Deconstruction-The Shining

The Shining made in 1980 is a a very famous psychological horror. It was Directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick.

Shots

A variety of important shots are used in this trailer of 'The Shining' to convey fear and build up tension throughout. The first shot we see is a birds eye view shot of the woodland area with a car driving through, this shot shows the car being very isolated which already sets the scene of the trailer- a 'middle of nowhere' scene. It then has a establishing shot of the house form the outside, it is quite a big house and at is representing the typical horror convention of 'the scary house' as these are usually big high up away from civilians. We then see the man typing on his typewriter close up, the way the lighting is set out already gives an eerie feel to it and is already suggesting that he is the one that is going to cause trouble. This is where certain clips are shown to build tension such as the tracking of the woman running in the snow, and various shots of the man walking through the building and in one holding an axe, but still at this point we do not see the connection of how this has happened. We then see a range of clips that show happiness however the way they are shot show elements of horror. For example the little boys is on his bike and riding it through the hallway, this is shot from behind and is a tracking shot which gives the impression of something chasing him or following him. We then get another close up of the man the camera skips forward 4 times to close up on his face which is quite manic and shows that something is obviously wrong with him. after this the clips are short and snappy. Most clips as reaction shots which are close ups of the characters reactions. It then has a close up version of a earlier clip of a woman running in the snow to link them and show why she is running in the snow it also gives a clearer view of the knife she is holding. the clips where she is swinging the bat are over the shoulder shots make the audience feel as though they are there even maybe in the woman's shoes, this in turn builds more tension for the audience.

Editing

The main transition between clips is a fade away however there is one clip where the man hits the door with an axe, here there is a flash transition, this it a fast and grabs the audience attention. it also suggests that what we have just seen it a flash forward of what is to come.

Mise en scene

The location that this film is set in is a big house or holiday home, and at night outside it lloks quite eerie and scary. In the day time the house does not look that scary. So this could link to the fact that the mans perosnality changes as does the house atmosphere (changes like a flick of the switch-dark,light-good,bad). The set design of the house is big gives it quite a tense feel as there arte many places for the killer to hid or suddenly jump out of. The most significant prop in this trailer is probably the axe, which fits in with the conventions of a horror movie as the most popular killer weapon is a sharp object such as a knife or an axe. In the trailer you also see a woman holding a knife so this also fits in with the convention.

Sound

Non diagetic sounds are used such as music. The music throughout the trailer gets louder and faster to build up the tension and make it more scary and show that something bad is happening and the end there is a church bell which sounds gloomy, churches are associated with two main events weddings and funerals and because of the genre the first thing you would think of is a funeral, suggesting death and murder. The dialogue on some clips overlap other clips and act as a voice over, this is evident at the beginning of the trailer, it gives the audience a back sorry giving them a taste of what is to come. In the clip where the axe hits the door the background music matches it and everything then goes black. Diegetic sound is used such as the axe hitting the door.