Category Archives: Uncategorized

The uncanny is something that can be perceived as normal, but there is something slightly off about it which your mind cannot pinpoint – for example, a teddy bear with human teeth or a mask obscuring a face. Maria M. Tatar states this in her text that the uncanny takes something familiar and causes itContinue reading “What is “The Uncanny”?”

The first shots of the feature length film are that of a lake where helicopter shots are used. The creepy, ominous electronic music, accompanied by the sweeping shots of the camera following the car, seem almost like a ghost chasing Jack all the way to the hotel. As the intro. continues, the music loses theContinue reading “Setting”

Inside the Overlook Hotel set, which was built at EMI Elstree Studios in North London, there are huge rooms including Jack’s writing space and the Gold Room, all of which physically could not fit in the exterior of the Overlook Hotel. The uncanny atmosphere during the whole movie gives the hotel an already creepy vibe. ThroughoutContinue reading “The Set”

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.”Continue reading “The Cinematography”

Probably the most memorable aspects about The Shining, aside from the famous “Here’s Johnny!” scene, is the soundtrack. The use of scratching and plucking a violin creates a really unnerving sound that is completely opposite of what you hear when hearing violin. The soundtrack also does not match what you are seeing on screen. ForContinue reading “The Soundtrack”

After doing all my research into the uncanny and the unheimlich I can come to the conclusion that The Shining successfully plays with the main key ideas of the uncanny and uses them for terror and creepiness over jumpscares you might see in films today. The use of location, the set, the cinematography and theContinue reading “Conclusion”

Kubrick, S. (1980). The Shining. Motion Picture. Warner Bros. Botting, F. Townshend, D. (2004). American Female Gothic. Gothic: Eighteenth-century Gothic : Radcliffe, reader, writer, romancer. Taylor & Francis. Tatar, M. (1981). The Houses of Fiction: Toward a Definition Of the Uncanny. Duke University Press. Falsetto, M. (2001). Time and Space: Part 2. Stanley Kubrick: AContinue reading “Bibliography”