Directed by Stanley Kubrick, written by Stephen King and
played by Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, The Shining was a horror film that captured any of its’ victims who
dared to watch. It profited over $20 million in box office in the first 3 years
of its release, 23rd May 1980, and made a further $4 million after
that. Its cinematography was composed to perfection and the physical metaphors
used in the mise-en-scene made me want to watch it over and over to decipher
these meanings.
When
Wendy and her son Danny are running towards the maze, high key lighting is used
as it is day, which portrays a peaceful, rather tranquil atmosphere. This made
me feel safe and secure because with day, the light brings protection. This
tracking shot had a sense of familiarity to it due to the mise-en-scene. The
mother was wearing a jacket and was also carrying a camera. This would be a
typical getup of any parent intent of spending the day out in a park with their
child and as it so happens, Wendy spends the day in a maze with her son. This
sequence of the film was a chance for me to bring everything back to normality
and help regain my sanity, which was caused by the insanity of Jack. In this shot, for the whole 15 seconds of the two
running, only one cut is apparent, it is a sideways tracking shot where every
frame is composed to be aesthetically pleasing. The horizon is placed in the
top third of the screen and the path in the bottom third. When the maze is in
sight, its’ topmost points are just above the horizon’s level making it become
the main object with the greater power. Likewise, the camera manages to keep
Wendy and Jack centre-framed implying that they are the focal point and the
simple, or lack of props in the shot aided my eyes towards them. The dialogue of the passage is significant to
the narrative. Wendy tells her son that he had ‘better run fast’ when chasing him, this created a sense of unease
for me, due to the genre of which this film was specified, because at any
moment I didn’t know what would happen and with that sort of dialogue I had to
keep my mind open to all possibilities.
After Jack and Wendy entered the maze, the camera keeps on its track, finally
approaching at the sign showing a map of the maze. The mise-en-scene made it
possible for the camera to keep at one level during the cut, because the sign
was positioned in the second third, making the bottom of it level with the
path, and the top of it level with the maze. This made it very easy for me to
process what I was looking at due to not having to move my focus anywhere else.
It then cuts to a
tracking shot of Jack walking towards a replica of the maze, again, with him in
the centre of the frame. The dissolve transition along with the positioning of
Jack in the centre, once more made it much easier for me to process the
narrative. When it cuts to the camera looking at Jack directly, part of the
picture is taken by the model, one third to be exact. So again, Stanley Kubrick
has used the rule of thirds to compose yet another one of his scenes. As well
as the horizontal thirds being manipulated, he has used the orange pillars on
the right hand side and the protruding walls on the left to split the frame
into thirds vertically. This
emphasizes the central square, where coincidentally, Jack is positioned.
The maze design is unerringly symmetrical much like the
hotel itself, which is personified by Jack’s two personalities. The light which
is casted down onto the maze from the window creates a ‘black and white’
atmosphere. I see the maze as a physical portrayal of Jack’s mind, how he
suffers from his two behaviours, his kind and caring father side contrasted with his sinister and disturbing murderous side. The Black and the White.
The middle of the maze is more open than the rest, and in the picture, falls
right below Jack’s face. To me, I see it as a connection between him and that
particular location, and as it so happens, it then cuts to an overview of the
real maze with his wife and son in the centre of it. With this form of parallel
editing, I can’t help but feel that Jack, in his mind, is stalking Wendy and
Danny and his actions are more than predatory. He has an overview of the maze
and so becomes the most powerful object at that point in time which is
juxtaposed with his scruffy and unkempt appearance. This sequence can be connected to the opening
credits of the film where the camera is mounted on a helicopter and has a clear
overview of the car, making it insignificant and worthy game. The symmetry of
the maze can also relate to the narrative since the story of the man who killed
his wife and two daughters is exactly mirrored to that of Jack’s, Wendy’s and
Danny’s experience in the hotel. The plot then goes back to Jack and Wendy
finally reaching the middle of the maze, a simple bird’s eye view is used exactly
perpendicular to the ground so as to emphasize each of the maze’s hedges, hence
letting the viewer appreciate the perfect balance. Furthermore, the shadow
created by the sun implies that even in the safety of day, darkness is quite
literally, ‘round the corner’. I like how Stanley Kubrick has actually created
the shadows at a 45 degree angle to the vertical; this bisects the right angles
keeping to his traditional squared pattern.
Throughout the film, each frame is composed perfectly,
Kubrick’s knowledge of photography made this film such an aesthetically pleasing
motion picture. I appreciated his composition and liked the fact that the orderliness
of both frame and setting reflected yet deviated from Jack Torrance’s personality;
his manic depressive state so clearly defined from his kind and caring father
figure.
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