The Shining Cinematography Analysis

The cinematography of The Shining

- The hallway scene

The shining (adapted by Stanley Kubrick from Stephen King's novel) is one of the most iconic American horror films. Released in 1980, it follows the story of a family of three agreeing to caretake the isolated Overlook Hotel for the winter, which is discovered to house 'ghosts' that torment the family into madness. The Shining has a distinct symmetrical composition, unfamiliar in horror films, that makes the setting ironically uncomfortable despite the balance. This is because the familiarity of the elements within each scene, such as the lighting, costumes, and props used up until the film's climax, appear very normal, and as the audience knows this is a horror film, subverts their expectations of cliched shadowed lighting and caricatured props/costumes used often to establish the threat. The lack of such things in The Shining makes it far more terrifying as the audience can never suspect when the threat will come, even if the sound manipulates them to believe so. The visual balance does not represent the real world, and all the shots are wide-angled, which makes the audience feel unsettled because of how detached it is from how we perceive reality. The symmetry of each shot also juxtaposes with the chaos that takes place within them which means they exist as these two contrasting forces, which normally aren't placed together. Yet, unlike the cliche of the horror genre, the lighting within The Shining is bright and illuminates everything that is framed. This juxtaposes our expectations and further disconnects us from the film. This is intentional from Kubrick, as the continuity of the film's aesthetics means that he is able to fully control how we expect the scene to play out by disregarding our assumptions and psychologically tormenting them. This is briefly demonstrated in the 'hallway scene', where the young child, Danny, is cycling from the hotel kitchens into the corridor of the suites.

The first shot is a VLS showing Danny to be roughly mid-frame within the balanced composition of the kitchen hallway. His positioning shows he is the focus of the shot, assisted by the contrasting red costume against the pale green interior, and that he is, therefore, the focus of menacing forces suggested by the shot type; we, and potential forces, are behind Danny and therefore have power as he is unsuspecting of our presence. This could also be interpreted that Danny is the prey, and we as the camera are hunting him which increases the sense of doom against him. The camera is also at a slight low angle which creates thrill and suspense as it makes the walls taller and the room wide with the small figure of Danny within. There are horizontal lines on the walls on either side, making the corridor seem long which seems to lengthen the shot, aided by the slow tracking of the camera following him and the plain, monochromatic colour scheme. He gets smaller as he moves away from the camera which compares him to the setting, and the audience can perhaps see that he is weaker or more vulnerable in this framing - this foreshadows the next sequence. The use of the long shot, which is used repeatedly throughout the film, acts as an establishing shot of the setting, and shows how Danny is interacting with it, riding a tricycle towards the visible doorway. The lighting there is noticeably different from the long, green corridor that takes up the majority of the frame. The doorway is lit by a wall light above that casts a warm, orange glow within the archway that Danny enters; this acts as a barrier from the corridor into a new setting, and therefore a new potential danger that the innocent child is entering without caution. The soft orange colour is also warm and comfortable, mirroring the ambience of a fire which would be inviting and safe for Danny. However, on the other hand, it could pose as a warning for the audience who is aware of the (non-diegetic) creepy music which biases our assumptions about the doorway to be a threat. Kubrick uses Danny in this scene to make him an unprotected target for the sinister forces within the hotel. This is aided by the use of the childlike tricycle prop to show how he creates fun within the looming corridors of the hotel; he is innocently playing among dangerous threats which the audience suspects from the rise of tension within the unsettling music. However, this is subverted as the rise in the high pitch abruptly stops as Danny turns right into the next corridor; the audience, from knowledge of the horror genre, expects a scare or climax from the rise in tension within the music. This illusion of control keeps the audience interested and makes the real scare more impactful. However, despite the drop in music, the audience is aware that the fright is yet to come, and the tension builds up again. The camera continues to track towards the doorway after Danny has exited the frame for roughly 4 seconds, further establishing that this is not taken from Danny's perspective and lingers on the symmetry of the shot. 

The next shot continues the tracking of Danny within the next corridor, however, this time the camera movement is fast to match Danny's speed. This heightens the tense experience for the audience as it contrasts with the slow pace of the previous shot and adds unexpected energy to the scene which doesn't relate to the horror genre; often the quick, high-energy shots are reserved for climactic scenes such as violence which isn't present here, or often at all within the film which emphasises its unforeseen, unsettling feel to the audience. The fast pace also disallows the audience to process the setting, and we are forced to engage in this abrupt new change which again subverts our expectations and increases anxiety. Danny is still positioned mid-frame within the small walls of the corridor and therefore is the main focus of the shot so far. However, the camera is much closer to Danny in a medium shot, suggesting that the audience is at a more familiar POV shot with Danny exploring the hotel, rather than watching him from afar which emphasises his isolation. The corridor is also much narrower, and there is a contrast of composition from the previous shot; instead of wide horizontal, the walls show vertical lines on the walls as well as the door, the television on the left, and the dumbwaiter directly opposite Danny. The use of vertical lines makes the setting seem smaller, more confined, and therefore creates psychological tension and a cramped sense of space. The camera is also at a subtle high angle, making Danny small and the walls taller to show he is visually inferior to his setting. The walls are also plastered in busy, patterned wallpaper which assists the vertical lines in making the corridor tight and constricted, and therefore uncomfortable for the audience. The start of the shot is where the music starts to rise in its unsettling high pitch again. However, the audience may expect the same thing to happen from the previous shot due to the unexpected nature of the film, yet this doesn't happen as we are confronted with an abrupt image after Danny swiftly turns the corner. The fact that there is no visible end to the corridor emphasises its restricted nature and forces the audience to realise that they must turn around the corner with Danny as a matter of course from the camera placement and movement. It also establishes that there is no other option for Danny to go, so it is inevitable for the audience, and Danny, to see what's behind the corner. This is scary and tense for the audience as we are conditioned by nature, and of knowledge of the horror genre, to fear the unknown. This is also assisted by the narrative as, up until this point, nothing major has happened to the characters, so the audience subconsciously knows that at any point a jump-scare could appear to fulfil the requirements of the film's genre. This perfectly embodies the feeling Kubrick wanted to create when spectating this scene; to feel tense, and on alert for what's around the corner. Thus far, every time Danny turns a corner, nothing is there, so despite the tense music and camera positioning, the audience naturally feels a sense of security is restored which makes the impact of a visible threat - the twins, in this case - a lot more shocking. 

The music stops in the form of a cymbal sound which is historically used in film (and real-life) to signify the end of a sequence and the start of something new - which is relevant for this scene as Danny, and the audience, are faced with this abrupt image. However, this sound effect occurs just before the camera settles on the two girls. I believe this was intentional to reveal a threat before it was being shown - which has been used in this film, such as showing the characters' reaction before the stimulus - to allow the audience to understand that something impactful has happened to the character. This is interesting as it doesn't allow for a quick jump-scare which is expected in a tense scene like this and is notorious in the horror genre. Instead, Kubrick has decided to reveal something shocking through the use of sound which prepares the audience before it's shown. This increases tension as we are still unsure of what this revelation is, and human nature automatically assumes the worst. The whole film seems to rely on creepiness rather than scariness, which arguably is more frightening. The tracking shot of Danny stops with him as he takes in the creepy image before him - he didn't expect anything like this, whereas the audience knew something would happen from the sound and nature of the cinematography building up to this. The significance of the camera movement changing to static emphasises the length of the corridor and reaction from Danny; he is afraid as he doesn't want to go near them. This makes the audience fearful too as we have been as a unit with Danny and experienced the corridor from his POV shot. The narrow feel of the corridor is continued through the vertical lines, yet it goes back further into the frame, pointing to the twins in the centre. This is unsettling as it is unexpected within the familiar scene; the girls stand out, they are separate, yet a part of the setting as the walls themselves seem to be a threat against Danny too from their size. The use of the compositional lines makes the twins the point of focus instead of Danny, aided by his head positioning as he is also taking in the image with the audience. The twins are framed in a VLS three-shot, making it difficult to see their expressions which makes them appear more sinister, inhuman, and unrelatable as we can't assume their facial expression, only their body language which communicates something unfamiliar and unnatural. They are also illuminated by the lighting above, furthering the focus on them and making their appearance sudden and clear. Historically within the horror genre, a threat such as this would have low-key lighting to hide and distort their features, yet here Kubrick has used high key lighting to sharply startle the audience to absorb this creepy shot. This lighting also makes it more realistic as an average person would turn on the lights when walking around a building, which therefore makes the audience feel as though this could happen to them, creating an unsettling thought to question their reality. 

This cuts to a reaction shot from Danny; a close-up of his face as he stares in a state of bewilderment at the twins - a mirror image of how the audience would perhaps react. He is framed in the centre of the shot with the tips of the tricycle handles just visible on either side of the bottom half. This reminds us that he is sat down and therefore at a lower position than the twins, appearing vulnerable and powerless. The camera is at a static rack focus, where the background is blurred so there is a clear image of Danny. This hides the patterned wallpaper behind him, which, in the previous shot, acted to fill the space. Therefore, its absence emphasises that Danny dominates the frame. It is also angled at eye level, which provokes the sense of involvement within the audience as he is placed in a comfortable and familiar position that the audience can relate to.