First of all, i have to say that Stanley Kubrick movie “The Shining” is really a remarkable movie. The adaptation from the novel is right to the point and leaves me in awe. There are so many great factors on how this movie has proven to be one of the best horror movie in its era. Well played by the actors, great cinematography, intriguing sound effects, and combined with Stanley Kubrick’s skills as a director had kept me mesmerized throughout the movie. But the thing that really caught my attention was the sound effects. I love how Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind knew the right timing to put the sound effects and drove my emotion as an audience. Wendy Carlos is a prodigy in music and she always knows what she is doing and when to do it.
Even in the beginning of the movie, it’s undeniable how intense the music was. The dark, eerie sounds letting me know what was this show about. If you were just seeing the scene without hearing the sound, then it would just be plain old pictures from the 80’s. But the sound effect makes this movie even scarier than the majority of horror movies that I have seen these days. In the part when Danny was trying to open the room 237, the music went to a high pitch and really gave me chills to the point where I had to prepare myself in case something will pop out of nowhere. The music was going up and down following every actions that’s happening. Oh, and the other thing that’ really concerns me was because most of the sounds that i heard throughout the movie were familiar. It could be a sound of boiling water in a kettle, or water dripping, or even sounds from Disney cartoons that we might have seen when we were little.
Audio can drive dread to the heart of the audience. In a movie, music can determine when an audience is afraid, and when to listen for other important clues. Fear is one of the primary needs in making a horror movie to be frightening. In some scenes, the music and sounds were silenced so that the audience can get the information from the dialog that is happening and making them wonder for what is going to happen in the next few minutes. When Jack was talking to Llyod the bartender there was no music. The audience needs to hear and focus on what Jack is telling Lloyd. During other periods without music, such as when Jack told Wendy to leave the typing room, made the audience contemplate what has happened rather than continuing to fear Jack’s actions. Sometimes, actions alone are not enough to build the tension for the audience and that is when music comes in. During Halorann’s death, the silence of the house is quickly broken by loud sounds, causing the audience to be far more startled than the mere sounds of Jack swinging his axe. Jack returns to his madness and so too must the music. Not only do the quick notes show insanity, but the long notes eventually show insanity as well. But instead of Jack’s lunacy, these show Wendy starting to go insane. The long notes slowly become voices in the latter part of the movie. This can cause the audience to wonder, “Has the music always been voices?” This is extremely similar to Wendy’s dilemma of the hotel always seeming as sinister as it is when Jack is insane, wondering if a woman has actually been in the hotel, and if Jack has always been psychotic. Repetitive high pitched notes in a common rhythm are a staple in the horror industry. It’s just the way Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind put every notes in the scenes so precisely and take it to another level.
gianlucanicholas 