Film Review - The Shining (1980)

Fig.1 The Shining (1980) Movie Poster

Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980) is a classic horror film that will leave you more questions, like Kubrick's other classic "2001: A Space Odyssey". It's incredibly large, but tight setting of a hotel is extraordinarily designed by production designer, Roy Walker, somehow makes Jack's journey into insanity somewhat understandable.

Fig. 2 Danny stops at Room 237

Kubrick's excellent camera work and attention detail in each shot makes the whole experience a tense one. Kubrick frustrated actors as a result as he repeated each scene before he knew it was perfect. Ian Nathan touches on this in his review for Empire online by mentioning "Shelley Duvall was reputedly forced to do no less than 127 takes of one scene" - (Nathan, 2009). It leaves you waiting, and by each scene being partnered with a horrifically great soundtrack it makes you expect that something is about to happen. More often than not the music would increase, get louder, more instruments would play and then...it would stop in an instant. These scenes get fear rushing through your veins and so when things start to occur, it is almost unexpected due to being fooled before. There are some breathtaking camera shots that Kubrick uses, especially when the camera is following Danny ride his bike.The camera follows him for over a minute, at his height so that we can almost see through the eyes of Danny as he rides around this enigma of a hotel. The camera stays in place throughout and so we do not know what to expect when he goes round a tight corner in the corridor. The sound is used brilliantly here also. We here the difference of the bike riding over a rug compared to riding over a wooden floor. The sounds are very loud and so it makes this sequence even more tense.

Fig.3 Jack at the bar

The hotel's magnificent exterior is nothing compared to it's interior. The series of puzzles scattered all over the wall and the now infamous carpet (see Fig.2) has gone down in cinema history. There is a scene in the film where Danny is playing with toy cars on the carpet and the shapes seem to be imprisoning him. The bright colours in these patterns are welcomed difference to the now cliche horror film setting of a dark, deteriorating building. Filmsite refers to the film brilliantly different setting by calling it "a beautiful, stylish work that distanced itself from the blood-letting and gore of most modern films in the horror genre." - (Filmsite, 2013). These, almost illusion, patterns would make you very uncomfortable after a long length of time. Peter Bradshaw mention in their review how brilliant the setting is: "The rerelease of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is another chance to savour, first of all, those magnificent interior sets." - (Bradshaw, 2012). Jack and his family have to endure the hotel for 6 months, and due to it's large structure and intricate design sends Jack into madness, and the results are catastrophic. It seemed that Jack was consumed by the hotel and made him fall into madness, and once that Jack begins to terrorise and haunt his wife and son. Some of these moments of terror have gone down in cinema history, especially the "Here's Johnny!" scene, but that scene demonstrates just how far Jack has fallen.

Fig.4 Jack laughing at the bar

Near to the end of the film, we are left bewildered by what we are seeing. Blood pouring out of a closed elevator and an old naked corpse laughing are what stay in your mind. They are unexplained. What is causing them? We are supposed to believe that it is Jack that has become insane, but why can his wife see things in the hotel? The hotel is a mystery that is left unresolved and we cannot begin to understand how or why.


Illustration List:
Fig.1 The Shining (1980) Movie Poster - http://www.impawards.com/1980/shining_ver1_xlg.html - (Accessed 09/12/2014)

Fig. 2 Danny stops at Room 237 - http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2011/07/shining.jpg - (Accessed 09/12/2014)

Fig.3 Jack at the bar - http://www.horrorphile.net/images/the-shining-jack-nicholson-and-joe-turkel1.jpg - (Accessed 09/12/2014)

Fig.4 Jack laughing at the bar - http://d12vb6dvkz909q.cloudfront.net/uploads/galleries/29663/the-shining-1.jpg - (Accessed 09/12/2014)

Bibliogrpahy:
Bradshaw, Peter (2012) - The Shining - Review - http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/nov/01/the-shining-review - (Accessed 09/12/2014)

Filmsite (2013) - The Shining (1980) - http://www.filmsite.org/shin.html - (Accessed 09/12/2014)

Nathan, Ian (2009) - The Shining - http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=132700 - (Accessed 09/12/2014)

What If? Metropolis: Key Asset - Theatre - Drawing

With most of Bridget Riley's work, it is very simple and clean, but often has very strange forms and unclear patterns in them. The Theatre in the city will be the most detailed and most unique as the rest of the buildings will be very simple with crisp edges, like Bridget Riley's work. Like the lighthouse, I wanted to do it in my sketch book because I could do it quickly and see how more obscure it can become through drawing it fast. I'm very happy with how it looks as it is very abstract and will be hard to read/understand when it is fully rendered in Maya.

What If? Metropolis: Key Asset - Lighthouse - Drawing

Although my lighthouse is very simple in design, it is very important to the city as it is it's main light source. I wanted to draw my key assets in my sketch book because I look the rough style that I have and it manages to demonstrate what the final lighthouse will look like.

What If? Metropolis: Quick Test

I made this quick test on Maya to just get a rough idea of what it would look like with an extremely basic image used on every building. Obviously, it's very rough but it gives a slight idea of what it will look like. I will have simple Bridget Riley patterns on the simple/basic buildings and more complicated patterns on the main buildings and the waves of the water. 

The simple pattern that I used/created.

What If? Metropolis: Travelogue

Travelogue

The city grabs your eye and twists it until it cannot bear to understand. The impossible setting is a sight none will sharply forget. It’s labyrinth of streets will lose the most organised of characters. The twist and turns of the simplest of alleys will take you somewhere untraveled. The city does not work too well with reason as it’s absurd architecture stands proud, towering over the lake. It’s intricate level of detail is indescribable as no exact set of words can evaluate what is happening. The city’s wavy skyscrapers and markets create the impression of being in a magical world. The city hides among a layer of fog and so cannot be seen by the approaching sailors. The lake is littered with debris, but they themselves manage to blend within the waves, it is a sight to behold.

The city is surrounded by an 8 eight foot high metal fence. It’s bar look near to full transparency from a distance, but once the city has been fully approached, it is clear that the city is imprisoned by itself. This creates the illusion, in the mind, of oncoming travellers that the city can be easily accessed, but as soon as you get close enough it grabs your attention and draws you in, and that is how you become a resident of this dark enigma of a city.

Upon reaching the entrance of this magnificent city, you begin to feel dizzy. The city is moving. You cannot begin to understand. Trying to put an explanation into what your eyes are gazing towards will lose you in a moment of near to insanity. We dare not question the city as the city evolves according to the seasons. During spring, the darkness of winter begins to fade and the buildings resume their ongoing growth towards the sky. The summer grabs the colour of the waves and splashes it onto the buildings ferociously. In the month of November, the extended summer concludes and welcomes the red breeze of autumn. The red, the yellows and the oranges all run at you screaming and so there is no way to escape this month long season. The robotic residents of the city adore the winter months. It is within this period where the city loses some of it’s colourful charm and replaces it with the white of snow. It covers every little piece of the city. The snow does not want you to begin to understand the city, it wants you to feel the cold wind hitting the back of your neck while you squint into the foggy distance. The winter months’ aim, therefore, is to make you want to escape it’ series of mazes.
There are no children in this city. People do not get raised in this city. People do not get married in this city. The people wake up, go to work and come home. It’s an 8am to 6pm routine 7 days a week. There is no moment to relax. The city need to run perfectly in order to maintain it’s mystery as without the mystery will begin to fade.

In the centre of this asylum of a city stands the Crooked Theatre. The pillars at it’s entrance lean into the streets, creating an obstacle for oncoming civilians. This theatre holds an obscure auditorium that has seats scattered all around the room in no understandable manner. There is no method in the madness of it’s organisation. It was built to make the viewer uncomfortable. The theatre wants you to build emotions before the actors walk on stage. The red stage burns within your eye and makes you feel dizzy. You need to sit down. You take a chair. That is when the play begins.
In the distance, you may just manage to make out the lighthouse, which stands alone amongst the rocks. The red and white building can be seen best at night. It’s extraordinary beam of light flies through your window and whacks you on the face, like a slap from the wind. It is at this moment where you feel warmth growing inside you and the pleasure of belonging to this magnificent city runs through your veins.

What If? Metropolis: Building the city

Taking the city I made for my final concept paintings, I'm actually quite pleased with the overall composition and look of the city. It has the lighthouse and theatre that I talked about in the travelogue, which are the main buildings in the city. I now need to make the other buildings look more Riley-esc as at the moment they are quite generic, even though they are similar to the ones in the the thumbnail I'm basing it on.

Looking at my final concepts, they perhaps don't represent Riley's work enough, so I should try to base the other buildings on some of her more abstract work.

What If? Metropolis: Final Concept - Part 2

Following on from my last final concept photoshop painting, I have used different brushes and styles to create a more Bridget Riley style city. Her work is very smooth and has very crisp edges, and the previous concept painting didn't have smooth lines or clean brush strokes. This concept painting could still be a little cleaner, though, as some of the lines are random shapes and sizes, where as Riley's work is very consistent. I expanded the city that I made on Maya and have added a sky. This one is much brighter than the last, but it still has the darkness that I want my city to have.