The Shining Mise-en-scene
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.
