The Shining - Kubrick vs. King, A Masterpiece of Modern Horror

University of Hanover – English Department
Seminar: An Introduction to Film Studies (AngF5)
Module Foundations Anglistik 2

WiSe 2005/2006 – Due: January 2006

The Shining - Kubrick vs. King
– A Masterpiece of Modern Horror –

von

Sarina Bürkner 
Sandra Dinter 
Kristin Unger

Table of Contents

Abstract 1

1. Introduction 2

2. Movie Summaries 3
2.1. Stanley Kubrick′s The Shining 3
2.2. Stephen King′s The Shining 3

3. Camera 4
3.1. Camera Techniques in Stanley Kubrick′s The Shining 4
3.2. Camera Techniques in Stephen King′s The Shining 5

4. Music 6
4.1. Introduction 6
4.2. Composers 6
4.3. The Music in Kubrick′s "The Shining" 7
4.4. The music in King′s "The Shining" 8
4.5. Conclusion 8

5. Characters 9
5.1. Stanley Kubrick′s The Shining 9
5.1.1. Jack Torrance 9
5.2. Stephen King′s The Shining 12
5.2.1. Jack Torrance 12

6. Motifs 13
6.1. Stanley Kubrick′s The Shinging 13
6.1.1. Indians vs. Americans 13
6.1.2. Symmetry / Geometry 14
6.1.3. Doppelganger 15
6.1.4. Conclusion 15
6.2. Motifs in Stephen King′s The Shining 16

7. Conclusion 17

Bibliography 18

Authors
Sarina Bürkner: Music, Conclusion
Sandra Dinter: Camera, Motifs
Kristin Unger: Abstract, Introduction, Movie Summary, Characters, Motifs (only Indians vs. Americans)

1. Introduction 

This essay compares the two movies of The Shining by Stanley Kubrick and Stephen King. Both films are directly taken from the novel The Shining written by Stephen King in 1977. Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson took the book as the basis for the screenplay to Kubrick’s The Shining (1980). They basically stripped everything off the book until the bare character Jack Torrance and his transformation were revealed. They then incorporated several motifs, which will be talked about later. Thus, Kubrick was able to create a movie displaying real horror coming from the mind/soul of a human being and not from ghosts or alien-monsters.

Stephen King has been known for not liking and harshly criticising Kubrick’s adaptation of his novel, since he “said that The Shining includes an exploration of alcohol dependence and relationships with parents and children in one′s life.”¹ Therefore, Stephen King produced his own TV mini-series of The Shining in 1997 – an exact book to movie adaptation directed by Mick Garris.

To emphasize the dramatic differences between the two novels this essay will compare the camera work, the music, and the characters and in addition will explain the motifs used by Stanley Kubrick. Consequently, it is shown that Stanley Kubrick’s version can be considered as the masterpiece of modern horror, whereas Stephen King’s film version of his novel seems to be no more than a mere and ordinary stereotype.

2. Movie Summaries

2.1. Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining²

“Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) becomes the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel in up in the secluded mountains of Colorado. Jack, being a family man, takes his wife (Shelley Duvall) and son (Danny Lloyd) to the hotel to keep him company throughout the long, isolated nights. During their stay, strange things occur when Jack′s son Danny sees gruesome images powered by a force called ′the shining′ and Jack is heavily affected by this. Along with writer′s block and the demons of the hotel haunting him, Jack has a complete mental breakdown and the situation takes a sinister turn for the worse.”

2.2. Stephen King’s The Shining³

“[The Shining is a] television adaptation of Stephen King[’s] novel[, which] […] follows a recovering alcoholic […] [teacher]. He ends up taking a job as a winter caretaker for a remote Colorado hotel[,] which he seeks as an opportunity to finish a piece of work. With his wife and son with him, the caretaker settles in, only to see visions of the hotel′s long deceased employees and guests. With evil intentions […] they manipulate him into his dark side[,] which takes a toll on him and his family.”

3. Camera

3.1. Camera Techniques in Stanley Kubrick′s The Shining

Kubrick′s version of The Shining contains many examples of excellent integration of camera techniques into the general concept of the movie. The camera is a central device to create and underline a thrilling and tensed atmosphere throughout the whole film. Two outstanding camera techniques used by Stanley Kubrick were the "Steadicam" and the use of extraordinary camera angles.
The Shining was a revolution in film making in the sense that it was the first movie, which used the Steadicam and its exceptional effects throughout the whole movie. The Steadicam is a special camera device, which is attached to the cameraman′s body and enables the camera team to film smooth travelling shots without a dolly or any wheels in general. Before The Shining was made, these kind of shots were actually called" impossible shots" (LoBrutto 409) Kubrick hired Garrett Brown, the inventor of the Steadicam especially for the production of his film. (LoBrutto 410) The elegant effects of the Steadicam were described as the following: "The camera was constantly moving in each shot - not really floating, gliding through space with no apparent means of control." (LoBrutto 410) Another effect of the Steadicam was that of suction. This becomes very clear during Danny′s tricycle rides in the long hallways of the hotel. In these sequences the Steadicam underlined the isolation of the characters, who are "swallowed" by the immense size of the hotel. This movie could not have been shot in this set without a Steadicam. The Steadicam enables the audience to emphasise quite easily with the protagonists since it positions the spectator closer to the characters′ perspectives. Moreover, the audience is often put into a special position because they follow the characters, but also see what is in front of the characters that they follow. This is a very effectual position at the end of the movie, when Jack chases his son in the maze. The audience chases and is chased at the same time. They are right between the two characters and are literally drawn into the screen. Of course this is a very thrilling effect and increases the emotional tension during the climax of the movie.

[....]

1 Wikipedia: “The Shining (novel)”. 8 December 2005. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 16 December 2005

2 IMDb: “The Shining (1980)”. Internet Movie Database Inc. 28 November 2005.

3 Cf. IMDb: “The Shining (1997 mini)”. Internet Movie Database Inc. 28 November 2005.
< http://imdb.com/title/tt0118460/>