This scene is terrifying for a few reasons, one being the fact that in the maze, they have no idea what is around each corner or where a dead end could be. What makes this sequence more intense is the diegetic sound in the background playing. The mom is exclaiming underneath it "Isn't this so beautiful" but her words are drowned out by creepy noises and almost scratch like sounds. The director does a good job at giving the scene a different vibe than what the audience would feel if the sound wasn't there.
Another shot that stood out to be in this scene was when Jack is up above pounding a tennis a ball across the room and then suddenly heads over to a replica model of the maze. As he is looking at it, the camera zooms in and it becomes a bird-eyes view of the actual maze with his wife and son. It turns into him staring down at them, like he is plotting his future plans against tormenting them.
The reason the mood is so suspenseful from inside the hotel is the fact that throughout the film Jack hasn't been in a shot with his wife and son at the same time other than the car ride. This shows that he is slowly becoming isolated away from them and they are possibly beginning to look like pray or possible targets.
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| Jack looking down on replica maze |
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| Real maze |
I agree with you that the maze scene is very creepy! It reminds me of Danny riding around on his bike because, like you said, you never know what's going to be around the corner. In our viewing today, Danny was on his bike again and the same music was playing. When he rounded a corner, the two little girls were there. I thought that the girls might have popped up in the maze scene, but Danny only sees them when he is alone. In fact, Wendy is the only character who hasn't seen people in the house. I wonder why Kubrick decided to single her out.
ReplyDeleteI also think that the separation of characters is very noticeable and important because it shows how Jack is distancing himself from his family. In the segment we watched today, Jack begins to resent Wendy and criticizes everything she does. I wonder if this will keep progressing until he gets to a point where Jack does something violent.
I completely agree with you that both the maze scene and the birds eye view scene are both very creepy. They both have a certain amount of eeriness to them. In the maze scene there is so much suspense leading to each corner as we follow Wendy and Danny. The scenes are very suspenseful and scary. The scene where Jack is looking at the maze, the scene is more terrifying because Jack is almost preying on them like Norman Bates was on his victims.
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