Analysis of two scenes from The Shining

Analysis of two scenes from The Shining


The First Scene
The starting sequence of the film is from the point of view extreme long shot of a bird 'stalking' the car that Jack is driving in a forrest road. The fact that no buildings were shown, shows the isolation of the hotel and maybe even him from his family throughout the film the relationship between him and his wife and kid is strained more and more. By having this from the point of view of a bird swooping from side to side, up and down, it follows the characteristics of a bird of prey, hunting the car\Jack. which foreshadows Jack hunting his wife and son. The lighting is not low key to show that this isn't like a regular horror film as it does not stick to the regular conventions, such as low key lighting which is not used until the last parts of the film when Jack is hunting down his wife, son and the chef. The music is also a convention of the genre as it builds tension. This sequence does have a convention in it which is isolation, this is used so the victim can't get away easily as it is in the middle of nowhere. The car in this sequence looks really small because the camera is so high up, this supports thats isolation is a main theme. It also cuts many times to show the car driving down many bits of road to show that it is very remote and secluded. The first shot is over a lake swooping almost forwards to set the scene. Then it is multiple shots of the car driving but the scenery changes from a forrest area near a lake to a flatter area where you can see a mountain in the background, to a rocky cliff where the camera goes past the car as the opening credits start to roll, then back to a forrest area where you can see some cars either parked at the side of the road or driving the other way, then it cuts to right next to a hill where snow is on the ground, then the final cut is straight after when the opening credits stop, it cuts to a extreme long shot of the hotel and its surroundings. All of these shots support the fact that the main theme is isolation, from the very beginning of the film. The music is very simple but creates tension from the the beginning as it makes you feel as if something is going to happen as the music is slow and basic.



The Maze Chase scene
The start of the clip that I am using is just after Danny has hidden and covered his tracks in the maze. It starts with Danny hiding round the corner and then the camera cuts to Jack hunched over following the tracks until they end. Jack then turns as he thinks he hears something, thinking that he's found Danny smiling and decides to walk down a path in the maze. Then Danny comes out of his hiding place crouched over so he is harder to spot, it then cuts to the empty path ahead. The camera then cuts to a tracking shot of Danny coming out further and running back the way he came. As Danny is running he keeps on looking behind him which shows that he is scared of being caught by his dad, which any one would. After this it cuts to a point of view shot of Danny, this shows that he is following the snow tracks out of the maze. Then it cuts to Jack hunched over with his axe, a convention of the horror genre, a weapon that can cause serious pain. He gets to three other paths in the maze, he stops and spins looking at each path, then decided to go straight ahead. Then it is a tracking shot from in front of Jack and this shows the anger and insanity on his face as he is hunched over head facing down but his eyes looking up which shows a lot of white in his eyes. The scene cuts to Jacks point of view which shows snow that hasn't been stepped on. After that it cuts to another tracking shot of Danny from in front where you can see the fear on his face as he is running. The next shot is of the mother running with a knife just outside of the hotel and maze, she picked up the knife when she locked Jack inside the food room. She stops running outside the maze near the snow machine where she can see the entrance of the maze. After this it cuts to in front of Danny where he is still running and falls over. As soon as he falls it cuts back to his mother where she shouts Danny, she then drops the knife and runs to help him get up. After Danny gets up it pans across as he is running towards his mother and they hug. This entire scene is filmed in low key lighting as it is night time and also this is when Jack has finally broken into insanity from the tension of being isolated for so long. Low key lighting is a convention of the horror genre. after Danny and his mother hug it cuts back to Jack who is still in the maze limping and holding his coat together. It then shows Danny and his mother running, holding each other towards the snow machine. Once they get there his mother lifts him into it. It again cuts to Jack in the maze but this time he is stumbling around and his legs fall from beneath him. He manages to get back up just as Danny and his mum drive away from the hotel, succeeding in their escape. this is also a convention of the horror genre, the protagonist getting away from the antagonist. Jack starts screaming as he can hear the snow machine getting away. There are multiple back and forth shots of the snow machine and Jack. Jack is still in the maze and is still shouting and waving his axe around until again he collapses but this time he stays down. The last shot is of Jack the next day, in the snow, frozen to death.