The Shining Analysis

The Shining - Redrum scene

In this particular scene, it is made very clear to me that the use of red is used throughout to alert viewers of the ever approaching danger. The mise-en-scene that is used in this clip - the red lipstick coupled with the knife and the manner than Danny is speaking - only emphasises on the fact that something is not right with Danny. The knife and the lipstick are two key elements of the mise-en-scene used in this clip. Firstly, the use of the knife which looks incredibly large in comparison to Danny, which plays on the fact that he is not only small, but a child, this made me feel very uneasy as a child should not be holding such a large and dangerous thing in their hand. A child being one of the main characters in horror films is a convention we are seeing more and more of nowadays, as it terrifies many people to see a child act in a way that destroys any innocence they may have had. The lipstick is also another key factor of mise-en-scene used in this clip as it is bright red and red in the horror genre is usually associated with blood and danger. Danny then proceeds to write the word "redrum" on the door in the red lipstick, which in the mirror reads "murder" this may be foreshadowing the murder of Hallorann later on in the film.
The word redrum is also written upon an inverted cross, which may imply that what is happening is unholy and maybe even Satanic as sometimes that is what an inverted cross is associated with, the inverted crosses are also used throughout the entire film. The way Danny is repeating redrum in a strange voice tells me that he is possessed by what could only be his "imaginary friend", that he mentions earlier on in the film, this may also be another reason there is an inverted cross as possession is also associated with Satanic concepts.

In this scene, the first thing I notice as a member of the audience is the lighting and how blue it is. Blue lighting is usually associated with being cold and left alone, away from everyone else. The blue lighting in The Shining creates a very cold atmosphere and as the lighting reflects off the snow, it makes that cold feeling increase tenfold. The blue lighting in this particular scene also plays on the fact that Danny and his mother, Wendy, are very alone and in an extremely isolated area with no one to turn to for help. This is a very typical convention of the horror genre as a lot of horror films are set in isolated, confined areas so that the characters are trapped with no one to go to for help. For me, the low-key lighting enhances the isolated feeling that seems to be a pattern throughout this scene as Danny is even more alone, as Wendy is unable to get through the window to protect him, which is horrifying for me as Danny is only a child and should not have to fend for himself in this particular circumstance. I think that the blue low-key lighting is foreshadowing the events to come in the maze as there Danny is even more isolated and alone and his father, Jack, is hot on his heels with a hatchet. The blue low-key lighting is a very important factor in this entire scene as not only does it foreshadow the events further on in the film - such as Jack dying in the cold snow, isolated and alone in the maze as he cannot find his way out - it creates a certain atmosphere for audience.

Although this film did not scare me, I did find the psychological side of this particular horror very interesting and I found that the makers of this film did a very, very good job and thought about each aspect of this film carefully and it paid off incredibly well as each part of this film came together perfectly and played with my mind and forced me to think about why each part of the film was the way that it was.