Slasher Film Research: The Shining.

The Shining Film opening
The shining was created in 1980. This time period was very popular for creating Slasher films. The director of this film was  Stanley Kubrick. The writer of the novel The Shining was Stephen King. If the audience has read the book they would expect the film to be very scary as the book is quite scary and Stephen King is well known for his writing in the thriller genre. The gross takings for this film in the USA were $44,017,374.

Sound.

In many Slasher films sound effect is key for setting the atmosphere that people who go and see this sub genre of film would expect. In the opening of this film the non diegetic incidental music sets a creepy and on edge atmosphere. The music is very deep with makes it more dramatic but there are also parts of the incidental music which are very high pitched and sound like whistles. These parts of the music set a very tense atmosphere and also sets the suspense for the rest of the film.

Target Audience.

I think that the target audience for The Shining would be between the ages of 16 and30. I think this because there are elements of the film which would be too scary for people under the age of 16 as I know some younger people do not enjoy scary films. The reason I think that he oldest would be 30 is because some people over that age may find this film boring and not as scary as other Slasher and people of that age may not enjoy horror films anymore and would prefer  different genre of film. A viewer who would go and see this film would expect gory parts, things that will make them jump. They will also expect tense atmosphere and creepy elements which will help to build this up.

The Narrative.

This film is about a man who goes for an interview as a caretaker in a hotel which is in a quite isolated area. When he gets the job the manager tells him that the last person who had the job went insane and brutally murdered his daughters and wife with an axe before shooting himself. The main character moves into the hotel with his wife and young son. The hotel has been shut for 5 months and the main character and family are there to look after the hotel and to write a book in his spare time. As the family are there the father becomes quite distance and slowly starts to lose his mind. However the young boy starts to see the young girls that were killed and become very scared and almost possessed as he warns his mother about murder by writing it on the door in lipstick. The father starts seeing things and tries to kill his wife and son with an axe.

Representation of characters and Mise en Scene.

In Slasher films the Mise en scene is quite similar. In The Shining when we first see the main character he is wearing a suit which can connote that he is trying to make a good first impression or he wants to look smart. His wife and son are wearing the opposite style of clothing. They are wearing casual clothing which could tell the audience that they are trying to portray the stereotypical wife and son. It could also be telling us that they a typical family. Throughout the opening of The Shining the lighting is quite high key which could portray a happy life which could through the audience off thinking that this film is not too scary. However throughout the film and when the family have been at the hotel for a while the lighting slightly drops to low key lighting which could show the audience that things aren't right and the lighting is setting the atmosphere for what it to come.

As the film progresses we see the main character slowly losing his mind and turning into the villain of the film. About halfway through the film we see the character get quite tense. The Mise en scene helps to portray the insanity that is being suffered by the main character. The main characters makeup has emphasised this. The main characters face goes quite pale and pasty which could show the audience that he isn't sleeping and is panicking or feeling ill. I also think that the main characters eyebrows show that he is the villain. The main characters eyebrows and very arched with could show anger. Other villains in films have very arched eyebrows which could show that he is evil or angry.

In the opening the camera has filmed an extreme long shot of the car driving down the road using a high angle to make the car look smaller and so we can also see the location. There is also an establishing shot so the scene can be set and the audience can see where the film location is.

Atmosphere created

In the opening the music creates a tense creepy atmosphere which is what the audience would have expected from a Slasher film. A happy atmosphere could also be created as the main character is going for a job interview so there could be a happy atmosphere set and there could be some excitement and anticipation for a fresh start.

Slasher Film elements.

In this film there are many elements that fit into the Slasher sub genre. The style of incidental music is what I would expect from  Slasher film. The music is very deep and some parts are high pitched which creates tension and makes the audience anticipate something scary to happen. The storyline of The Shining fits in well with the fixed element of a Slasher film. In The Shining the storyline is about a father who goes crazy and tries to kill his wife and son like a man did in the past at the same hotel. This storyline is what we would have expected as in Horror films a threat is something to be expected in the storyline. In Slasher films there is usually a gory weapon/killing like a knife and there is also a lot of blood as well. In The Shining the main weapon in the film is the axe and there is some blood included as which shows us that this film fits into the Slasher sub genre well.