The Shining was brought to screen in 1980 by the mastermind of Stanley Kubrick and is an adaptation of the Stephen King novel by the same name. The film has been called the most suspenseful of all time and one of the most carefully thought out movie ever. There is something special about this movie, something about the way it manages to enact an emotional response from the viewer. Kudbrick uses many devices in the creation of these emotional responses. In this essay I will examine and analyze the movie’s plot and explain how it contributes to the creation of suspense in The Shining.
The plot outline of the film is about a family heading to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, where his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future. The movie itself digs deep into the human psyche and strong family values. Kudbrick shows how frail and precious the mind can be at times, but also how violent an individual can be, even towards their loved ones.
The opening scene shows an overview of Colorado indicating the location of the movie. The camera slowly zooms in towards the ocean, showing the scenic view of the mountains and of the water. Kudbrick had made clever use of camera angles within this first opening shot as he has titled the camera almost giving the audience a sense of feeling that they are flying over the area and also uses high angle shots. The next thing you see are some of the credits of the movie as the camera continues to show the scenic views. The director of the The Shining appears first, the two actors who are playing the main characters and finally the name of the movie. A high angle camera shot then zooms in on the hotel which is the main setting.
Jack Torrance, the main character of the movie, is given the job, while back at home his son, Danny, has a premonition. He asks Tony, “the little boy who lives in his mouth” what’s wrong with the hotel and then sees torrents of blood gushing out of a set of elevators, in a strikingly vivid, colourful shot, followed by a shot of the ghosts of two young girls who were possibly murdered within the hotel years earlier. Kudbrick adds a serious element of danger and serves as the turning point/climax of act one. This leaves the audience feeling weary.
In the next scene the audience see the family on the road to the hotel. The conversation turns into a story of some pioneers who, trapped in some mountain range, resort to cannibalism to survive. This topic of inhumanity on humans acts as a hint to the upcoming danger and violence that will appear later on in the movie.
At the Overlook Hotel, the family is shown around the mansion. Wendy, Jack's wife and their son meet with the head chef, Mr. Halloran. The audience learn that he and Danny both share the gift of sight - 'the shining.' We also learn that the hotel is potentially dangerous especially the sinister room 237, and that Danny should at all costs stay away from it and not enter. We are then fast forwarded one month later. The scene opens with a steadicam shot of Danny riding on his tricycle around the hotel. Kudbrik creates a very spooky feel, firstly by showing only the back of the boy, in a view that is unnatural to the eye and secondly by the sound by the sound the tricycle makes as it goes quietly over the soft carpet, then suddenly, loudly over the hard floor. The slow, long smooth steady cam shot, combined with the irregular loud/soft audio and the frantic movements of the boy, come together to create a very absurd audio and visual which indicates a sense that all is not well.
During this scene, Kudbrick’s editing heightens suspense, creates dramatic tension and suggests Danny’s psychological state.
The scene opens with an extreme long shot tracking Danny as he rides his tricycle away from the camera, down a hallway in the Overlook. Danny goes through a doorway in the distance and turns, riding out of sight. Kubrick holds this shot for another few seconds, suggesting that Danny has just entered a dangerous place to where the camera is afraid to follow.
Danny turns the corner and comes to an abrupt halt when he sees the two girls from his earlier vision standing at the end of the hallway. This allows the viewer to absorb the shock as Kudbrick maintains the shot slightly beyond the peak of ‘content curve.’ This creates a sense of time being extended, as if you are in a dream, or like Danny, a vision.
Following the logic of editing, Kudbrick cuts to a reverse angle shot of Danny’s reaction focusing on the attention of his wide eyes. Danny has seen the girls and has become terrified.
Kudbrick then startles the viewer as the slow rhythm editing is broken by the jump cutting to a closer shot down the hallway, where the audience sees a disturbing image of the girls massacred on the floor, with blood splattered across the walls and an axe in the middle of the floor.
This shot is cut extremely short not allowing the viewer to take in the alarming sight. This indicates the way in which the horrific images are flashing through Danny’s mind. The rhythm of editing picks up speed. Kudbrick quickly cuts back to the girls standing at the end of the hallway, however the camera has now moved closer to them.
Another jump cut to the murder scene is instantly followed by a medium shot of the girls that, nearer to the viewer than ever, stirs intense emotions of fear and a feeling of approaching trouble. The fast edits create a sense of speed, perhaps mirroring Danny’s quickening heart rate as he grows more and more distressed. Kudbrick cuts back one last time to the bloody shot of the girls on the floor before returning to the reverse angle close up of Danny, who throws his hands over his eyes. The camera stays with Danny as he cautiously lowers one of his hands to see if the girls are still there. This evokes an unbearable feeling of suspense because like Danny, the viewer is uncertain if the frightening event is over.
Kudbrick then gives another reverse angle shot answering the viewers question by showing a long and empty hallway. By pulling back the camera and returning to a slower editing pace, Kudbrick informs the audience that Danny’s vision is indeed over and that everything is back to normal.
The first half of act two shows the audience Jacks progressive deterioration into madness and illusion, his son's fixed suspicions about the hotel and Wendy's confusion about it all. Jack experiences writers block and as a result lashes out at Wendy's attempt to help him. On another one of his bike rides around the hotel, Danny comes across the forbidden room 237 and becomes drawn to it and turns the locked doorknob with curiosity. Again he sees the gushing torrents of bright red blood implying danger and death, and again sees the two girls.
In conclusion, Kubrick’s clever use of the isolated setting of the movie along with the menacing villain of the narrative has proven The Shining to be a successful and chilling movie. Kubrick was an American director, writer, producer and photographer of films which is possibly why he uses effective picturesque shots within the movie. Notably, this shows the stark contrast between nature’s beauty and the horrific turn of events that take place around it. The effective use of the various camera angles and the editing of scenes altogether make the audience feel on edge and alarmed, as the camera angles distinctively portray each of the characters distress and fear. Kubrick had made an extensive use of the steadicam when filming. A steadicam is a weight-balanced camera support, which allows smooth camera movement in enclosed spaces. This helped to convey the claustrophobic oppression in the hotel and would have aided in making the audience feel the claustrophobia as well as the characters. 'Room 237' is very symbolic for the killing and chaos that took place within that room, as well as the gushing blood and the ghosts of the dead twins. Collectively, this adds more suspense and anticipation within the viewer when watching the film.
The Shining has received excellent reviews from the majority of the general public, with such things as, "One of the late 20th century's finest tales of the supernatural and a justly famous classic." The film has embedded itself in popular culture and is one of the most petrifying and sinister films ever to be made. The Shining set high standards in the 1980's and will continue to inspire other movie directors to attempt to produce horror films with the same level of success and to strike fear into the viewers hearts.
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