Codes and Conventions of The Shining
The Shining is a Psychological Thriller film released in 1980, and is the story of a man that takes up a job to be a caretaker of a hotel over the winter, so temporarily moves in there with his family, However, spending time on his own in the hotel sends him insane, to a point in which he chases after his family with an axe trying to kill them. The idea of a chase scene could be used for our film, such as a person in a panic and rushing to escape from a killer, or alternatively the police.
In terms of Cinematography, the typical codes and conventions of the psychological thriller genre would consist of close-ups, long shots and Ariel shots. This is shown in as Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The film centres around the main character Jack Torrance’s mental state turn to a violent level during being the caretaker in the Hotel. Kubrick samples a series of Long/Ariel shots, to anchor his isolation, and close-ups to highlight his insanity. In terms of camera movement, we have followed “The Shining’s” codes and conventions of the dolly shot, as it almost conveys the notion that the delusional lead protagonist is stalking his victim. A lot of psychological films tend to play on the minds of the audience, into believing something different than to the actual outcome of the film. For example at the end of the film there is a photo shown of the main character Jack, attending a ball at the hotel in 1921, six decades before he became the caretaker, indicating that somehow he has been either alive since then or reincarnated, which will confuse and excite the audience.
Mise en scene is used generally to display the arrangement and stage properties in a movie or play. This can effect the viewer’s entire perception of a film. For the shining in particular, the lighting can influence how the film looks. In The Shining, director Stanley Kubrick uses light differently than most standard horror movies. The majority of the film is shot with lots of stark lighting. This use of lighting highlights the contrast between the evil supernatural world and the realities of the natural world. In The Shining, the main rooms at the Overlook Hotel are always well lit, with plain white light. The scenes at the Torrance family’s home were shot with natural lighting in contrast to the Overlook Hotel. Not only are the rooms are well lit and foreboding, but also the fact that Jack Torrance comes in the shot on the left. In films, usually the villain will be on the left side of the shot and the protagonist is usually on the right side. The left is the evil side and the right is the good side. Since Jack usually is on the left side of the screen, the viewer subconsciously associates Jack with evil. Light is used differently for different scenes in order to affect the viewers gut reaction to the characters and their world. During the first scene where Jack is in the bar and ordering a drink, the lighting comes from underneath him, highlighting his deranged face, which is called low key lighting.
Another use of mise-en-scene in the shining is a more typical convention, with the use of red blood to indicate danger and the insanity of Jack Torrance has impacted his son, as he writes murder backwards on the wall, in blood. This also contrasts the lighting techniques used in the rooms to make them appear as bleak, but the colour connotations of white is a peaceful colour and there is no indication of danger, so there is a clear contrast.
