The Shining Analysis Lucy Tomlinson

Camerawork

The camera work in this clip is probably the main reason for it being so tense. There is a lot of use of tracking and point of view shots in order to place us as the audience in the protagonist’s place.

Soundtrack

There is a building tension in the clip which mirrors the non-diegetic music used within this iconic moment in the film. The music is very low and foreboding at first and then again to emphasize Wendy's sudden realization the sound becomes very rugged and frantic which is often used in thrillers. It almost sounds like someone is screaming. becomes very alarming and gives a sense that something is going to happen to the protagonist The music dies down as we see Jack’s shadow appear from within the shadows instilling a further sense of foreboding.

EditingHere a very clean zoom is used to emphasize a realization for the audience and for the protagonist that Jack has lost his mind and has only been writing the words “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”

This match on action is also a point of realization for Wendy and this continuity editing helps us to notice the thousands of pages as well as the character

Mise-en-scene

• Baseball bat• Typewriter • “All Work and no play makes jack a dull

boy” Facial expressions mainly • The setting looks very big and she is

very small in the establishing shot. Trapped in her clothes and the ceiling chandeliers look like traps. Dark at the start.

Thriller Conventions

In my personal opinion The Shining is most definitely a psychological/supernatural thriller with films such as Silence of the Lambs and The Exorcist. The shining integrates the supernatural conventions with the ghosts and the strange happenings whilst also showing the mental deterioration of the main antagonist. The continuity editing is conventional seeing as the sequence has to be rushed and scary. This also applies to the iconic high pitched strings that build within the clip