The Shining Part 2

In this second and final part of my essay I will be talking about the maze scene in The Shining. The Shining was filmed in 1980 and was directed by Stanley Kubric, It is an adaptation of Stephen Kings' claustrophobic tale of a boy's special gift and his father decent to madness whilst isolated in a hotel through the winter.

The scene I will be talking about in this second half of the essay is the maze scene in which Jack chases his son Danny through the outdoor maze located in the hotel grounds. The scene begins with Danny running to the entrance of the maze whilst being perused by his homicidal father wielding an axe; the camera closely follows Danny as he travels through the twists and turns of the maze, this is a tracking shot.

This scene if foreshadowed greatly in earlier scenes of the movie, earlier in the movie Danny entered the maze with his mother Wendy who was chasing him shouting "I'm gonna getcha!" also it parallels the earlier scenes of Danny riding his bike through the hotel, the camera work is identical. Later in the scene there are point of view shots used from Jacks perspective, it shows the footprints in the snow which is the method of which Jack is able to follow and chase Danny through the maze. The camera then focuses on Danny's feet as he kicks up snow to leaving footprints to show that they are indeed Danny's footprints that Jack was following. All shots in this scene are eye level shots. Also in this scene all lightning is low key, the only forms of light present are from the hedge lights placed in and around the maze.

The camera cuts back to Wendy, who is currently back in the hotel discovering the body of Halloran the lighting here is high key as the lights in the hotel are on. The scene changes when there is a jump scare as the ghost of the hotel appears in front of Wendy the music in this scene features eerie chanting voices which could link to the presence of the ghosts. 

The mise en scene in this scene features a lot of earthly colors and a lot of red. but as the scene progresses the inside of the hotel becomes a lot more blue in color which matches the color of the cold winter outdoors, this makes the hotel seem cold. Alot more red is added to the scene from the bleeding ghost to Halloran's bloody body to the red hall ways; there is also the red elevator which pours crimson red blood out into the hotel hallway overall there is alot of red in this scene.

Up until this scene the supernatural parts of the movie have only been seen or heard by Jack, usually in mirrors which could reflect inner turmoil or hallucinations or when the ghost let him out of the store room. At this point of the film the audience believe the supernatural aspects to the feel are real and not just all in Jack's head as Wendy is experiencing them as well.

The Shining.

    In this first section of my essay about The Shining I will talk about the hallway scene where Danny finds the two girls that died in the murder before his family went to the hotel. The scene begins with Danny riding his plastic bike through the hotel kitchen area, it opens as an extreme long shot this can emphasize how small he is in this situation how little he can do to stop what is going on in the hotel and how he is dominated by the girls later in the scene.

In the next part of the scene Danny is riding his bike down the hallways of the hotel, the camera follows him using the tracking method, in this shot you can see Danny is wearing a red jacket this could signify danger and that something bad will happen to this character. Also I took note that the bell on his bike was also red this could signify danger also. I also took note of the wallpaper, it is incredibly symmetrical.

When Danny turns the corner to meet the two girls there is a sudden change it atmosphere the girls are perfectly placed on the blue section of the carpet they are very symmetrical, also they are both wearing blue the color blue could signify the coldness of their characters and that they are not friendly. I also took note of the alarm and exit signs on the walls, they are all red. Just like Danny's jacket and bell; I believe the red alarm signify's danger and emergency. 

The shot then cuts to a close up of Danny's face showing his reaction and his confusion which soon turns to fear. During his close ups Danny is in full focus of the camera to clearly show his reaction to the viewers, the scene cuts back and forth between the long shot of the hall way and close ups of Danny's face. 

The scene then changes from a feel of mystery to horror, the long shot of the two girls dead on the ground adds fear to the scene, they do this by adding a lot of blood which is a key sign of danger; the axe on the ground also refers back to the story of the previous care taker of the hotel who killed his wife and two daughters with an axe. 

Fast cuts are then implemented into the scene, the cuts change from shots of the dead girls to them alive. After each cut the camera gets closer and closer to the girls adding suspense and fear in the scene. After this the girls disappear and the corridor returns to normal. 

There are then cuts from long shots of the corridor to close ups of Danny's face showing his reaction and fear to the situation un till the scene ends.

                                                                      Cold Mountain



The film opens on a extreme long shot which shows how vast nature is in contrast to the insignificance of man. The next shot is a long shot of the mans silhouette which can highlight the ambiguity of the character and adds to his mystique. 

  In the next scene low key lighting is used to show the female characters loneliness and her distress, the light focuses her face which could symbolise that she is a warm, kind character. Her blonde hair also could symbolise her innocence and kindness as a character. The non diegetic voice over gives a sense of the narrative and a sense of her character.

The next scene features low key lighting to add to the feeling of being unsafe in the wild, a jump cut is used in this scene to condence time and to speed up the progression of the situation. There is a close up on the meat on the campfire then the male character is then sick behind a close rock, this shows the audience the reason of his illness. Two new characters join the shot upon seeing them approach the man behind the rock chooses to stay hidden which highlights the danger of these new characters. They come on the back of a horse which could show their power and control over the other men, also they are all wearing black which could signify they are not to be trusted. When the other men join the scene the men who were already there become uneasy this could show that they were deserters trying to hide their identity.

When the deserters play their song one of the officers appears to have an emotional connection to the song because he sings along to the end, this could show he has an inner turmoil of some sort but the audience would be unsure to what it is from this sequence due to the lack of context, which may become more obvious as the film progresses.

We felt that this scene was emotionally the strongest, the framing shows the two characters standing close to one another. One of the characters is oblivious to what is happening(right), shown by the emotion on his face, in contrast with the other character (left) and the audience, who all can predict what is about to happen. We felt empathy for the characters, but one in particular. The character on the right hand side of the screenshot holds very childlike characteristics, with the other male character acting almost fatherlike. The audience anticipates that something extreme is about to happen, the cuts quicken slightly and flick between the characters that are present. The lack of non-diegetic sound adds to the anticipation. The two characters are then executed, making us, the audience, sympathise.

After the shooting, there is a jump cut used, to the following day. Low key lighting changes to high key, helping the audience to understand that the action is over and the part that we anticipated is finished. The warmness of the camp fire that had previously illuminated the faces of the characters during the last scene is contrasted with this scene, which focuses on the coldness of the weather and the presence of snow. The women in this scene are both blonde, presenting connotations of innocence possibly. The camera swaps between both female characters as they are conversing, at one point, the older female is seen behind 'bars'. Without context of the films narrative it's difficult to understand why, but it adds to the mise-en-scene and could be foreshadowing that this character isn't actually innocent, and may foreshadow that she is not to be trusted, or possibly in confinement of some sort.