The Shining: Scene Two

The second scene I have chosen is that o Danny brushing his teeth and talking to tony

This scene happens towards the start of the movie where Danny is seen by himself in the bathroom, brushing his teeth and talking to the mirror. The fact that he is alone is emphasised by the cut to show Jack and Wendy conversing and shows that she may be distracted. He continues to talk in the mirror, and it soon becomes clear that Danny is in fact talking in two different voices as if there is another part of him, we learn later that this is tony, or the shining. The scene then cuts to two girls, standing holding hands quite menacingly in a corridor we are familiar with, it is one that belongs in the hotel, and we also see blood rushing from a red elevator door that also belongs to the hotel. This creates a sense of panic and confusion as we are unsure of what Danny is seeing but we also realise that both things Danny has seen must play a key role in the film and that perhaps he can see what is going to happen, it is after all a vision to show Danny why Tony does not wish to go to the hotel.

The scene mainly follows the conventions of a horror movie using eerie non-diegetic sounds to intensify the situation and create anxiety within the audience, it also uses the colour red a lot, which is seen throughout the entire film, red is dangerous, the colour of blood and symbolises fear and horror, where red is seen, something bad is most likely going to follow, the colour red is like a warning to an audience, and Kubrick uses it perfectly in this scene to demonstrate the fear that Danny is feeling and that he is trying to make us feel. However, this scene uses high key lighting which goes completely against the conventions of a horror movie, which mainly uses low-key lighting to hide certain aspects, instead Kubrick gives us a sense of safety which contrasts perfectly to Danny’s visions of the hotel that are most dangerous indeed.

The scene has non-diegetic eerie music playing throughout to build up tension within the scene, drawing our attention to the scene, showing that what Danny is doing is very important. The non-diegetic sounds become even more recognisable when Danny starts having his visions again showing they are important and warning the audience of what is to come. This music creates a very unnerving mood and the way it used highlights the visions Danny is having showing they are the most important parts of this scene, the conversation between Jack and Wendy is not particularly important at all in comparison to what Danny can see.

The Shining: Scene One

The scene I have chosen is that of Jack and Wendy conversing about what should be done about Danny

This scene predominantly uses high-key lighting which usually gives a sense of safety, but here it is simply used to show Wendy’s revelation that Jack has in fact finally cracked and gone mad. The scene uses mid-shots to show both Wendy and Jack conversing, the camera cuts between the two, showing what the other can see. This allows us to see the change in moods between the two characters, as Jack gets more annoyed and twisted, whilst Wendy becomes more and more terrified of her husband. During the conversation of Jack and Wendy, we hear a constant high pitch non-diegetic noise in the background, this is can be quite atypical convention of the horror genre as is seen in many other scenes of the film too, the main effect of this is that it builds up tension as it reflects jack’s mood as he becomes more and more annoyed. This sounds tops as soon as we are asked to focus on Wendy and she suggests that Danny be taken to a doctor, this is important because we can clearly hear what she says and this aggravates Jack even more. When Jack starts to talk again, the noise has changed from high pitched to a very low one and this again reflects jack mood this time more anger and frustration, and also leaves the viewer wondering what Jack is actually going to do about it.

Throughout the scene, red is the predominant colour used and is seen on many of the doors, Jack’s clothing, the books in the background, even the carpets shown are red, this could symbolise danger and also is a common convention of the horror genre showing fear and also the likelihood of blood. I think the most interesting thing about these reds is that they are all the same apart from Jacks jacket which appears a much darker red, even closer to the colour of blood, showing that Jack is in fact the most dangerous and is very essence implies death. In the background, crosses are also scene continuously; both Wendy and Jack are wearing chequered shirts and the curtains are also chequered, as the light shines through the curtains even more crosses are on show, this shows the idea that something supernatural is in the hotel and is taking part in the horror that is occurring.

The first time Wendy and Jack are seen in the same shot together, we are looking from behind Jack which causes Jacks figure to be silhouetted, this gives him a very dark appearance and suggests that perhaps he is going to crack a little more and start to become a lot more dangerous. The scene then cuts to a shot from behind Wendy, but here Wendy can still be seen, this shows that Kubrick intentionally silhouettes Jack. As Jack and Wendy are walking up the stairs, the camera is at a high angle, looking down on Jack as if he is lesser than Wendy, even though he has more dominance over her, Wendy is the favoured character and so this camera angle simply reflects my view that Jack is now insane and that he has never been particularly worthy of either Danny or Wendy. As we climb the stairs with Wendy and Jack we realise how high they are actually going up and as Wendy is at the top of the stairs she has the advantage over Jack, the fact that she has a bat and is still terrified emphasises just how scary the situation actually is. 

This is the scene I shall be analysing for my coursework

Cold Mountain

The scene began with a Extreme long Aerial shot - this was used to establish setting and shown us that this man had traveled far, which made us want to know where he was going.

The shot tilts to show us this man's footprints, and doesn't reveal his face until the end of the shot due to the silhouette - which makes him shady and mysterious. 

We can tell that he's been traveling in the cold for a while due to his exhaustion and the frost in his beard, this makes us want to know what is so important to risk the cold environment, and it's not obvious where he's come from and where he's going.

In the parallel cut edit, it shows us that he's separated from his wife, which makes me feel sympathetic toward him - and that they long for each other because of the voice over which is reading the letter to us. This is also shown in the way that the voice over starts just before the cut, and he looks up, as if he's listening to her voice.
The low key lighting in this shot is to show her loneliness and distress.

In the next cut we see a dead deer, which has been frozen to death which shows how dangerous the environment is and are foreshadowing for the deaths that are about to happen. 

This is mainly Low key lighting, made of natural light from the fire and little fill light - this is to give the contrast of the background, which has been illuminated blue to show the coldness. The closeness of the warmth and cold shows that in this setting you're never far away from danger.
Two new characters join the shot quite abruptly due to the darkness of the environment, and they are wearing all black clothing which is commonly known as evil which signify's that they are not to be trusted. They also arrive on the shot on horses, which shows their  dominance, power and control over these other characters. 

The guy above is seen unlit unlike the other characters, and the fact that he's hiding behind a rock could show that he's cautious and untrusting of the two men that arrived out of nowhere - we see most of the shots of the characters around the fire from his point of view. The close up shot allows us to see the fear and his emotions of the other characters.

I feel like the shot where the two characters get shot is the strongest shot, as it affects you emotionally. I felt shocked when the two characters were shot - this could be due to one of the characters (Right) acting childlike and oblivious to what was going on around him, we could see this as he was smiling still when they made him cover his face. We feel empathy for this character, as well as the other character (left) as he act's like his father, and looks after him. The childlike manner of the Right hand guy makes us think of him much younger than he actually is.

After a jump cut, the next shot is of two women who are talking about the war - the woman above is mostly seen from the camera behind objects (Above). This could show her distance from the other character and her distress. The change of time from night to day could show that the evil's past, and that they're safe for a while.