Monday, November 17, 2014
The Shining
So far, if there is one thing The Shining is good at, it is building tension. It constantly has scenes where you think something is going to happen, through a combination of shot type, music, and color. But (so far), 90% of the time, nothing happens. It certainly keeps you on edge, and I think in the future, when something does actually happen, it will have all the more effect and be more unexpected. So far, I think the most suspenseful and scary scene is when Danny is riding a bike through the halls, and stops at room 237. As usual, it has the creepy music building up in the background, with unnerving high pitched noises mixed in. Also, when Danny is riding, the camera follows him, almost in a subjective POV. This means the viewer is just as clueless as Danny as to what is around the corner, and every single turn has you expecting something to be there. This is also one of the first scenes that actually delivers on the suspense, but only just. Danny stops at room 237, which we already know has some sort of reputation. Danny slowly watches the door, grabs the handle, and tries to open it, and you just KNOW something scary is going to be in there. Not quite, but it does have a brief flash of the two mysterious girls, and they aren't exactly pleasant. That scene builds the tension well, and even gives a little surprise, if not a full blown scare.
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You make a good point how nothing happens during most of the suspenseful moments. This is very true, which only makes it more terrifying when something does in fact happen. Later in the film, you see Danny riding his bike again, but only after his second turn, he rounds the corner and comes face to face with the sisters. The combination of the silence of Danny riding his bike, and the fact that he is by himself in that sector of the hotel, is already enough to build significant tension. What's beautiful about this surprise, is that it comes so suddenly, that the audience doesn't fully expect it yet, proving to be an effective scare for the audience.
ReplyDeleteThis scene was a great moment of Kubrick's teasing the audience. As you said, it wasn't a full blown scare, mostly since we anticipated much worse to happen because of the music and other things that were happening. Another frightening moment in The Shining that was similar to this was the scene where Jack was following Wendy up the stairs with a bat. We were expecting some sort of bloody murder, for Jack to overpower Wendy during this scene, and that was what made it suspenseful and scary; that Kubrick let the audience make their own horror story in their heads.
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