Film Scene Analysis: 'The Shining'

'The Shining', (1980) - Stanley Kubrick

 An analysis by Ethan Delaney

In this short assignment I will be analysing in depth (from a personal viewpoint) two scenes from Stanley Kubrick's 1980 psychological horror film 'The Shining', an adaptation of the novel by Stephen King. The film takes place at the Overlook Hotel in the mountains of Colorado, USA during the freezing cold winter. Due to the below zero temperatures of this location, the hotel is closed during this time, thus requiring the temporary hire of someone to take special care of the ground, this someone being middle-aged Jack Torrance who decides to spend these few months of isolation with the rest of his family; his wife Wendy and their six year old son Danny. In this analysis I will be looking into many aspects of the mise-en-scene such as lighting, set pieces and props and other elements of the film such as camera work and editing.
 

   The first scene I will be analysing is the turning point of the film which takes place just before its climatic ending. It managed to build up tension, suspense and uncertainty within myself by opening up in almost silence, with the only sound present being that of Wendy’s footsteps on the dark wooden floor of the large and seemingly empty Colorado Lounge as she steadily moves towards Jacks desk on the other side of the lounge. However, whilst holding a baseball bat for protection, she quickly turns around and looks up to call out "Jack!", who does not appear to be present as she turns back around and continues her short journey to the darker side of room (although, the non-diegetic overdubbed music which then quietly creeps into the scene would surely suggest an overlooking presence). As she does so, the cameras position steadily changes from a backwards tracking shot to a sidewards tracking shot, meaning that the viewers can no longer see what is directly ahead of her, therefore prompting a fear of the unknown in the audience.
 

   Then, the shot cuts to a front facing medium shot of Wendy appearing to be in distress with her eyes wide open and alert as she stands behind Jacks desk, the background is also not in focus which prompts a fearful emotion in the audience along with her performance as once again we are unable to see what could be lurking behind her.
 

   As she slowly turns around, the entire one point perspective shot comes into focus and Wendy starts to walk towards Jacks typewriter which is centre on his desk, this adds to the numerous almost-parallel shots of the film. I think that the many uses of parallel shots and in general repetition in the mise-en-scene could be used to enable the audience to predict future outcomes such as the idea that what previously occurred 10 years ago in the hotel could occur once again (the winter Caretaker murdering his family due to intense 'cabin fever' caused by isolation for a long period of time). An example of this repetition is Kubrick's use of upside down crosses which appear in many scenes of the film such as this one (the window frames make the symbol). It is known that people who were martyred and nailed to crosses back in the early days of Christianity, would often die of suffocation. However, being nailed to an upside down cross would mean that you would not die of suffocation, instead the death would be much more painful and take a longer time, therefore Kubrick is implying that the outcome of certain characters could be much worse than what the audience may be expecting.
 

   In the next shot, the camera is tilted upwards from behind the typewriter as Wendy rises up into the shot (stepping towards the typewriter) creating a medium shot. As she reads the text Jack has been working on, we can see her shocked reaction. Once more the audience is unaware of what exactly the character is viewing, this creates a sense of mystery. As this ordeal takes place, the non-diegetic music in the scene is increasing in volume and depth as more conventional instruments of the horror genre (French horns and screeching violins) join in and certain elements begin echoing - backing up the theory that they are representing an overlooking physical presence.
 

   The colour green is favoured by those who are 'well balanced', suggesting that Wendy (being that she is wearing a green checked shirt) feels safe at this point, although this could have been used by the director in the same way most of the film is set in high key lighting (compared to the Horror genre convention of low key lighting) - in order to make the audience feel safe and to allow for a greater unexpected shock later on. The lighting in this scene comes predominately from the windows and therefore it is natural, creating a sense of realism in the films tone.
 

   Finally, Jack is revealed to be a silhouette in the dark hallway (from an over the shoulder shot) lurking over Wendy who is reading his work at the desk and frightens her as he asks “How do you like it?”, to her unexpected horror, she screams, turns around and holds up her baseball bat in defence. It seems to me that this scene is reminiscent of the infamous shower scene in Hitchcock’s 1960 horror, Psycho. Despite being different circumstances, the scenes have numerous similarities such as a score of screeching violins as the psychotic antagonists are shown to the audience, as well as high key lighting in a dark situation.
 

   In the second scene, Jack is chasing Danny around the hotels garden maze after Jack unleashes an act of terror on his family in their hotel room and threatened to murder Wendy, however Danny manages to make an escape from him through the bathrooms window. Now Danny is in a similar situation to the ending scene in The Godfather in which their older family members are chasing the youngsters around a garden, although in this situation it seems as if it is in an act of murder instead of playfulness. In this scene which takes place in the dead of night, the camera is tracking both Danny and Jack running around the maze from behind and the shot cuts from one to another thus being an example of parallel editing. The lighting in this sequence is mostly low key (a horror genre convention) with occasional high key side lights of the maze which create silhouettes and shadows of the characters which are also conventions of horror. Danny and Jack are never seen in the same dual shot, therefore representing the differences between them both. Another example of parallel editing takes place in this scene as whilst Jack is chasing around Danny in the maze, Wendy is also calling out for Danny inside the hotel.
 

   The non-diegetic sounds in this scene seem to be a combination of out of control contrasting high and low key recordings, mirroring the lighting and Jacks crazed persona. Cleverly, as Danny steps back into his foot prints in the centre of the snow covered maze, a sound of cracking ice is heard to the rhythm of a fast beating heat (representing his heart as it cannot actually be heard) to portray the idea that he is actually standing on ice, however it is revealed that he is actually trying to get away from his father by retracing his steps and therefore confusing him. The sounds in this scene, including those which may be diegetic such as the wind are intensified to represent Danny’s intensified emotions, as he tries to be so quite in this horrific situation. Fortunately for Danny, he manages to escape the maze whilst his father is left confused and unable to escape, leading to his frozen death which is shown the following morning.