No sir, YOU are the caretaker. You've always been the caretaker. I ought to know: I've always been here.
No 52 – The Shining Director – Stanley Kubrick It is hard to describe quite what it is that makes The Shining such a visually incredible film. As the film begins we’re greeted by breathtaking vistas as a camera flies over Jack Torrence’s car, driving down narrow winding roads. It isn ’t the first time I’ ve seen this film, and it certainly isn ’t the first time I’ ve seen helicopter shots over vast landscapes, but yet… it is still wonderful to look at and it still takes my breath away. The single take tracking shots continue throughout the film, usually following Danny on his tricycle as he makes his way through the Overlook hotel. However, where the initial helicopter shots show vast isolated landscapes, the shots in the hotel feel cramped and claustrophobic. This is Kubrick’s great skill – although congratulations also have to go to – he creates scenes in vast open hallways and they become just as tense and claustrophobic as the scenes in the narrow corridors of the hotel or the he...