The Shining was one of the first films to use the so-called Steadicam, a device used for stabilizing footage while in motion, i.e. walking or running with the camera in hand. Serena Ferrara states in his book “is an uncanny literary companion to my long-term fascination with the physics, aesthetics and history of camera movement.” (Ferrara, 2001, Pg. 9). Already putting stabization onto a moving shot is uncanny because when you normally see a running shot, from a phone or camera, the picture moves up and down and the footage is unintentionally shaken and people over the years of media have become used to that. The sequence in the film that the Steadicam is remanded for is the tricycle squenences. As Danny is cycling around the hotel space the camera is always following behind him, almost like a ghost. The move of the camera is quite unnerving as you, the viewer, are not in control of where you want to go, whereas the camera is.
The Uncanny in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) - Word Count: 1394 