The Language of the Shot

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Film 3005-01

Oct 9th, 2014

The Language of the Shot

This paper looks at a particular scene from Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film The Shining, and examines just how the shots, within the scene in question, speak to the audience outside of what's being conveyed verbally or physically from the characters. An argument can be made that what is presented as mise en scene, can be misconstrued as representation of convictions; particularly with regards to family dynamics. Much planning and calculation of an idea goes into how technigue in a film speaks to an audience. It can be equated with the planning of a painting, or a play even, that what is portrayed can express multiple constructions of meaning. The real concern is what should the audience see beyond the dialogue of the film? The words between characters express narrative and exposition of a given piece, but there is the deeper language many people could potentially overlook, and in most cases, do so. This can be described as the language of the shot. Emotion, mood, ambiance, and environment are all aspects of film art which can be translated through how a scene is constructed. How that particular scene is read can be determined with shot technique and combined elements, such as light and dark, or color and sound, etc. And this will be looked at in three aspects of film regarding Kubrick's thriller: photography, movement, and sound. With regards to photography, It will be examined to identify the change in power dynamics between characters Jack and Wendy by how the shot obscures the obviousness of this power shift to the audience. Within the aspect of camera movement, this will be looked at to reinforce the idea of concealment over the change of power dynamics. And also with sound, it will be looked at in terms of tension and how audible tension, and lack of sound may be used to distract the viewer from seeing the...