Mise En Scene “The Shining”

Film Analysis: Mise en scene, or the arrangement and stage properties in a movie or play, can effect the viewer’s entire perception of a film. In particular, lighting can influence how the film looks. In The Shining, director Stanley Kubrick uses light differently than most standard horror movies. The majority of the film is shot with lots of stark lighting. This use of lighting highlights the contrast between the evil supernatural world and the realities of the natural world. In The Shining, the main rooms at the Overlook Hotel are always well lit, albeit with impersonal white light. The scenes at the Torrance family’s home were shot with natural lighting in contrast to the Overlook Hotel.  Not only are the rooms are well lit and foreboding, but also the fact that Jack Torrance comes in the shot on the left. In films, usually the villain will be on the left side of the shot and the protagonist is usually on the right side. The left is the evil side and the right is the good side. Since Jack usually is on the left side of the screen, the viewer subconsciously associates Jack with evil.

Main Topic: Light is used differently for different scenes in order to affect the viewers gut reaction to the characters and their world. During the first scene where Jack is in the bar and ordering a drink, the lighting comes from underneath him, highlighting his deranged face. This type of lighting is known as low key lighting (Wallis et al., 113).  Low key lighting is a throwback to older thriller films like Frankenstein. In most horror movies, low key light shows spooky light and horror. However in The Shining, most of the time, bright scary light is used to underscore the horror of the situations.  As the scene at the bar is part of a sinister supernatural event, the lighting changes and becomes more ominous. In another scene Jack chases his son Danny through a snowy maze in the middle of the night. In that scene, the only harsh light we can see also comes from below the tall, imposing hedges. Not only does the light connote malevolence, but at the same time it highlights the beauty of the natural snowy world.

Critical Analysis: Although there are 4 main components to mise en scene ( setting, figure placement, lighting and composition) the most central component in The Shining is the light. As Angela Watercutter points out, the film is called The Shining for a reason as light plays a huge part in manipulating the audience’s perception of the characters on screen. Instead of having each scene be shot in the semi darkness, Kubrick decided to shoot them in the light-blurring the lines of what is a supernatural event and what is happening in the natural world. The Shining is not a tale of vampires or werewolves who need the dark to survive; rather it’s a tale where in order to shock and thrill it’s viewers it must be shot in full light. The full light is a huge part of what makes this film terrifying. The Shining reminds us that we are not necessarily safe just because we can see.