The Shining: The Cinematography of Isolation

The Shining: The Cinematography of Isolation

Why is The Shining so successfully unnerving? Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is renowned for being a psychological thriller, and it certainly is, but it doesn’t seem to create the same sense of sheer terror conveyed by Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 masterpiece. There are a lot of answers to this. One of the solutions I find the most prominent is one of the most prominent visually, as well: the striking cinematography and aesthetics of the setting of this film. The visuals in this film portray significant feelings of isolation, discomfort and hopelessness. Long, slow sweeping dolly shots of empty space and stationary shots of symmetrical, vertical hallways create a sense of eeriness and almost abandonment. Kubrick is known well for his use of the “one point perspective” which tends to evoke not only an isolated, distant feeling but also a fear of the almost dreadful inevitability of what you’re looking at. 

Paired with either creepy, suspenseful music or total silence, the fear of the unknown is unavoidable. The hypnotic lull of the gliding shots build only further on the disturbing quality of the film. Furthermore, the presence of certain colors and bold color choices are repeated throughout the entire film. This happens with red, especially: red carpet, red walls, red tuxedo of the bartender, red in the family’s wardrobe throughout, and, of course, red the color of blood. Even the bathroom in Room 237 is executed very specifically in both the framing of the shot and color choice. But perhaps the most important effect that the cinematography in this film has is creating the sense of utter isolation. With empty rooms, empty hallways, empty ballrooms and great halls, and the almost pressing presence of empty space and silence, being alone and closed off in this huge space is rattling to watch as a viewer, even if subconsciously.