'The Shinning' analysis

Anaylsis of the film ‘ The Shinning’We watched the thriller film ‘‘The Shining’ in our media lesson and I found that it was very successful and making me feel tense and on edge. The film uses camerawork, sound, editing and mise-en-scene in a conventional way of a thriller film and a lot of the time I was left feeling shocked and surprised. Throughout the movie the main technique used to create suspense and tension is sound which was mostly non-dietetic. Silence was also used very effectively and it helped to build up the tension and suspense.Whilst watching this film we were ask to look for at examples of suspenseful moments in which we gave feedback at the end of the lesson.In the opening sequence there is non-dietetic sound playing while we have a Ariel shot of mountains. The camera follows a car as it undergoes this long and isolated journey up the mountains and this creates an underlying tension as it shows audience how isolated and trapped the characters are going to be. The volume and pitch also increase to create a tense and suspenseful atmosphere. The diagetic sound doesn’t sound very jolly or happy and so it makes the audience think that something bad may happen. The speed of the camera movement increases as the volume of the music increases also and so the idea of isolation and seclusion is made even more apparent.we are given a hint about the events that will happen throughout the movie because the storyline is given during the interview with the hotel owner ( dramatic irony). From this, the audience start to think this is what is going to happen to this family which is suspenseful because we know something bad can happen anytime. it also makes us feel weak as we are left feeling helpless and vulnerable to shock and fright. This is a well-known technique of Alfred Hitchcock Another example of this can be seen in the movie is when the head chef arrives near the end of the movie. we know as an audience that the father is going mad and has a axe, this gets the audience on the edge of their seats because there waiting for the action to take place. When the character is killed we feel sympathy and empathy towards him as he is seen as a hero/ good spirit.There are also scenes in which the audience are left feeling as suspenseful as the characters. e.g. when we are following Danny through the corridors of the hotel on his bike, we feel like we are behind him so we don’t know what is around the corner either. The sound of the bike on the range of surfaces makes us feel tense because it sounds very loud and it is regularly silenced when Danny rides along surfaces such as the carpet.The maze chase scene was very suspenseful as we don’t know what’s around each corner and we don’t know if Danny is going to get caught or not. The Tracking shot heightens suspense and the use of high angled shots help us to see how weak and vulnerable Danny is. One scene that I found particularly effective was the scene when Danny sees the two girls (ghosts). This is because there were faced paced/ quick shot of dead bodies this made me jump of my seat and again the quick crescendo from a subtle sound to a loud sound contributes to the effect. It’s clear that sounds can really make a difference and create a range of effects especially through the use if a particular sound. E.g. the Jaws soundtrack automatically makes audiences feel tense and alert to the potential danger which lurks.Dominant devices which are helpful in building tension are close ups, long and slow edits, high angle and low angle shots, the soundtrack and the contrasting shots put together making which often gives us a false sense of security.