- Identify the type of lighting used in the film (traditional three-point, high-key, or low-key) and assess the impact of the lighting used to establish the theme.
- How did this technique suited to the genre of the film?
- Compare how the scene would play if different choices had been made.
High key lighting uses light in a way that creates a low amount of contrast between the brighter and darker areas of a particular shot. Using high key lighting can be beneficial for many different types of shots and for various purposes. There are usually very few shadows in a scene shot implementing high key lighting, especially on the principle characters or focus of the scene. In the film The Shining; Kubrick went with a unique, uncanny effect. Instead of a dark dreary setting, which is typical of most horror films, the Overlook is generally well-lit, garishly so, it tends to reflect the mad electricity, the exploding synapses, of Jack Torrance’s increasingly insane mind.
In chapter 5 of the text, Film: From Watching To Seeing; we learn about the color aspect of lighting. In the bar scene from The Shining, the light accentuates the red color scheme in the Gold Lounge. Many of the furnishings, some walls, both Lloyd and Jack’s jackets, and Jack’s face are all red, suggesting rubicund associations of blood and murder.
There are some traditional, dark gothic horror story lighting in the film showing the influence of German Expressionism on the horror genre. Jack can be seen in silhouette, a hunkering and threatening black shadow; there is also some chiaroscuro lighting in the climatic chase through the maze.
Kubrick chose to use lighting for a more clinical and interpersonal attitude of the theme of the supernatural world towards the human world. He felt that using the lighting to define the setting of the bar scene and character Jack, rather than attempt to place the film in a genre such as the typically shadowy horror movie.
If Kubrick would have gone with the typical horror film lighting where everything would appear dark and shadowy, the film would not have been what it is.
References:
Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C.P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc
Lambie, R. (2011). Iconic set design: The Shining’s overlook hotel. http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/18283/iconic-set-design
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