An analysis of Mise-en-scene and Editing in an extract from The Shining Superficially, The Shining (1980) directed by Stanley Kubrick and written by horror novelist Stephan King, is about Jack Torrance; a writer suffering from writer’s block and his family who move into the Overlook Hotel after Jack takes an off season job as caretaker. As stories unfold about the hotels previous inhabitants, Wendy and Jack’s son, Danny’s frequent psychic premonitions become vivid, paralleling Jacks deteriorating psychotic state of mind, as their stay at the hotel grows longer.
Under the surface however Kubrick uses mise en scene and editing in The Shining to display hypocrisy and inability of Americans to admit the mass Native American Indian genocide, and to help explore these ideas exposing the viewer to horrific scenarios of slaughter, which act as a metaphor for the catastrophic murder of an entire race, and- on an even wider scale- man’s inhumanity towards man throughout ages.
To begin with, Danny is seen riding through the clinically clean hotel hallways on his vibrant red bigwheel; the use of costume as a component of mise en scene is particularly effective in this shot as it enhances the suggestion of foreshadowing as the colours parallel the colours the two girls are wearing in a later shot. His costume consists of a blood red jumper and a denim lumberjack jumpsuit; creating a sharp contrast with the cold blue, green tones of the walls making him appear vulnerable and prone to danger, as he’s miniscule within the framing.
The setting, consisting of basic, bleak, blue, green colours has been used to foreshadow the ending of the film, imitating the scene where Danny is being chased in the maze by his psychotic Dad. The way he circles the similar-looking hallways indicating he’s going round in circles suggests to the audience that he’s lost and unaware he’s reiterating his path. Moreover, the use of juxtaposition in the calmness and emptiness of the hallways with the climatic tension in the maze has been used to emphasize that Danny is oblivious to the events that will be unraveled in the near future.
Alternatively, the shot of Danny circling the hotel hallways mimics the start of the film and the Torrance’s car going through the mountains as they approach the hotel; this symbolic use of repetition has been used by Kubrick to indicate the violence of the past will be repeated, allowing the audience to link this to current events including wars and ongoing tragedies in modern day. In terms of editing, Kubrick alters space and time in order to fragment the viewer’s perspective of where Danny is heading.
At first the audience believes that continuity editing has been used to linearly follow Danny through the hallways. However when we look deeper we realize that the straight cuts within the editing transport us to different locations and therefore highlights the oddity surrounding the hotel, emphasizing how everything looks identical, again linking with the theme of repetition. The first cut happens when Danny maneuvers into the left side of the frame as he turns a corner.
However, when he does this it appears that he’s on a different floor, altering the location and adding to the abnormality of the hotel. Perhaps, he uses editing to blur spatial and geographical lines so it’s unknown how much time has passed implying that Danny has the ability- as someone who shines- to exist outside the confines of linear space and time. Kubrick could have also done this to explore America’s avoidance of the repressed history of the Native American genocide, which parallels with the changing locations as it could represent a passage of time throughout the existence of man.
Furthermore, Kubrick has used the editing of sound to create tension and emotion in the scene. As we see a tracking shot of Danny turning the corner of the corridor, an action match is used when the flamboyant diegetic sound of a gong is heard. However the sound enters a second too early releasing the tension that Kubrick has built up before we’re exposed to the view of the girls.
This release has been used by Kubrick to imply that the tense contrapuntal sound of high pitched violins coming gradually to a crescendo in a minor key has been used purposely to lead up to this moment, making the audience feel personally victimized by the two girls that are stood silently in the hallway as their innocent outlook juxtaposes the score that’s being played. Additionally the use of body language is used successfully to create a sense of imagery for the audience.
Kubrick presents the twin girls holding hands in the centre of the hallway, which emphasizes how indistinguishable they are alongside their costumes and hairstyles. This strips away any personality and emphasises the sense of mystery, suspense and lifelessness. They may have been purposely placed mirroring each other by Kubrick to create a reflected effect, which has been frequent throughout the film previously. Kubrick may have done this to highlight the dehumanized nature of the girls as they’re stood expressionless with empty sullen eyes making it hard for the ce to understand how the characters feel and how they should react to them.
Their inexpressive faces create a sense of anxiety for the audience, as we’re unaware of what they might do to Danny. The use of mirroring could suggest that the two girls are actually one person, and perhaps Kubrick has done this to imply the girls are a representation of Danny’s future. His vision showing them inhumanly murdered could foreshadow upcoming events at the end of the film, which is further supported by the axe prop that has been placed in the bottom third of the shot.
As we know at the end of the film, Danny is chased by his father who attempts to murder him with an axe, paralleling the death of the two girls. Additionally, the axe symbolism could signify the tool used by Native Americans before their genocide and the imagery of a westerner using an axe to murder could be used by Kubrick to imply that the lifestyles and morals of the American Indians were stolen from them alongside with their land. Kubrick purposely repeats elements of costume design to link the characters together.
For example, the colours Danny is wearing match the pastel blue dresses the girls wear, connoting purity and innocence. However, in a shot shortly after the audience is exposed to the girls brutally murdered in the hallway, their dresses covered with blood that also stains the blue walls creating a shocking resemblance to Danny’s costume. Perhaps Kubrick is trying to create broad symbolism of the mass murder of the Native Indians, implying to the audience that it still lies in the hands of the Americans, indicating that they will be forever guilty of genocide, which will haunt them.
Then again, Danny’s costume could have been used by Kubrick to enhance the theme of repetition, implying that westerners have never stopped killing since the first major extermination of a race. exaggerating that the past is doomed to repeat itself. His costume bares a similarity to his fathers which may have been used to suggest that Danny will grow up to become comparable to his psychotic father; this could infer that throughout generations the American mindset hasn’t changed.
The younger generation will duplicate the generation before them like an ongoing cycle; unable and unwilling to accept the disturbing truth of the people that they have murdered. In addition, the two girls have a strange similarity to Wendy who Danny has a close relationship with. During the start of the film Wendy wears a blue dress with red tights which mimics the costume the girls are wearing.
This could have been used to imply that the characters all have links and that Danny’s psychic premonitions are influenced by the past therefore emphasizing the symbolic se of repetition that runs throughout the film-Wendy also dresses much like a native Indian squaw throughout the film. Following on from this, another effective element of mise en scene are the props. A brown wooden chair turned over drastically on the floor is used on the first vertical third of the shot implying a sense of struggle before the murder took place. This makes the audience feel sympathetic towards them but also horribly disturbed at the same time.
Also the chair seems abnormal in the visually pleasing shot of the lifeless girls placed mirroring each other, lying perfectly horizontally across the hallway, their heads on either side of each wall. The chair doesn’t fit at all in the shot creating a sharp contrast in the surrounding location. Finally, a shot reverse shot of Danny’s face expressing a horrified expression while he quivers with fear as the two girls repeat the words ‘forever and ever’ makes the audience sympathize with Danny’s horror. This may have been used by Kubrick to suggest that Danny can’t escape from the constant premonitions he’s having.
Shortly after, the music is cut off leaving us to see a close up of Danny slowly removing his hands from his face and when he does the girls are gone. This could have been done by Kubrick to imply that Danny, with his face covered, represents the Americans unable to acknowledge the mistakes they have made, who will only come out when the problem is no longer discussed. This might show the audience how cowardly they’re being, not facing up to the truth, making them feel guilty about not facing their fears and, on a larger scale, accepting the horrors that were inflicted on innocent people in their past.