ANALYSIS OF THE SHINING

by Natalie Redfern

For my film analysis I have chosen to explore a short clip from the horror movie The Shining. The scene starts when one of the main characters, a little boy named Danny, walks into his mothers room and proceeds to repeat the same line over and over again: redrum. Danny then picks up a knife, followed by some red lipstick, and draws the word on the door. His mother then wakes up and attempts to comfort him as he begins screaming the word. However, as she looks over his shoulder, she sees the word reflected in the mirror – and it spells out ‘murder’. Not long after, Wendy, the mother, hears a bang on the door, and the scene shifts to watching Jack, Wendy’s husband, aggressively throwing an axe into the door. Wendy then flees to the bathroom with Danny and tries to escape through the window as Jack makes his way into the main part of the house/hotel room they are residing in. First, Wendy lets Danny out the window, and he slides down the snow, which has built up along the side of the retreat they are staying in. Wendy finds that she cannot escape out the window, and tells Danny to run away while Jack tries to break into the bathroom. Cowering in the corner, Wendy waits out Jack breaking through the door with his axe, until he creates a gap in the door, sticking his head through and stating his presence by saying the iconic “Here’s Johnny”. This causes Wendy to scream, and Jack sticks his hand into the room to unlock the door, but Wendy lashes out, cutting his hand with the knife she yields. This causes jack to recoil, buying Wendy some time.

Mise-en-scene: CostumeThe character of Danny wears normal children's clothes – a checkered shirt under a sweater - which portrays a sense of innocence and playfulness. This is interesting because he is still wearing his daytime clothes, despite it being nighttime.

Wendy, on the other hand, starts the scene asleep in her bed, therefore she is wearing her nightclothes when Danny wakes her up. This gives off the feeling of slumber, comfort and a relaxed atmosphere, a complete juxtaposition to what occurs later on in the scene.

Jack is wearing a checkered shirt with ajacket, jeans and boots. This can be seena being lumberjack attire, which goeshand in hand with the fact that he wieldsan axe to break down the doors with.Additionally, his name is Jack, which canalso be seen to link to this choice of outfitand weapon. Also, the fact that Jack’s topis red could display that he is dangerousand even show he seemingly wants to spillblood.

Outfit examples of Wendy and Danny (below) and of Jack (left)

Mise-en-scene: PropsIn my chosen scene, there are multiple props of significance. The first prop used in the scene was the knife that Wendy had previously used to defend herself. Danny picks up the knife off the bed side table and holds it in his hand as he says ‘redrum’ in his ’Tony’ voice. This is significant as a knife is used to as a major symbol in films with a similar genre to this one. Additionally, the knife can be used to represent death and murder (which is what we later find out redrum means). This can be later shown in the scene where Jack breaks into the bathroom and Wendy thrusts it at his hand, drawing blood.

Danny also uses Wendy's red lipstick to write the word on the door. This is significant because not only is it used to make Wendy realise that her child is instead writing ‘murder’ on the door, but it is written in a red colour, which can symbolise blood, danger and death.

The axe that Jack uses to chop the door down with is an essential prop in the scene. Not only is it one of the primary weapons used, but it also plays a significance to his character and the story. During the film, we get reference to the previous caretaker of the lookout who ‘chopped his wife and kids to bits’. An axe is usually used to ‘chop’ down trees, and it appears that Jack is attempting to use it the same way on his own family. The use of an axe can also link to his costume, where, as previously mentioned, he appears to wear a lumberjack-esque outfit.

Mise-en-scene: SettingThe film is set in the ‘Overlook Hotel’, a hotel located in a remote part of the USA, presumably, back dropped by snow capped mountains. The main character Jack and his family have signed up to look after the hotel over winter, when it’s too cold for people to stay there. The family are given a portion of the hotel to live in during their hotel-sitting, of sorts, and that is where my scene takes place.The scene starts off in the bedroom, which is usually thought of as a place of safety and comfort. There are fairly neutral colours used around the room, such as beige, pink and green, which alludes to this calm environment – despite the happenings in the scene.Another major setting is the bathroom, which is where Wendy flees with Danny, and Danny escapes out the window. The room is brightly lit, with white walls and accessories. The fact that the main colour used is white could represent a cleanliness, purity and even a holiness, as the bathroom is the characters only escape route during the scene.Part of the scene also includes a glimpse of the outdoors, where we are able to see how the snow outside has piled up to the window outside the bathroom. Again, the colour white is used with the snow, which can symbolise the fact that it is their only escape, that it is a good place to go. Also, due to the height of the snow, we get the sense of how the characters are being trapped inside the hotel, and the snow gives off the feeling of cold, or the chills, adding to the ambiance of the scene.

Mise-en-scene: LightingThe lighting within the bedroom when the scene first starts is quite dim, which adds to the suspense and mystery of the scene. The only source of light is the lamp on the beside table, which illuminates the characters and the word ‘redrum’ on the door (which is a key element of the scene).

The lighting in the bathroom, however, is very bright, which allows both us and the characters to clearly see what is going on – and what the danger is. This doesn’t build up suspense, but instead leaves us in anticipation, as we know what’s coming and where its coming from, but we don’t know when exactly when it is going to occur.

When we see the outside of the hotel, it is quite dark. Although we know that the danger is still inside the hotel, we still feel on edge for Danny once he escapes to the outside where the dark, nighttime lighting adds to this.

Mise-en-scene: MovementThroughout the scene, the characters each move in different ways. At the start of the scene we see Danny moving around in his mothers bedroom as she sleeps. The fact that he moves slowly about the room, first going to pick up the knife before moving around and picking up the lipstick gives the viewer a sense of suspense and trepidation where you may initially think that he is going to use the knife on his mother.

Once Wendy wakes up, her first instinctive action is to pull her son in an embrace. This motherly nature continues even when Jack starts to come after them where it is evident that her main priority is to get Danny out before herself. When Danny has escaped, we get to see Wendy move around more frantically, which give the sense of urgency and we are able to see that she is indeed the victim. Additionally, when she cowers in the corner waiting for Jack to break the door open, she creates an atmosphere of vulnerability and we feel tense, as we can see the fear on her face and in the way she moves.

Jack, on the other hand, moves in such a way that clearly shows his determination and murderous intent. He walk confidently and with purpose, even though he later limps across the room, using his strength to hack at the door with his axe. From this, we can deduce that Jack has finally lost it and no morsel of his previous self remains.

CameraThere are a lot of great shots within the clip of the film which go hand in hand with the way the camera moves – or doesn’t move.

This medium shot has an importance because here we see Jack hurling the axe into the door in his crazed attack. The camera does a whip pan each time Jack takes a swing which adds to the impact when it hits home in the door. The camera appears to be almost level with the head of the head of the axe, giving the overall effect of him slamming it into the door with all his might, where we realise that this is what he intends to do to his wife and son. Here, again, we get a medium shot where a camera follows Jack on a Steadicam as he limps his way towards the room where he believes his family are located. The way Jack is almost silhouetted against the dim lighting of the room suggests that he has turned into the evil character, of sorts, and we are following him to his crime. The camera also seems to be positioned so we are looking up at him slightly, showing his dominance in this scenario.

Although the camera is static during this shot, the fact that it is a wide shot allows a zoomed out view of the scene outside. We are able to see the extremity of the snow outside and that it is piled up so much that it reaches the window of the bathroom Wendy is stuck in. This gives a sense of the characters being trapped, and we also watch as Danny slides to freedom in the cold.

In this renowned shot, we get a close up of the character Jack’s crazed face. The camera is static during this shot, but Jack’s head coming through the hole in the door that he has made himself really shows how far past the point of no return he actually is.

Again, this is a medium shot that is shot statically as Wendy cowers in fear, waiting for her husband, Jack, to force his way through the door. The camera is angled so that we are able to see the axe as it penetrates its way through the door, like in the picture shown. We are also able to see the terror on Wendy’s face, where the camera is more focused on her, and the door and axe are slightly out of focus.Throughout this section of the film, there are many medium shots used, which enable

us to see the whole body of the actors and their reactions to the situations they are put in. Other important camera movements are shown when Wendy first catches a glimpse of the word ‘murder’ which is being reflected off the door where Danny had written ‘redrum’. The camera quickly zooms into both the word and her face to give you the sense that Wendy has just had a sudden realising shock to the word.

The pacing during the scenes differs as it progresses. At the beginning, the scene moves quite slow, building up tension and suspense as Danny skulks about the room with knife in hand. Then, the pacing speeds up as we see Jack frantically hitting at the door. The pace then remains fast as Wendy and Danny try to flee, keeping the audience on edge. Once Jack breaks through the first door, the pace slows down again as Jack limps his way towards the second door and then it picks up once again, freeing all the tension and allowing fear and angst to take dominance as we see the axe fly through the door.

SoundThroughout the clip, there are a few diegetic noises that help to create the tense atmosphere.

We get sounds like the axe hitting the wood in the door that Wendy can hear as Jack swings. You can also hear the splintering of the wood as he retracts the axe from the door.

As well as that, you also get the sound of Wendy screaming in the bathroom when Jack attacks the door that she is taking refuge behind.

The main sound used is the non-diegetic music played in the background. The harshness of the strings playing builds up tension with a multitude of crescendos and diminuendos. The music even stops at some points, allowing Jack to speak, and it then resumes straight after he has finished talking. The music can also account towards slight jump scares, where a stab is played once something tense happens.