Friday 4 November 2016

Analysis of two scenes from, "The Shining".

1st scene:
In the opening shot of the scene, we are shown a static and extreme long shot of the isolated house in the mountains. This allows me to realise how they are alone and how a major theme within the film could be based on loneliness and isolation. The use of the theme of loneliness is used as it is a convention within the film genre of horror.
There is then a straight cut to the boy riding his cart in the halls and we see this through a long tracking shot that follows him at the same pace at which he is travelling; this allows me to experience exactly what he is experiencing. In the beginning of this tracking shot, I noticed that thee is the use of an exit sign which suggests to me how the child doesn't like it there and how he wants to escape or how it can be an escape route for the future. This makes me feel tense as I begin to understand that something bad is going to happen in the future. Also, the diegetic sound of the cart on the rugs sounds like a heartbeat. This use of sound makes me feel tense as it makes me feel like the boys life is maybe in danger. Occasionally, there are signs of inverted crosses which gives me the implication that there is some religion that is represented throughout the film. In most horror films, you will usually see a cross as religion is a common convention in horror films. Within the tracking movement, the boy is always off centre which implies the idea that there is something unnatural taking place within the hotel. This makes me uncomfortable due to the fact that I would usually expect the focus of the scene to be in the centre of the shot. Throughout the tracking shot, we can see that the child is wearing a red top. This use of colour gives me the indication that the child's life is surrounded by danger and blood shed. The use of having the child on a bike/cart links to, 'The Omen', when the child is on his tricycle and the fact that in that scene, a woman dies, makes me think that something bad is going to happen in the Shining.
When the child is back to the point where he started in the beginning of the shot, there is a cut to Wendy about to open a door, however there is a slight indication of a cross on the door. This gives me the idea that she is being warned not to go inside because of the fact that there is something unusual in there. This makes me feel on edge because I do not know what lies behind the door. There is then a cut to a zoom out of Jack sleeping in his bed and as the shot moms out, there is another inverted cross which gives me the idea that there is something unholy about the hotel or even Jack himself. As the camera gets further away from jack, we see that what we are looking at is in fact a reflection of him. This gives me the idea that he maybe has different personalities (a nice, genuine side to him and a dark, sinister side). As the camera starts to zoom back in, we can see jack look into the mirror at his reflection which could suggest how he knows that he has a much darker side to him. This makes me start to feel nervous as i begin to think that this is the point within the film where his darker side is revealed.
2nd scene:
Within this sequence, we see at static shot, jack being surrounded by people that are dressed in old fashioned clothes which could suggest that he is starting to lose his mind and see things that are't real. The fact that we see a woman walk past Jack with a bloody handprint on her dress, suggests the idea that there was an element of abuse and violence within Jack's life. This makes me feel nervous as I am expecting some kind of violence to take place in the near future. After Jack meets the care taker, there is a tracking movement that follows them as they go into the toilets to clean up the spilt food. This allows me to experience what is happening at that moment, just like Jack is.
After they enter the bathroom, there is a straight cut to the inside of them. Immediately, the viewer notices that the room is covered in red paint. This use of colour reflects the idea of danger and blood that has been or is going to be spilt. this makes me feel frightened as I am getting the impression that this is where violence may take place. There is a perfect balance of colour which makes everything seem symmetrical; this could portray how Jack is exactly like the Caretaker.
When there is  straight cut to a mid shot that contains the both of them, we see that Jack is not looking directly at the Caretaker. Just before this cut, we see that there are mirrors on one side of the room (the side that Jack is looking at). These two factors together makes me think that he is looking at the mirror, not the Caretaker. Due to the fact that previously in the film, we were told that the old caretaker was a murderer, I started to realise that Jack must be talking to himself as he is looking in the mirror as it is impossible for the Caretaker to still be alive.
During the dialogue between the Caretaker and Jack, there is a shot-reverse-shot technique to show how they are talking to each other. The fact that we see the caretaker standing by a mirror reinforces the fact that Jack could still be looking into the mirror. This use of editing allows me to see Jack's reactions during the conversation and I can see the gradual transition from when Jack was still the same person to when he starts to become sinister. After the "Caretaker" informs Jack of what he did to his family, I can see Jack smiling which gives me the impression that he likes what he has just heard. This makes me feel nervous as I now know that he likes the idea of killing his family and that he has the capability of becoming a murderer. The fact that even with the mid-close ups I can still see the colour red makes me think that both of the characters are surrounded by blood lust and danger. The colour red can be seen in the majority of the horror film genre due to the fact that the colour red symbolises blood, danger and anger. This starts to make me feel threatened because I know that very soon there will be some form of violence.



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