’s attire resembles the satanic character, with a red tuxedo with pointed panels that mirror horns that are usually placed on images of the devil.

References to satanic topics such as the devil can be typical in horror films particularly the sub genre of paranormal as the theme plays with religon and is therefore guarunteed to scare a large number of the audience. Another time when Jack enters the bar, he is declined payment for his drink with Lloyd telling him that his money is 'no good here' is this because jack has already payed with his soul?

　

Another scene in the film that links slightly to the mention of 'deals with the devil' is 'the bat scene' where Wendy is being patronised by Jack as he agressivly walks towards her and she takes steps backwards as to try and distance herself from her progressivly dangerous husband. The link we can make to the 'bar scene' is when Jack talks about his duties he has to the hotel and says that he has "a contract" to keep to, similar to the mention of deals being made with Lloyd the bartender. This is almost as if he is being held to a contract with the hotel which is forcing him to put its needs before those of his family. The whole scene is shot in mid shot which gives me a feeling of realism and makes me feel more involved in the character's interaction especially since both characters are always directly facing the camera whenever they are in shot. The camera backward tracks jack as he walks towards his wife and forward tracks wendy as she tries to get away from Jack. This continuous tracking makes me feel as if the two characters are getting closer and closer when there is no real evidence of this, it keeps the tension very high in the scene and with the non diegetic music increasing in volume and pitch, intensity is a running theme which makes me feel very isolated as the victim in the scene, Wendy, is being trapped by conversation in the tense situation.

 
 
 

 

The domonent and agressive persona that Jack takes on is one that is comonly found in the horror genre, especially when the victim is a female. Many Horror films use men as the murderer and women as the victim, the male character is usually portrayed as volotile or mysterious, both od which fit Jack's character. In this scene, Wendy holds a bat as a weapon against Jack however he still over powers her, this is shown though the forward tracking used for Wendy to show her distencing herself from Jack and clearly wanting to get out of the situation. Quite unusually seen in horror films, natural lighting is used through out this scene as opposed to low key lighting. I feel like this lighting technique makes the scene feel more realistic and the violent change in Jack's personality even more unexpected as there is no indication within the setting that imply danger is about to occurr. I think that this scene one of the first time Jack really loses his sanity and is completly posessed by the hotel because he talks about his dedication to the building and is totally fixated on harming his family, an act he would have previously never thought of doing. This scene is key to the downfall of Jack's character and sanity.

　

By Connie Bytheway.

　

　

Film Analysis- The Bourne

The Bourne. 

The scene begins with an establishing shot to show the location which is a busy street set in the winter time. The use of the snow and the cold surroundings mean that we can assume certain aspects of the protagonist's personality, for example the snow has connotations to danger, distance and isolation. This may translate in how the protagonist reacts to situations and how he is often surrounded by danger.  This use of mise en scene to set up the theme of danger is very effective as it subtly gets the idea across.  The camera then pans down to then land on the protagonist who is walking across a road towards the camera as it focuses in on him. Again the idea of danger is portrayed through the carelessness of our main character, played by Matt Damon, as he walks out into the road without acknowledging a safer route. 

The editor then cuts to a close/mid shot of Damon's character recieving a phone call and we hear the diegetic sound of the mysterious voice on the other end. The telephone he uses is red which can symbolise danger and caution towards the caller, this is another example of the mise en scene being used to indicate hazard. Point of view shots are then used to show Damon's character frantically looking around for the source of the caller, the cuts in this scene are very sharp and quite to put emphasis on the tension and anxiety our protagonist is going through due to this unsettling phone call. There is also the diegetic sound of the busy streets and cars to create an even more poinient atmosphere of confusion, this is partnered with the non diegetic music that is slowly building in the background to create apprehension with the audience and mirror the conflicting emotions taking place within the protagonist. 

Forward tracking of the characters movement as he starts quickly walking away from the pay phone, from this we can infer that the call triggered a strong emotion within him that has caused him to react in such a way. Because of this, the audience is also lead to feeling worry towards what might happen next. As the tense non diegetic music continues, we see a long shot of him walking fast pace towards the camera. He stands out from the crowded street because he is walking significantly faster than the surrounding people which emphasises the fact the he is clearly walking for a purpose, in this case his purpose may be to escape the situation he has found himself in. He also stands out because of how he is hanging his head looking shifty, everyone else in the crowd looks calm and settled in their location whereas he clearly wants to get out of the situation. 

The camera then goes from a close up of Damon's worried face to quickly panning to an ambulance  then back to his face, this is a reaction shot that gets across the fear and apprehension our protagonist feels towards the ambulance as it is associated with authority figures who are within their power to catch him as he is clearly running away from something. This is also a point of view shot as we see what it is that is making the character feel so anxious. As his fast past walking increases, so does the music and we are forced into more tension as he finds himself walking past two police officers. This is shown through mid shots so we get a good indication of his reaction which is quickly looking down and continueing to speed walk away from any cautious signs. 

We see him walk in front of a incoming train without being phased which is another indication of his association with danger and his disregard for consequences. 

As he walks into a large building we see him use his passport to jump ahead of the que. Due to this being shown through a close up, it emphasises the importance and makes us think that perhaps the protagonist is more significant than initially thought and also the significance of the building. 

Point of view shots are used to show him searching for security guards as he subtaly waits in line, trying not to draw attention to himself. The mood swiftly changes as he catches the eye of the security which moves to focus in on him. A close up of his face tells us that he knows he's been caught. Non diegetic music builds to emphasise tension as our protagonist moves to try and did an exit. The music suddenly pauses as he is cornered by an officer and told to stop before a huge climax hits the audience as the scene cuts to an upbeat fight with quick cuts and fast pace music what puts emphasis on the danger and adrenaline going through all the characters involved. Mostly mid shots are used to show the fight which let the audience see a significant amount of the violence while still keeping it close enough to the characters to make the scene feel more crowded and trapped. The fast pace music continues as he runs away from the fight, a close up shows him throwin a gun into a bin to protect his identity then the camera tracks him funning up the stairs and out into the cold outside where he stands on an unstable balcony which only adds to the tension. 

As the protagonist dangerously climbed onto the edge of the rusty balcony, we see a close up of his feet so we get an indication of just how thin the surface he is standing on really is. The non diegetic music is very subtal as silence is needed in order for the audience to focus on what is going on, it allows us to become more involved in his situation. Low angle shots are used to show how high up Damon's character is climbing down from which may envoke fear within the audience. High angle shots are also used to give us further indication of his height and to allow us to see things from his perspective. Overall the scene is very tense and keeps the audience apprehensive and constantly nervous r about the consequences that the protagonist may have to face dude to his dangerous way of life. 

Short Horror Sequence.

Short horror sequence

As a short AS film studies project we were given the task to make a short horror sequence. We took our instructions on board and came out with a film just over 90 seconds long. The film is based on the generally scary theme of ouija boards and was filmed within 15 shots. Within these shots we managed to incorporate long shots, close ups, extreme close ups, panning, low angled shots and birds eye views. To initially start the project, we brain stormed ideas that have connotations of horror and decided that the paranormal was a topic that is very popular within the horror genre at the moment and so we employed this theme in our film. When deciding on the location, we wanted somewhere isolating to emphasise the frightening theme that was running throughout the film. We decided to film in an empty music room that had not been used for some time in order to create a chilling atmosphere, we also decided to use minimal lighting in these shots as darkness is a natural human fear that is commonly used in horror films. As the storyline progresses, the characters get more involved in contacting the devil, close ups are used to show the shock and apprehension on the character's faces after a birds eye view is used to show the 'spirits' moving the object over the board. We felt like the use of this angle would give the audience the impression that they were watching the Ouija board from the characters perspectives which would allow them to feel more involved in the scene and give it a sense of realism. We then used close ups on each character's face to show to worried and shocked expression, we did this because often when the characters in films start to get scared and worried, it translates to the audience which was what we aimed to do. To end the sequence we filmed an extreme close up of a lit candle being blown out to not only acknowledge the end of the film but also suggest the end for the character, the lack of explanation and discussion as to what might happen to the characters leaves a very mysterious and unsettling atmosphere and also allows the audience to imagine their own ending which may be pleasant it not so. Throughout the sequence we added a subtal non diegetic soundtrack which progressively got louder as the scene went on, this was a way of building tension.

We felt like the short sequence incorporated most of the main and key aspects found in most horror films, for example; close ups, low key lighting and eerie music added in post production.