The Shining - Scene analysis

The shining is a psychological horror film from 1980, directed by Stanley Kubrick. The opening sequence shows the film's protagonist turned antagonist traveling to a hotel in the mountains where he has a job interview to be the winter care taker. The first thing we see is as establishing shot of the rocky mountains where the hotel is situated, which dissolves into a birds eye view shot of the car traveling along a road surrounded by trees. This shows the pure size of the area around the hotel that they will be staying in that is uninhabited. The shots of the opening sequence always have mountains in the background which also shows just how far away from the built up cities and civilization this character actually is. The sequence is made up of long takes which elongates the sequence and thus illustrates how long and lonely the journey his is taking must be. Furthermore, whenever we see the car traveling along, there are either few or no other vehicles on the road, allowing us to see just how alone this man is on his journey. All of this together creates a sense of isolation as there is nothing around them. Isolation is a convention of the horror genre and creates an uneasy atmosphere in a film as the audience can see that the characters are completely and utterly alone with no way of finding immediate help should things start to go wrong. Moreover, the natural lighting of these shots makes everything seem normal and calm which juxtaposes the chaotic nature of the situation in the rest of the film. There is non-diegetic sound in this sequence of slow, low brass music. As the sequence goes on, this music is joined by other strange sounds that are difficult to identify. As these sounds get more and more intense as the sequence goes on, they can be seen to represent a key part of the narrative, Jack's slow descent into madness, as well as foreshadowing the unnatural events that are going to occur. This intense music is conventional of the horror genre as it raises tension and makes the audience suspect that something is not right.
Later on in the film, Jack is in 'The Gold Room' when a waiter spills drinks all over him and takes him to the bathroom to clean up. As they walk into the bathroom, there is a long shot showing the full bodies of both of the characters allowing us to see what they are wearing. Jack is wearing normal clothes that people would expect in the 1980's, when the film was made, whereas the waiter is wearing the sort of black tie that would be worn by men in the 1920's. This shows the audience that there must be something wrong and that this must actually be going on in Jack's mind as the two times are crossing as if the waiter is a projection of the past, which leads the audience to question whether it is actually happening and share in Jack's madness. Furthermore, the bathroom that they are standing in is completely red. The colour red has connotations of danger, therefore the pure amount of red in the bathroom could signify the sheer amount of danger that Jack is placing his family in as well as showing that this conversation is the start of the true danger at the hotel. This is a very long take which highlights the importance of the conversation that is taking place. When the waiter tells Jack that his name is 'Grady' it cuts to a mid two shot, allowing us to see the expression of both shock and recognition on Jack's face at this name. Once again, this is a very long take so that the audience cna see the progression of Jack's frustration and insanity at Grady denying that he is who Jack knows him to be. This builds builds the tension and makes the audience expect that Jack will get angry at the waiter. In this shot, we also start to hear the diegetic sound of the band playing in the Gold Room. However, it is heard as more of an echo of the actual playing. This is a convention of the horror genre as the sound creates a very eerie atmosphere that makes the audience feel uncomfortable. This particular convention always works to make me personally feel afraid and uncomfortable as the echoing means that the sound is quite faint and therefore you do not know whether the sound was actually made or if it was just in your own head. This leads you to question your own sanity, showing the more psychological aspects of this film. In these shots between Jack and Grady, Jack is always to Grady's left side. According to lore, Lucifer was God's left hand man before his fall and therefore we always see the devil as being on a person's left shoulder. His being to the left shows that there is something not right, almost demonic about Jack. Also, this could show that Jack is Grady's left hand man, and that Grady is in fact the one controlling what is happening to the family in the hotel. The next shot is a close up of Jack. The director, Stanley Kubrick, was always extremely precise with the composition and positioning of each frame, and in this shot, Jack is slightly off centre. This illustrates that Jack's mind is not entirely stable and that his mental health is becoming unbalanced. In the next shot, we are given a close up of Grady, which allows us to see the harsh, almost scheming expression on his face. In this shot, Grady is also slightly off centre, however this time he is the one to be placed slightly to the left. This illustrates that Grady is the devil on Jack's shoulder and is trying to convince him to do these terrible things. These shots of the sequence use eye line matching between the two characters. This allows us to see the contrast in emotion on the faces of the two men as they talk. As Grady tells Jack about what his son is doing, this eye line matching shows that Grady is staying completely calm whilst Jack becomes more annoyed and distressed. This illustrates that Grady is manipulating Jack and considering that he is surrounded by red, that he is the centre point of the danger at the hotel.

Cold Mountain - Film sequence group analysis

This clip opens with an extreme long shot as the man is walking through the mountains, this shot establishes a setting and shows the expanse of the land, it helps to give the audience a feeling that he is isolated and alone. Back lighting is used when he is standing atop of the hills, looking across the snowy landscape, this illustrates that his character is going to be living in the shadows and represents the darkness and segregation. There is now a straight cut from the man to a mid-shot of a young woman with ink on her hands and red eyes, I think this shows what the man is thinking about as a woman's voice reading a letter starts as he looks down, this is an example of how indiegetic sound is used in this clip. I think this technique was used to show that he is thinking about it and keeps going over it in his head, just like the woman appears to be doing in this scene because she has lots of ink on her hands like she has had to re-write it a lot to get down what she is feeling. This shows an attachment between the pair and her despair. Non-diegetic sound is used during this short sequence of the clip, it mirrors the mood of the woman and makes the audience sympathise with her character. Low-key lighting as the woman cries is echoing her mood of missing somebody. The ink on her hands shows that she has been writing for a while and is therefore confused and unsure of what to write, illustrating that the letter/note she is writing is of great importance.

Within the next cut, low-key lighting is used again, with the exception of the fire, this portrays that the men are relying upon the fire and it is a key part of the clip. As the men are sat around the fire for their survival for the night, they are illuminated yet the background and the edge of the woods is darkened and unfocused. Therefore, the men and the fire are a metaphor for life yet the darkness of the trees is a metaphor for death. This shows that the line between life and death is very fine. This is foreshadowing, as soon the men will cross the line over to the darkness.

The medium shots used as all the men are gathered around the fire show that they feel comfortable around each other. The scene soon cuts to a long shot showing how many people are around the fire, this helps to establish the setting and characters of the setting. The two original men are outnumbered, this foreshadows how it may go wrong. Eye-line matching is a key aspect of this clip as its shot reverse shot between the men as the conversation rolls and it portrays that they are all connected.
As they all gather around the fire, one of the men begins to play the violin, this is diagetic music as we can see where the sound is coming from and it is not added post-production. Close ups are used on the older man who walks away from the fire, it helps to show the worry and sadness on his face, this intrigues the viewer and shows that he most likely knows what is going to happen to the original men.