How Stanley Kubrick’s Editing Conveys a Horrifying Supernatural Vision in The Shining
During a scene in Stanley Kubrick’s horror film The Shining (1980), when Danny envisions the girls in a hallway of the Overlook Hotel, Kubrick’s editing in both the classical and montage style heightens suspense, creates dramatic tension, and suggests Danny’s psychological state.
The scene opens with an extreme long shot tracking Danny as he rides his tricycle away from the camera, down a hallway in the Overlook. Danny goes through a doorway in the distance and turns, riding out of sight. Kubrick holds this shot for another few seconds, suggesting that Danny has just entered a dangerous place to where the camera is afraid to follow.
This effectively foreshadows imminent peril, so that when Kubrick finally cuts to a close tracking shot of Danny from behind as he approaches a turn in the hallway, the viewer, in trepidation, anticipates something around the bend.