The shining Dir.

Stanley Kubrick 1980

Fig. 1:The movie poster

The shining is a psychological horror lm, based on Stephen Kings novel of the same name. The lm stars Jack Nicholson as a man who simply goes insane from being isolated in a hotel with his family. There are supernatural elements too, such as the son, Danny, having a psychic ability known as the shining. He is able to see horric visions of the past and the future. He manifests the power through an imaginary alter-ego Tony.(Nathan) Part of what makes the lm so effective is the sound. When Danny sees visions of, for example, the two twin girls, there is no sudden orchestral stings, this just makes a scene such as two girls lying dead on the oor ash up on the screen, much more horric, as we are focusing on the visual, and not on the sound. The sound seems to assist the scene, rather than be the actual scare. There seems to be a rhythmic beat to the music used, however. For example,
Fig. 2: One of Dannys visions, that ashes on screen

when the camera takes the viewer through room 237, there is a loud, unsettling heartbeat-like sound. Something as subtle as Danny riding around on his tricycle, over a series of rugs, creates the same type of rhythmic sound. The entire lm makes the viewer feel engulfed in the environment; as if we are being eaten up by the hotel. For example when Danny rides on his tricycle, the camera is behind him, facing up and more towards the ceiling. Fig 3. Hotel corridors eating up the viewer The long corridors, the huge rooms like the room in which Jack (Nicholson) works in, all contribute to making the viewer feel small and intimidated by the hotel. Something as simple as colour design makes the hotel setting uncomfortable. In the hotel corridors, the orange 70s hexagonal carpets are a huge contrast against the tall white walls. Again, engulfs the viewer, and the characters; the hexagonal patterns being bigger than Danny himself. The lm uses the colour red in a few ways; one, is to show blood. There are only a few scenes with blood in them, so this makes each of those scenes memorable. The scene with the blood coming out of the elevator is a visually striking scene, so much so that it was used for the trailer of the lm. This scene could be symbolizing how much death is in the hotel. As well as the blood, the colour red is used in the carpet patterns of the hallways, and most memorable is in the bathroom of the ballroom. The bathroom is entirely red, with some white in the oor and sinks. This room is very different in colour compared to the bathrooms in the rest of the hotel rooms. It Fig. 4: The blood and the elevator is possible that the ballroom bathroom is so red to symbolise a change of some sort. When Jack enters the sprawling ballroom, he is entering into the building's dark heart (possibly even Hell itself) (Nathan) This could also be the reason; the red could represent a change in environment, like Jack entering a kind of hell. The colours here are not necessarely unintiving, infact they are bright and welcoming. Assuming this room is the Hell, this could be saying that Jack is being welcomed into hell; and being welcomed to become part of the hotel. The final shot of Torrance trapped inside a photograph of the ballroom in 1921 hints at his destiny: he has become one with The Overlook.

Sources Nathan, I http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=132700 (accessed 09/12/12) Images: Fig 1:http://www.impawards.com/1980/posters/shining_ver1.jpg Fig 2: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZsuiwK9YC3M/TqyUopk4ceI/AAAAAAAABAw/ Ar9Ga6ffUoQ/s1600/the-shining+two+girls+murdered+in+hallway.jpg Fig 3: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JpIyaHcwDDI/UI8MpFC4olI/AAAAAAAACCg/ 0r_Q3JGIW6w/s1600/0908TheShining.jpg Fig 4: http://hollywoodhatesme.les.wordpress.com/2012/03/kubrick-shining-blood.jpg