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.