The Shining is a horror movie directed by Stanley Kubrick in 1980. Some people over time have said that The Shining is the best horror movie ever made. This is due to Kubrick’s excellent use of visual and audio techniques that he uses throughout the film. Kubrick’s goal was to make it obvious when something dramatic and terrible was about to happen and to keep the audience on their seats throughout the entire film. The way he did this was through the reoccurring technique of inevitability. Through the use of dramatic irony and editing he was able to achieve this. He was also able to achieve this as he had complete control over all elements of the set which he made everything intentional, nothing in the film was an accident. The music that is played throughout the movie was done by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind using analog synthesizers. Using these analog synthesizers the sound team were able to create an unnatural recurring theme throughout the movie.
The scene starts with Danny riding his tricycle down the hallway towards a corner. As Danny is riding his tricycle the cameraman follows him with an extreme long shot. The cameraman following Danny moves much slower than Danny rides his tricycle which creates the illusion that he is getting smaller. As Danny is riding down the hallway about halfway the hallways colour scheme changes from red to green. This is done as the colour red is often associated with darkness and evil. Combined with the non – diegetic music getting more intense and louder, is used to foreshadow that something terrible is about to happen and show that Danny is increasingly becoming more vulnerable the further he goes down the hallway. The music is purposely designed to resonate with the audience’s schema as being associated with traumatic experiences. The loud noises of Danny’s tricycle are also designed to further reiterate Danny being alone in the hallway and that no one is there with him. Right before Danny turns around the corner, the gradual increase in the high pitch music is interrupted and comes to a stop following a trumpet like noise. This conveys to the audience that whatever is around the corner is dangerous and that he is in trouble. The sudden stop of sound and Danny being out of the frame creates another dramatic effect and creates suspense which makes the audience feel alarmed, shocked and worried for Danny. The trumpet like sound continues after Danny leaves the frame to further emphasise the fact that he has entered dangerous territory.
In the next shot, the cameraman once again follows Danny as he rides his tricycle down the corridor. There is another gradual increase in the pitch and volume of the music. This builds up tension and suspense to try and make the audience pre determine the fact that danger lurks around the corner. Just after the climax of the noise and Danny turning around the corner a clashing of symbols play that are extremely loud. This immediately alerts the audience and entices the audience to believe that it’s too late for Danny. After Danny sees the two girls he comes to an immediate stop. Without saying anything it is clear that the two girls are dangerous and have an unnatural feel to them. This is brought about by the previous build up of suspense to get to the moment. The girls are purposely dressed up like dolls as dolls are a common fear among people and are said out to be evil by many. The audience’s attention is then brought to the 2 red objects on the left hand side of the wall and the exit sign in red on the right hand side. This once again resonates with the audience as the colour red symbolises evil and darkness. The clashing of the symbols then fades to a low ominous hum. Kubrick uses this noise as a let motif throughout the movie. Whenever the ominous hum plays there is footage of the shining and what previous happened inside the hotel. Kubrick then uses an extremely wide shot which shows the two girls in the distance from Danny’s perspective. The girls say ‘Hello Danny’ in which their voices are very soft and echoed. This is followed up by extreme close up of Danny’s face which he appears to look paralysed and hypnotised by the magic of the Shining and the girls. The second time the girls say the phrase ‘Come play with us Danny’ a sudden silence is built. The silence creates tension and suspense as the audience inevitably knows something bad is about to come. A Loud piano tune plays which follows a shot of the two girls dead on the ground after being killed with an axe. The Tempo and pace of the scene increases as there are constant cuts between the shot of the dead girls and the girls repeating the phrase ‘and ever, and ever.’ Kubrick slowly draws the cameras closer and closer to the girls with each cut to make it feel like we as well as the audience are getting hypnotised by the girls and the magic of the Shining. The fast past music is designed to match the increasing high heart rate of Danny. This can also be shown in the close up of him opening his mouth shivering in fear. The fast past movement on the screen and the jump cuts between shots is juxtaposed by the slow talking of the girls which creates a very ominous element.
The music throughout the shots is in sync with Danny’s movement after he puts his hands over his eyes to cover the horrific sights. Before Danny covers his eyes there was another build up of suspense which was conveyed by the increase in volume and pitch of the music. Immediately after he covers his eyes the music stops. This tells the audience to believe that whenever the loud intense music is played there is danger. As Danny slowly pulls his hand from over his eye the intensity increases once again and is kept loud and intense which tricks the audience into believing that a calamity could occur and that the girls would still be there. After one of his eyes reveals the music then fades away.
References
Interiors. 2020. The Shining (1980) — Interiors : An Online Publication About Architecture And Film. [online] Available at: <https://www.intjournal.com/0613/the-shining> [Accessed 5 May 2020].
Wyman, B. (n.d.). Come Play with “The Shining.” [online] The New Yorker. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/come-play-with-the-shining.
Kapelanos, A. (n.d.). The Bomb Theory – The Elements of Suspense. [online] cinemalanguage. Available at: https://cinemalanguage1.wixsite.com/cinemalanguage/single-post/2017/06/20/The-Bomb-Theory—The-Elements-of-Suspense [Accessed 5 May 2020].
Unknown (2013). AS Film Studies: The Shining: ‘Come play with us’ scene. [online] AS Film Studies. Available at: http://katieryanfilm.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-shining-come-play-with-us-scene.html [Accessed 5 May 2020].
The Shining Analysis – Tension, Atmosphere & Mystery. (2017). YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWn6csp8SKo.
Kubrick, S. (2011). The Shining (1980) – Come Play With Us Scene (2/7) | Movieclips. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMbI7DmLCNI [Accessed 10 Nov. 2019].
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