Monday, 7 November 2016

The Shining scenes.

                                                                      The Shining


Scene 1- 

The first scene i have chosen to analyse from the film 'The Shining' is the bat scene. At this part in the clip at the beginning you see the male character Jack in a medium shot showing a lot of aggression towards the female character Wendy. You can see the aggression through the performance of the character, displayed through is dialogue and facial expressions. The scene is set in a large room in the hotel, however the setting of the scene does not necessarily fit the genre of horror, as usually lighting and tones are mostly dark and gloomy ,but in this specific scene very high key lighting is used and bright colours. The costumes the characters are wearing suggest the film is not a modern film, as the clothing is pretty out of date, showing how the film is set in a different time frame to now.



In the next part of the clip you see the female character, Wendy, who is shown to be backing away from the male character looking very scared. The use of the bat prop portrays to the audience that she feels the need to protect herself against the man. In the medium to long shot you can see behind the female character bright lights coming through the window, suggesting how she is the good in this situation as bright white lights are sometimes associated with heaven, hope and purity. Also in this shot you see a close up behind shot of the male character. In this shot his almost shadow is completely black, presenting him as badness in this shot portraying him as almost the evil side,compared to the women.



In this clip of the scene body language is used well through out to portray the characters rank. The women's body language suggests how she is weak, this is obvious by the way she is sloughing her body, not showing a very strong posture at all, presenting how she is not a very strong person. Her facial expressions and dialogue also show this idea of her weakness, as through out the clip she is crying and begging him to stop and to leave her alone, showing her fear. The body language presented by the male character shows how he is the stronger one between the two. His posture is very strong in his back as he stands up straight when he follows her and backs her up the stairs. His face also shows that he is stronger as his eyes are wide, presenting that he is aware of the situation and sure about what he is doing. His dialogue also clearly presents how he is the stronger character as he is very dominating and threatening when he talks about how he is basically going to kill her.



Another way the female character's, Wendy, weakness is obvious is by the way she handles the bat. If she was serious about hurting him to protect herself she would just hit him. This suggests that she doesn't believe the sincerity in his threats and she is just warning him. However the point which contradicts the idea of the male character being the dominant one is by the positioning of the two. The female character is portrayed as being the weaker one however she is the one standing above him, suggesting that in fact she is the one in control of the situation, that she is superior to him. The way he is below her could suggest that he thinks he is in control however in reality he is not. That his power is just an illusion. Which is how the clip ends, by the female character actually proving this idea of her being superior as she finally knocks him down by hitting him with the bat.




Scene 2-
The second scene i have chosen to analyse is the scene where the male character, Jack, breaks through a door with an axe. The clip begins with a medium to long shot of  Jack axing down the door.  The lighting in this scene is quite low key however the use of colour is used in the background, but still faded. This could suggest what the hotel was supposed to be; happy, family orientated and safe. However the dark fading over the colour portraying the darkness that has took over in its place. The mise-en-scene of his facial expressions he shows presents the horror genre as he presents a rabid look suggesting how his intentions are to kill his wife and child. The idea of this leaves you in suspense as your left on edge wether they women and child will find away out or not.



Further into the clip you then see the women character, Wendy, hiding behind the door holding the child character, Danny, close to her in terror. In this setting of the room the lighting is quite low key compared to the lighting on the male character. The flip shots used which go between the male character breaking down the door with an axe, and the female and young boy character trying to find a way out of the situation builds up a lot of tensions and a sinister atmosphere. It also portrays how time is running out for them as each time it flips back to him the closer he is to getting through the door. Also the non-diegetic sounds in the background also build up tension as it goes with the idea of what is going to happen next.



Near the ending of the clip you see the women character scattering around the room trying to find a way for her and her son to get out. when she hangout the window and sees the amount of snow blocking their escape makes you feel worried for the two as you think they won't be able to get out. Which incises you more to keeping you engaged as this is a very gripping point in the scene. The way the young boy clings onto his mother portrays the closeness of the relationship they have and how dependable he is on her. Obviously the complete opposite to the relationship between the son and his father. By the women letting her son go without her shows how she would rather him be safe over herself.By her doing this it gives you the idea that she will not be able to escape and have to face him,making you think you know what is going to happen, as it is a horror genre something bad is going to happen.



In the ending part of the clip in this scene you show how the male character finds the situation humorous, that he enjoys scaring her. Which obviously isn't normal behaviour, showing how out of ordinary it all is. This is also portrayed though the high key lighting of the scene, usually in horror genre's low key lighting is used to set the scene however in this clip high key lighting is used, going against the stereotype of what usual techniques this genre uses.







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