Tuesday, March 25, 2014
The Shining Room 237
One of the most fascinating scenes in the 1980 film The Shining was the old lady in room
237 because of the use of the point of view camera. The use of this camera
really captured the overall suspense of the scene and the timidness of Jack.
With the nude woman coming out of the shower and approaching Jack it caught the
viewers attention just as it caught Jacks. The woman gives the feeling of
"too good to be true" to both the viewer and Jack, and although
everyone knows something is about to happen, attention cannot be drawn away.
The camera captures this well. It shakes, rotates, and even opens the door,
displaying Jacks discomfort with the room and the situation. The point of view
camera allowed the viewer to, in a sense, be Jack. I believe this is an
excellent tactic by Kubrik because once the viewer is installed in the movie it
feels more real to them, and once it feels more real to the viewer, it becomes
scarier. Then comes the sudden flash to the mirror and all of the sudden the
once beautiful woman is now what seems to be a woman almost walking dead. This
quick flash of a camera view was so successful because it did not allow the audience
to look away at any point. The camera then switches back to the point of view
of Jack. Once again shaking and turning. The camera is kept on the woman who is
slowly approaching jack as he backpedals. This is for the same purpose. It
creates the feeling that the woman is following the viewer and instills the
feelings that Jack is currently feeling. Jack later escapes the room and the
woman. This scene was very impressive. Although slow, it was able to capture
all of the suspense of a "pop out" scene and putting the viewer in
Jacks shoes.
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The scene in room 237 is one of the best displays of suspense in "The Shining," and I believe is a big reason why this film has cemented its place among the most influential movies of all time. Camera shots that block certain parts of the room and switch viewpoints from Jack's eyes to looking at a mirror, and other shots able to leave the viewer hanging as far as what's truly going on in the scene. This creates great suspense and combined with intense music in turn, makes the movie scary.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that Kubrik used many of his shots to make it seem as if we were in the characters shoes but also I liked how you thought about how in this scene, Jack felt uncomfortable shown by the camera rotating and the door slowly opening. The slow movements encouraged a feel of discomfort as did the slow scanning of when Wendy would walk into empty rooms. The camera would slowly follow her and focus on her while including the emptiness and uncomfortable feeling of the character along with the viewer
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