Jan 6th 08
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.
Danny turns the corner and comes to an abrupt halt when he sees the two girls from his earlier vision standing at the end of the hallway. Allowing the viewer to absorb the shock, Kubrick maintains the shot slightly beyond the peak of the “content curve”—that is, as Louis Giannetti explains in Understanding Movies, “the point in a shot at which the audience has been able to assimilate most of its information” (159). This creates a sense of time being extended, like in a dream or, as with Danny, a vision.
Following the logic of classical editing, Kubrick cuts to a reverse angle reaction shot of Danny in close-up that focuses the viewer’s attention on the subtleties of his demeanor—wide eyes, characteristic of Danny’s “shining” experiences, and the rapid rise and fall of his chest. Clearly, Danny sees the girls and is extremely terrified.
Kubrick cuts back to the reverse angle of the girls, allowing the viewer to watch with Danny as they speak, “Hello, Danny.”
Again, Kubrick prolongs this shot before cutting to another close-up of Danny. Holding on Danny’s face while the girls speak the next line, “Come and play with us,” Kubrick emphasizes Danny’s petrified state in which he is too frightened to move.
Kubrick then shifts back to the girls for their line, “Come and play with us Danny,” and sustains the shot with which, by now, the viewer is quite familiar. The slow rhythm of Kubrick’s editing sets the viewer up to be startled when, next, at precisely the point we grow accustomed to the pacing, he breaks the rhythm by jump cutting to a closer shot down the same hallway, where we see a disturbing image of the girls massacred on the floor, with blood splattered across the walls and an axe in the middle of the floor.
This shot is cut extremely short, far before the peak of the content curve, thus not allowing the viewer to fully assimilate the alarming sight. This subjectively indicates the way in which the horrific images are flashing through Danny’s mind.
At this point in the scene, the rhythm of the editing picks up speed. Kubrick quickly cuts back to the girls standing at the end of the hallway; however, in this shot, the camera has moved closer to them.
Just as they finish their next line, “Forever,” Kubrick unforgivingly repeats the shot of the murder, again holding it for only a brief moment before rapidly cutting to a reaction shot of Danny’s face, twisted in horror.
Keeping with the fast-paced editing, Kubrick almost immediately cuts to an even closer shot of the girls as they speak, “And ever.” In true montage style, these successively tighter shots of the girls convey Danny’s increasingly panicked psychological state.
Another jump cut to the murder scene is instantly followed by a medium shot of the girls that, nearer to the viewer than ever, stirs intense emotions of fear and a feeling of impending doom. The fast edits create a sense of speed, perhaps mirroring Danny’s quickening heart rate as he grows more and more distressed.
After the girls say their final line, “And ever,” Kubrick cuts one last time to the bloody shot of the girls on the floor before promptly returning to the reverse angle close-up of Danny, who, with his mouth agape, throws his hands over his eyes. The camera stays with Danny as he cautiously lowers one of his hands to see if the girls are still there, evoking an unbearable feeling of suspense because the viewer, like Danny, is uncertain if the frightening event is over.
A reverse angle answers our question with a long shot of the empty hallway. By pulling back the camera and returning to a slower editing pace, Kubrick informs us that the vision is indeed over and everything is back to normal.
Kubrick’s editing in this scene is significant because, throughout the film, it is characteristic of Danny’s supernatural visions. Thus, whether consciously or not, the viewer has a sense of when another terrifying vision is around the corner, generating anticipation that helps to sustain the film’s suspense.
Here is the scene again, presented shot-for-shot as it appears in the film. You can also watch it on YouTube. Until next time, Adam.
All stills Copyright © 1980 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
23 Comments
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Esenkay on Jan 6th 08
And here it is on YouTube.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Rmn6FRgYwBQ&feature=related
What a fantastic shot.
Adam Polselli on Jan 6th 08
Good find! I’ll add it to the post.
Anton on Jan 6th 08
Brilliant. Don’t forget how well the sound design is used to support each camera change. The entry sound of Danny’s wheels going from hardwood floor to carpet and then back to hardwood are definitely a critical component of heightening the viewer’s anxiety.
Adam Polselli on Jan 6th 08
Yea, Kubrick’s use of sound in this film (well, in all of his films) is just brilliant. My professor told me that Kubrick did not realize the tricycle was going to create such an interesting sound when it was wheeled over the hardwood floors and then the carpet until he shot the scene. Now it is one of the most remembered sounds in the entire film.
Stephanie K on Jan 9th 08
Creepy! I have yet to see the movie [I'm way behind...] and I’m already scared. I’m sure it’s going to be one that haunts me at night…just like “The Exorcist.”
Minute44 on Jan 21st 08
The Shining is one of my favourite horror movies of all time and I have mulled this scene over in this respect many many times. I think you’ve nailed it perfectly here. I couldn’t agree with you more.
I don’t want to be pedantic but you might want to edit the first paragraph. It’s not the Outlook Hotel, it’s the Overlook Hotel. no biggy but thought you’d might want to be right.
Excellent Post though Adam. It’s always a pleasure to read your movie posts as Movies are the main focus of my own blog.
Keep it up.
Dan
Adam Polselli on Jan 21st 08
Thanks for spotting that error, Dan, and pointing it out! Correction made.
Marcellus on Feb 3rd 08
Very creepy ! nice analysis :-)
You know I love scary movies. Would you ever shoot a horror film?
Blog looks Gr8!
-Marcellus
How Stanley Kubrick’s Editing Conveys a Horrifying Supernatural Vision in The Shining - Nerdcore on Jun 27th 08
[...] Link (via) Tags: Horror, Movies, Shining, StanleyKubrick [...]
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C. Owen on Oct 10th 08
Great use of editing, thanks for doing it step by step for us. It’s hard to appreciate because the scene is so quick, but that’s one of the things that makes it so scary I guess. My friend and I have discussed this scene before as we are huge Kubrick fans and one interesting point is the fact that Kubrick borrowed that disturbing composition of the two girls from photographer Diane Arbus. At the time her work was a lot more popular than it is now but she still deserves credit for a lot of creepy feelings we still see coming down the pike to us in the theaters.
C. Owen on Oct 10th 08
Just for fun, here it is…http://river66.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/identical-twins.jpg
H on Oct 10th 08
I found this on Stumbleupon. Woo-hoo!
This is a great film. Unfortunately, I haven’t read the book, but I’d love to see how Stephen King words this scene. His books usually have a bit of an unfilmable quality to them, and that is, in my mind, a sign of a skilful author. However, I’m sure Kubrick did a good job interpreting this scene.
Five stars and two thumbs up!
brandoturnbuckle on Oct 11th 08
Yes, indeed…one of the greatest Kubrick films! By the way, it’s a bigwheel, not a tri-cycle. But excellent points nonetheless.
Guinnevere on Oct 15th 08
To be honest, I loved the sequence with the twin ghost children, and the one with the ghostly bartender, but otherwise hated the movie passionately. I had read the book, and expected the film to be as brilliant as the film version of “The Haunting of Hill House.” What a shocking disappointment! Kubrick admitted in an interview that he had no idea of how to film the moving topiary animals, so he changed them into a maze, which had no relevance at all to the basic story. (He could merely have suggested the movement of the topiary animals, and it would have been quite effective.)
Kubrick also clearly had no idea of what the story was about at heart: the insidious, creeping horror of alcoholism, and how it destroys the lives of whole families. So he turned it into a schlock-horror film that a first-year film student could have done better.
It would also have been nice if he had kept a firm hand on Jack Nicholson’s grossly over-the-top, scenery-chewing performance that everyone else in the world seems to love… except me. I rolled my eyes so much during that film, they were sore by end of it.
I have respect for many of his films, but where this one sought to terrify, it was merely exasperating. It only horrified me in its ineptitude and bad taste. I truly expected better of Stanley Kubrick.
susan on Oct 17th 08
I found the book very boring, The movie however blew me away. I enjoyed it very much. I watch a lot of movies this is one of my favorites…
Kalynn on Oct 20th 08
this is Definitely one of my favorite movies ever….i love that scene especialy kubrick is a genius if ya don;t believe me watch A cLockwork Orange it’s a wonderful example of Kubricks genius
the dude on Oct 24th 08
I read the book before I saw the movie. I think both were terrifying in their own right. I think it’s very difficult to ever truly port a book to a film, because everyone reads a book and imagines it differently. There is also way too much in most books to fit into a 2 and a half hour movie.
Although often disappointed by film adaptations (Jurassic Park comes to mind) the Shining was an exception. Kubric managed to take the basic story and create his own unique and terrifying vision. This movie really exists on its own, separate from King’s excellent novel. Both King and Kubric are masters in their own respective fields and I appreciate both these works.
Great post by the way, I know nothing about filming so this is very interesting.
Kubrick Made the Shining Scarier – The Valley Mag on Oct 27th 09
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anand on Nov 10th 09
nice work. it helps we can understand the scene better.any body knows website about analaies scene or movie?pls tell me thank u.
Alice on Jan 14th 10
Well Susan, sorry you didn’t like it. In my case I found the film extremely boring. It was slow paced, dull and just not scary. And this is one of your favourites? LOL The book is 100 times better and that blows my socks off!!!
Mary on Jan 20th 10
Great post! Beautiful editing indeed.
This and the last scene where Jack goes after his wife and Danny with the axe scared me the most. But the sound plays a big role here, try looking at it with the sound turned off, no longer scary then.
Keep it up!