Film psychology THE SHINING spatial awareness and set design 2of2

[@jinxy72able]

Something you failed to mention which probably is the most obvious of all, is from the exterior aerial view of the hotel at the beginning of the film there is no hedge maze at all.

[@tubulartopher]

+jinxy72able Holy mother of God.

[@DeejayNally]

OMG

[@PleasestopcallingmeDoctorImath]

"it was all a dream"

[@danielmurray9820]

one speculation is that it is the book Jack is writing, about the caretaker who kills his family.

[@jgregveneklasen2657]

Spooooooky! :) (yup, pretty solid clue that what is playing out, isn't).

[@tubulartopher]

It is rare for me to become frightened while watching horror/thriller films. When I first saw this film, I was shocked at how traumatized my senses were. I had similar feelings after viewing 2001. I almost couldn't sleep that night. The craziest part about this form of horror is that it doesn't just play with fear, it plays with psychological fear. The fear that leaves you with more questions than answers in the very end. That unsettling , abstract, slowly building but never ceasing fear that can paralyze a young child from ever looking under his/her bed. The fear of the unknown.

[@nicholasscott1206]

well put.

[@Beliasa01]

like what questions?

[@knuckle12356]

@@Beliasa01 what caused the evil at the overlook? Does it start with Jack or has Jack always been there? Is the story we're watching being written by Jack? What is the Shining? What is the nature of the shining and the hotel's relationship? There's tons of unanswered musings pricked up by Kubrick's scaly directorial thumb.

[@tomschillings7336]

Tubular Topher this is the best description of what the movie does to you, I have ever read

[@manuelkong10]

the fear of a false and shifting reality where nothing can be relied on

[@Vader21690]

The more I study this film the more you pick up. I think it all comes from what Kuberik was talking about where he wanted the look to be normal and not spooky or the traditional scary hotel look. Instead he made it a psychological angle to trigger something is wrong within the brain. The whole hotel doesn't make sense nor does the stories. In the interview the office is the first sign something is wrong with this place with the impossible window. Then he talks about Charles Grady and his daughters years apart. We as the viewer meet a man named Delbert Grady and the girls were twins. In the opening scene you clearly see there is no maze but there it is. The Gold room can't exist and yet there it is and with people Jack seems to know even though he has never been there before along with all the other spacial defects. The whole thing sets your subconsious mind with all these warnings that something is wrong which puts the viewer on edge and really not understanding why.

[@dmpsodapop]

One of the best movies ever made, a masterpiece!

[@wilderwein1480]

THE BEST...!

[@eaglevision9791]

#1 Horror film. There are many factors that make it the best but the 🎶 music🎼 is what separates ‘The Shining’ from all other horror films. The music is so unrelenting; i can’t think of another film that really compares.

[@hoasam5786]

It's better than watching the nun and suicide squad.

[@christiensebastien2442]

The impossible architecture actually supports the "writer's story" theory quite well. If the events aren't real but just part of Jack's novel, then it's safe to assume that a writer creating a hotel in their mind wouldn't have it laid out perfectly. There would be flaws in the architecture because it's all taking place in the mind, in the abstract, so to speak. So Jack wanted a window in Ullman's office, though it's placed deep within the offices of the lobby, which are surrounded by the hotel.

[@Lopfff]

I always felt that the camera positioning with respect to the characters--sort of over-the-shoulder vantage points, following behind characters, and so forth--makes the viewer feel like an invisible voyeur. It always seemed to me Kubrick is presenting the movie to you from the point of view of the "ghost(s)". At the very least, it is obviously intentional and gives a paranoid feeling to most or all of the shots.

[@knuckle12356]

Most definitely. *You're* haunting the characters. Maybe that's why so much goes unexplained; why explain mysteries of a hotel to its own inhabitants and haunters?? "You've lived here for 200* years, how much more explanation do you need!?!?!!??" - The Hotel (*or however many years the Overlook was there for at the time of the events captured in the narrative...I'm not a hardcore fan, I don't have the numbers.)

[@illostr8]

Thanks to the use of the steadicam that gave that effect

[@AndrewJ9673]

knuckle12356 its only 100, and there is more evidence the events of the film are either psychological or based on shining (of which at least Jack, the Cook, and Danny all do, though Jack doesnt know he does, he sees visions of both past events and people [Gold Room], as well as visions of future events [nightmare of killing his family while Danny is in Room 237], and the Cook explains that some people dont know they have the Shining. Itd also explain how he unlocked the storeroom). Its more likely Shining plays a very large role in the film’s narrative towards explaining the events we see, and the concept of shining could then be applied to discern the overall theme and message of the film.

[@manuelkong10]

Yes, I've felt the same way, like the film is shown from the HOTEL's (and it's evil spirit's ) point of view. One example, to me, of this is when the family is being shown around the hotel and the freezer is opened....and the camera does NOT FOLLOW them in, in Jumps into the freezer and we watch as they enter...as if you, or the spirit is already in there waiting it's the same with following the kid around on the tricycle or following jack on his rants down halls.

[@Lopfff]

@@manuelkong10 Yes. That's exactly how I see it too.

[@MrGamerman001]

How are we supposed to know if Kubrick faked the moon landing if we can't even figure out The Shining???

[@brucer9572]

Well said. I never met Neil Armstrong, but one or two of my acquaintances had. He was taciturn. But I have met Jim Lovell twice, and that's not a big deal. Jim Lovell goes out into the public, and he is friendly and gregarious and talkative. He'll talk to anyone, and I'm pretty sure that Apollo 13 was in a whole lot of trouble before it got back to Earth. But I wasn't there. I ain't no expert, yet I do distrust fake news.

[@oldironsides4107]

@@brucer9572. I know everyone you mentioned and are dear friends. I cherish them and I cherish our friendship.

[@NoahSpurrier]

That’s how you know NASA went to the best.

[@collativelearning]

It's not really about how many times you watch it. It's a case of watching and making extensive use of pause and reverse while taking detailed written notes to cross reference later. :)

[@wheedler]

Yeah, it doesn't count as multiple viewings if you keep rewinding and never reach the end!

[@Decimaster321]

You mentioned in the first video that someone attempted to build the hotel in Duke Nukem 3D, and since the hotel has this bizarre fantasy geometry, it was impossible. There was a fantastic indie puzzle game released recently, called Antechamber, which plays a lot with bizarre impossible geometry, rooms that are bigger on the inside, infinitely looping hallways, hallways that disappear behind you when you aren't looking, and so on. Someone should attempt to recreate hotel again in a newer game engine with these features.

[@lexij2159]

the thing is, the Duke Nukem 3d engine probably would be one of the best engines to build it in anyways, thanks to the fact that sectors can be placed over eachother, allowing for easy strange geometry

[@doublehamsam8864]

It would just be great if someone made a horror game using noneuclidian spaces. It's able to instill a sense of uneas (like in the Shining) without relying heavily on horrifying details like blood stains, distant voices, and rotting walls.

[@bondfall0072]

@@doublehamsam8864 layers of fear did something similar with this, but it is nowhere near as subtle as The Shining. (Although there are a few cool WTF moments)

[@horusreloaded6387]

@@doublehamsam8864 there is a game called Hyperbolica. It is not a horror game and I can't recommend playing it(while the concepts are interesting, the writing is bad and how the levels are set up makes it look like a tech demo instead of a full game.) Watch a video or two though!

[@DatsWhatXiSaid]

Another thing that's weird about Halloran's death scene is, which door does he use to get into the hotel? In the very first scene Jack enters into the lobby, yet Halloran seems to enter from the same hallway in which Wendy is seen earlier wheeling the kitchen cart... so he went in through the kitchen? And kitchen itself is shown as being on both sides of the hotel lobby.

[@eidsongregory5795]

what happened to halloran happened to me too.

[@matthewstromer]

I just recently discovered your film analysis work after going down the KZbin rabbit hole with EWS theories. I have since watched everything you have on KZbin and look forward to checking out the more dense analysis on your website. I am a Kubrick obsessive and your stuff has given me insight and new ideas I hadn’t realized or considered, even after all the books and articles I’ve read over the years. In short, your analysis of film is addicting and absolutely thought provoking. A big fan. Thank you for all of it. Cheers.

[@jinxy72able]

Another strange anomaly in the film I noticed (which I have no idea how it was done). Is when Jack is walking down the hall to get drunk in the gold room. If you look at the mirrors on the left side of the hall (Jacks right). There is a point where Jacks reflection appears in one of the mirrors before he is Parallel to the mirror. He is still several feet behind the mirror, yet you see his reflect pass in time with him walking. I don't know how this effect was done, and it is something one wouldn't catch unless they were looking for it, but it is very strange.

[@thebossman80s]

jinxy72able that’s just the angle from which we are looking at him through the mirror from, what’s more interesting is that he only ever seems to talk to other “ghosts” in the hotel when in front of a mirror. He talks to Delbert Grady in the bathroom in front of a mirror, he talks to the barman in front of a mirror and as he first starts to lose his mind on his way to the gold room he throws his arms frantically when level with the mirrors.

[@runlarryrun77]

@@thebossman80s Holy shit you're right. In the bathroom in room 237 he first sees the woman has turned all old & decayed IN THE MIRROR!

[@thebossman80s]

runlarryrun77 everything I’ve learned about this film has been through watching rob ager, I can’t take credit for noticing these things myself, even after seeing the film many times.

[@lostinspacerobinson1527]

@@thebossman80s I just watched it again , ( the movie ) and damn ! It's even more chilling then it was , I can't explain it , it seems it's all falling in place . Pure masterpiece !!!!

[@scornbass1552]

@@thebossman80s ahem.. Grady talks to him in the store room without the involvement of mirrors.

[@Goldberg1337]

Very interesting two-part series! Your videos on the Shining have really made me want to go back and re-watch the movies and pay attention to the layout and little details. Kubrick was a brilliant, if possibly insane, filmmaker, and I never realized the extent to which he loaded his movies with subtle detail.

[@dubfilmgeek]

I'm not done reviewing all you have to say about The Shining, but I am so impressed with the scholarship so far. Part of me feels bad seeing the secrets of the magician exposed (even though they are inspiring on their own). The first several times I watched it, I just FELT something was wrong. It was such a unique, abstract thing for a film to make you feel (as opposed to the low-hanging fruit of love or fear or laughter). Now I'm much more attuned to WHY it feels wrong. Intellectual trade.

[@brianmcmanus4286]

Man, it just never gets old, dissecting this movie.

[@ewantree]

Very, very impressive, i'll be re-watching several films now. There is obviously a hell of a lot of work that goes into producing these slick videos. 5 star, 10 out of 10

[@collativelearning]

I'm not really into the "esoteric" readings. Too often it's obvious from the other writings of those authors that they already believed in advance of interpreting the movie that the world is run by occultist, monarch / mind control, illuminati or whatever and they then seek circumstantial corroboration in movies to support it. My question is "what do the film makers believe and how are they communicating it?"

[@ajdc88]

pretty limited approach

[@eidsongregory5795]

amazing point made rob.

[@martinskeet2111]

My favourite impossibility is that in the long shot of the hotel the car park is directly in front of the entrance and in front of the car park is a steep slope. In the later scenes there is no car park in front but instead the maze and no steep drop.

[@collativelearning]

Yes, I'm a scouser, but I lived in Canada for five years as a child. It permanently affected my accent :)

[@alanagottalottasay997]

About 8 years after seeing the movie, I went summer snowboarding at Mt Hood. I had no idea this lodge would be there, the parking lot is on the side, you walk past lodge to get to the Palmer snowfield lift. Not many steps past where you are in front of it I realized what it was, and it rattled me. My next thoughts raced as it was blatantly obvious the exterior was no where near the right scale as interior on film (and of course no maze). Later when I walked around parts inside they were all low ceiling and narrow hall ways. I had a great week of riding but the whole trip was tinted by memories of the film. As well as oddly enough, in the snowfield a week before I was there a snowcat had lost control and killed a hiker. It was an active investigation and you could literally still see the large bloodstained patch of snow. Which imprinted the film even deeper into my psyche....

[@jinxy72able]

Another very important thing to mention about the psychology of this film and what makes it soooo creepy, is not the designs and spatial anomalies, but rather the music. That strange creepy voice in the music gives me the chills, it is the sound of sheer madness of the mind.

[@PackadayProductions]

I just went to the theater and saw "Room 237", and I would like to say that your videos are superior to that film in every way. Keep up the great work.

[@TheSphinxNL]

This is endlessly intriguing, I too find it hard to believe Kubrick didn't deliberately made all these spatial impossibilities. On a subcontious level it adds to the desorientating feel of the movie.

[@jeffersonellis]

This is the kind of film journalism the world needs. Legitimate analysis and dissection of films will never be replaced by blurbs about the plot and 1-5 star ratings.

[@TonyGearSolid]

Kudos to you for making the most interesting video I've seen on KZbin in years. The Shinning has always been one of my favorite horror movies and I've always had fascinated by the Hotel design, now I finally understand why. What would be regarded as continuity errors, were essentially done on purpose by Kubrick himself, which just proves that he truly was one of the greatest directors of all time.

[@IdleDrifter]

Stanley Kubrick really knew how to push all the right buttons to make people feel unnerved by the experience of The Shining. Every time I watched it there was that weird feeling that while everything looked normal it wasn't at all. Going over these scenes in detail does give new insight to how the house interacts with its subjects. Even the viewing audience. Giving a heightened sense of awareness throughout the movie that plays on the imagination.

[@Dirkschneider]

I am amazed that there are so much confusion about the making of this film. So many of the enigmas contained in The Shining must be very easy to answer if we only got to ask the people who were involved in the making of the film. Scholars really should try to find the answers to these questions while there are still people alive to answer them. Thank you for a very interesting analysis!

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

I know it's late, but I've been thinking about what you said. I agree, although a lot of what geniuses did in their heyday sometimes even they don't remember or they're very over hearing about it. I know a guy who was there for a lot of 70s iconic albums. He said, you know that solo you've obsessed about for 45 years? Yeah, HE doesn't remember/know what he did on thar take, either! Lol

[@Quetzalcoatlv3p14]

Your videos are so enlightening. I have always loved Stanley Kubrick's films and I see new things in his films every time I watch them. It's like watching them for the first time every time I watch.

[@jinxy72able]

When I was growing up in the seventies I lived in a place called Murrieta Hot springs (in California). It was built around the turn of the century and was a famous resort for the Jet set crowd and movie stars. It had a very similar history in some respects. And it had multiple buildings. But in the seventies the back part of the resort was closed down and deserted. It had become a ghost town resort in a lot of respects. I as a child would often play in the deserted buildings (although I wasn't supposed to LOL). The buildings reminded me very much of the look of the Overlook. They had that same combination of seventies colors and patterns of carpets with furniture for the 20's and 30's. It was rather erie how much the inside of the buildings looked like the sets in the movie. It also had huge Irion Chandeliers in some places that looked almost identical to the ones in the Colorado lounge. The resort is still there but it has been re-opened and repainted and the carpets replaced and the old furniture removed :( . But I remember growing up in my own little shinning. And to top this all off, my name is Danny. I guess that is why I love this film so much!

[@tsntana]

jinxy72able Did you ever have dreams of the place?

[@collativelearning]

I've studied enough on Kubrick to be able to write a pretty detailed biography. And i haven't seen anything connecting him to the occult or masons. Plus he was an atheist. You only have to read his interviews to know that. If you're interested in what got Kubrick interested in political stuff and conspiracies see my article on Dr Strangelove.

[@s70rk]

This was brilliant! :)

[@collativelearning]

Go read a Guardian newspaper article called "shining a light in room 237". The exec producer of the film confirms (a year after I posted this video) the gold room was deliberately designed so that it would never actually fit in the hotel. That's already mentioned in the captions at the start of the video, which it seems you overlooked :)

[@Dastreus]

Awesome of you to notie these things. It's like an Easter Egg hidden behind the entire movie. Love it!

[@collativelearning]

@Don148 The colorado lounge in height occupies two floors. So I just drew a sort of composite map, though understandably misleading.

[@DataLal]

This 2-parter and the Gold series just blew my mind! I've seen some hokey attempts to try to "uncover" the hidden stuff in Kubrick's films, but your videos are the real deal. Many congrats!

[@collativelearning]

Good point. I occasionally get people asking why it's worth making a film if so few people get the message, but like you say it only takes a few to get it and pass it on. My 2001: Meaning of The Monolith video has nearly half a million viewings so plenty of people have gotten that message now.

[@orbisun]

perhaps it's already been noted before, but as I was watching this and the narrator was describing all of the blatant spatial impossibilities it dawned on me that perhaps the hotel was also called the Overlook for this reason (among others). most viewers of the movie would never notice all of these things. I've never noticed and I've seen it multiple times and am a large Kubrick fan. this is an excellent analysis! thanks for your thoughtful work!

[@kh-if6hn]

Matt Robison Wow man: great point. One of those where I’m slapping my head like “Duh!” but there’s just so many (if not much) fucking layers something’s always gonna get by you as a viewer. You just fall into the abyss Kubrick created. Love this movie.

[@georgemccraw]

I just found your channel. I've not found a video I don't like! Great job, and I do hope you keep them coming.

[@collativelearning]

As much as that might cure you headache, it's a well known fact that Kubrick was obsessive about such details - having sets built and rebuilt and shooting the same shots dozens, sometimes hundreds of times. He did care about the details more than almost any other director does.

[@collativelearning]

@terrorzilla No, most productions don't feature such jarring set discontinuity. Try the Exorcist and Psycho, they're pretty consistent. Have you seen Time Bandits, Labyrinth and Poltergeist? They all use deliberate spatial discontinuity as part of their fantasy theme structures. The difference here is Kubrick was more subtle about it so as to affect only the viewer's subconscious.

[@collativelearning]

@SheilaTequila1000 The exterior was a constructed set in england, loosely based on the timberline lodge in America, which we see in an aerial shot at the beginning. The opportunity was there to make any necessary alterations to make it roughly match the constructed interiors, but it blatantly doesn't. We could say that SK's intention was to match the aerial shot exteriors of the original hotel but those mismatch as well :)

[@timbeckley9972]

I'm so hooked on ya videos explaining the shinning, it's mind blowing, thank you...

[@axlesparks]

WOW! This is honestly one of the coolest videos I've ever seen. I'm very impressed with the way it is put together. Especially the map sections. I was still skeptical about the EXIT sign and doorway, but once I saw the Room 237 Hallway scene and the walk-in scene, my mind was blown. Very well played sir! Very well played!

[@collativelearning]

@PovilasGi I'm very much inclined to agree with the explanation offered by WhatTheMaynard. The one thing that makes me suspect a deliberate placement of the helicopter shadow (and many other details) outside the theatrical frame is that in Full Metal Jacket a helicopter shadow is prominently shown bouncing over tree lines and it is blatantly a diff type of helicopter from the one the characters are in. Whether that ties in with anything thematically I don't know.

[@knuckle12356]

Carpet pattern changes orientation in the hall in which Danny plays with the ball.

[@Bullitt3401]

There was a large fire during the production of this film and sets had to be rebuilt. Different carpet may not have been a Kubrick thing, it was getting whatever they could to rebuild the sets and continue filming. The Elstree Studios were already scheduled to have The Empire Strikes Back production to come in as soon as Kubrick was done.

[@wingflanagan]

Mr. Agar, this is fantastic work. I was the guy who sent you that Duke Nuke 'Em map diagram with the impossible office window. I had NO IDEA at the time just how extensive the impossibilities of the Overlook's floor plan were, or where it would lead. I feel privileged to have been even a small link in the chain of discovery. Thanks!

[@GeorgeCaltsoudas]

Oh also of note: The corridor outside the Game Room has peach walls. This same area is possibly the tiny peach walled area seen at the end of one of the green corridors near the kitchen area. Also important to note is the fact that there are multiple entrances to the hotel that have that gazebo-like design.

[@collativelearning]

@XenoGenome Yep, Kubrick could have had all manner of angles of the Overlook to hide the fact the maze wasn't there (s shot from inside the approaching car would have been creepier), but chose to blatantly reveal it as missing. The hotel itself is the maze.

[@neil340]

In reality, Kubrick did end up with the cliche of cobwebs and skeletons (goldroom party) in the final chase scene, however some versions of the movie have it edited out.

[@somberlight]

two cuts of the movie exists. American and European. Which one are you referring to?

[@AndrozaniCritic1999]

imstill notusingmyname I've only seen the American cut. That kept the cobwebs scene.

[@JonathonPHaney]

+Neil M Well the cliche itself may not be necessarily bad unless its relied upon too heavily, which in the case of The Shining it obviously wasn't

[@jobin140]

+Neil M In terms of color, the cool colors in that scene do a spectacular job of setting up the warmer colors in the scene following with the elevator of blood. Idk if that was his intent, but i don't feel it is cliched because there seems to be a purpose for it. The whole movie itself is more about the atmosphere of the hotel giving The Shining it's horror movie feel so it's inconsistent with the film's atmosphere when that cliched scene does come up. I think Kubrick recognized this, and utilized an otherwise cliched type of scene to set up not only the following scene but also to remain consistent in the inconsistencies of the set and feel of the movie. If this is true, I believe his intent was to mess with the audience so that they have an unsettling feel while watching the movie, even though they may not be able to put a finger on it as to why they feel the way they do.

[@felixcat4346]

Since it comes at the end of the movie most film makers like to throw in "everything but the kitchen sink" to ensure he gets big grosses and good word of mouth at the old boxaroonie , from the general public. Kubrick was no exception.

[@collativelearning]

Ager's Razor suggests that Occam's Razor is a flawed perceptual principle that leads people to lazy assumption without taking detailed information into account. Kubrick once confessed in a letter to a fan that he'd encoded all sorts of sexual cross references with war into Dr Strangelove and pointed out that the press never got it - the letter is reprinted in the SK archives book. Kubrick did encode hidden themes, but by 1970 he'd largely withdrawn from doing interviews.

[@apollion888]

I love the film more for having seen this, what higher praise can I give? Thank you.

[@GetOutsideYourself]

Great analysis. It shows the genius of Kubrick that he created a layer of detail that went largely undetected for nearly 30 years. I'm surprised you didn't mention the fact that the maze is absent from the aerial view of the Overlook.

[@Progman3K]

I believe that part of it is practicality: The Overlook does not exist, so you assemble it from the location in Colorado and various other buildings and locations you have access to, using the best shots to tell the story.

[@CaptOrbit]

I had just assumed that the Gold Room was on the far right side of the frame in the wing that has no windows on the lower floors which corresponds to where the actual Timberline Lodge has its event spaces, The Mount Hood room and the Mount Jefferson room. The windows above correspond to a smaller event space called the Ravens Nest (or possibly some guest rooms at the very top of that wing? It's been so long since I've been there I don't recall exactly) It could be the Gold Room is laid out in a similar fashion, one large room instead of two smaller event spaces in the same wing topped by a smaller (and unseen by us) event space. Every time I watch this movie I have to keep reminding myself there are a lot of areas of this hotel that we as an audience never see. (Freight elevators, a dishwashing area employee break rooms, just to name a few) The Timberline itself has around 70 guest rooms. The movie also presents a large section of the hotel as being for staff quarters indicates that the Overlook is probably meant to be substantially larger than the Timberline. The hotel probably also has many guest amenities that we don't see such as a restaurant and bar that is not in the event space as well as things like saunas and a swimming pool. I agree with the analysis overall as it gives the entire movie a very dream or nightmare-like logic. This is exactly the way continuity behaves in a dream. On the other hand, if the entire hotel made No sense to us it would be pretty obvious. If parts of a do make sense and others subtly don't, then it has a lot deeper impact on our psyche.

[@JustOccurred2Me]

A really thought-provoking film. It strikes me that some of your ideas touch upon the unexplored differences between the novel and the film. For example, King's description of the patterns of the hallway carpets shifting, the fire hose changing direction between Jack entering the bedroom and leaving, signifying different "eras" of the hotel's existence, would suggest to me that Kubrick is putting into pictures much the same sort of disorientation that King described. Fascinating stuff, thanks.

[@Wyrmwould]

Okay man, you've convinced me that a movie I thought was simply very good is actually brilliant. You've succeeded in deepening my appreciation for one of my favorite movies.

[@helpyourcattodrive]

Collative learning is such a great channel and web page ...

[@n40m3h]

i wanted to say that these videos about the shining have been instrumental in writing of a film essay for a uni course. you have been fully credited of course! i would strongly encourage you to think about writing an actual book because this is so insightful and fantastic. i went to the stanley kubrick archives recently - they are amazing. i want to go back to write a bigger essay on it, maybe even a thesis. anyway, thank you. i hope you're in room 237 when it finally comes out!

[@leodiamondlegacy]

The director of a film that requires the construction of the interior of an enormous building while restrained by a budget.. may opt to use tried-and-true methods of creating the illusion of a much larger building than there truly is... Lining the walls with “dummy doors” that lead nowhere and using stairways and hallways (and yes.. windows) that are incomplete because they literally don’t fit where they seem to be.. are just some of the many ways set designers and directors get “more bang for your buck” and produce something that seems to have exceeded the budget greatly. Kubrik’s genius and thoughtful way of doing what others have done before him, steps this up a notch and accomplishes an even larger product for a comparatively smaller budget. He was just very good at these tricks... So good that the audience can go on long, sweeping tours of the building without noticing the impossibility of the spaces, or the true size of what they’re touring. Only years later, when Kubrick’s legendary status and unfortunate absence began to birth a culture of obsession over his masterworks.. were these techniques picked apart, cataloged, analyzed, reverse-engineered, mapped out, written about, argued about and ultimately given speculative meaning and subliminal purpose... lifting Kubrick’s talent level higher and higher and higher than he ever lived to acknowledge or deny. “The only way they could occur is If Stanley wanted them there.” 3:34

[@robcrimaldi3165]

Thanks for sharing this. What I always have wondered why only the movie viewers notice all this and not the characters in the film? Foe example, the man interviewed Jack . Wouldn't he and including Jack notice that window doesnt belong? How is it the family staying there for 6 months not get lost or even noticed that the hotel is out of place?it was never mentioned from characters.

[@knuckle12356]

THAT'S NOT HOW EVIL MYSTIC FORCES WORK ROB!

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

I believe it changes. Jmo.

[@paulaharrisbaca4851]

You know, as a teen watching the original trailers in the theaters (the elevator door opening) and later actually seeing the film on HBO back when we kids thought playing Pong was a great way to spend an hour or two, I noticed the odd discrepancies about the design of the hotel. But all movies played with space/time dimensions back then If it wasn't the possibility of Kubrick's whimsy might actually be operating, I would attribute it to the same cost-cutting techniques that films like "Dirty Harry" or "Bullitt" used in playing fast and loose with actual geographical locations during car chases. It has no meaning. It was cheaper and more economical. But Kubrick being Kubrick and a great showman, he'd love your interpretation.

[@jgregveneklasen2657]

It's very different to cut from street to street in a chase when shooting in a real, known city, than in a fully-constructed stage set that you have total control of. Because the majority of viewers don't know a particular city (or care), they shoot what works visually and intercut as needed - the actual real map of the location doesn't matter at all in the story telling. For the hotel in The Shining, it was entirely built with the continuous, uncut shots using the Steadicam that lead a viewer into believing what s/he is seeing because there are no cuts, but the result doesn't make sense, like an Escher drawing.

[@pb4ugo08]

I was shocked when I moved to to Washington State and was able to go to Astoria to see the Goonies filming locations. I learned that the beach in the opening police scene was about 30 minutes up the road from Astoria ( cannon beach ). My entire life I actually believed that the beach was right in front of Astoria. I wouldn't for a second equate something like this as equal to something being filmed on a huge movie set. Easy to make it feel like a road is right around the corner with editing and cost not all that much to do something like that...different when you have to actually build movie sets.

[@knuckle12356]

Ridiculous. More than a "great showman," as you put it, Kubrick was, first and foremost a bastard. And a control FREAK. He has a long catalogue of films laden with meaning, some of which is confirmed by him, others seem to be the agreed upon conclusions by experts in the field familiar not only with Kubrick's work, and the industry at large, but often with Kubrick himself. As a film maker and as a man. And the running consensus is that he created the hotel specifically to mess with the viewers' sense of space and logical reasoning/ processing. But you know better, 'cause opinions. Ok. Gotcha.

[@graveofmonsters4076]

@@jgregveneklasen2657 Making a map for the scenes you want to shoot doesn't mean you make an actual functional map. Some times you want a row of doors for an artistic shot even if those doors don't lead any where. It doesn't really matter because very few people will care about the floor plan of the hotel in this movie. Same with the windows show, where people could be walking from another corridor or there's a small area there for storing things like laundry carts. It's easy to scream genius for something being incorrect. But that's not how any creative work functions. You have shots you want, budgets you must keep and changes you're forced to make. Since the majority of the audience isn't going to care about it you can cut these corners for your artistic vision or to save the money. It's easy to stare at static and say it's a face, it's a lot harder to understand static is all the TV can display so if you see a face you got lucky not that the static designed a face to show you.

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

Look at the Blues Brothers. Where they get stopped in the beginning of the movie is WAY away from where the Dixie Squre mall was. You couldn't get from Park Ridge to Harvey (a dump) in 30 seconds. People never fail to forget how BIG the city is. It's 4,700 miles of paved roads in Chicago proper, not including any 'burbs, of which there are A LOT.

[@Fistwagon]

Damn this is cool. My favourite is the window in Ullman's office, it's so bright, clear and totally impossible.

[@radiationtherapyband]

I agree with the others. Someone please write a proposal for a series and submit it to BBC or something. Even when I disagree with him, his creativity and willingness to postulate separates him from other film analysis I have seen. Robag is #1.

[@collativelearning]

@MrByronDunbar There are enough key differences between Ed Wood and Kubrick to separate the two artistically. EW had low budgets and fast shooting schedules. SK took years to make one film, used large budgets and shot hundreds of takes of arbitrary shots. Unlike Wood, Kubrick was renowned for being secretive, avoding interviews and not communicating his true motives on set. He'd do 100+ takes with no other directiorial instructions than "let's go again". It's all there in his biographies.

[@collativelearning]

Yes, and the only detail in the film that has any connection to the moon landings is Danny's sweater ... that's not enough to interpret the whole movie.

[@1000000man1]

Maybe Wendy kept getting lost while she was pushing the trolley around 🤣 Imagine her constantly making wrong turns while pushing it around. She did say it was like a big maze.

[@collativelearning]

Simply asking the artist sounds easy, but artists often stay tight lipped about their intentions. In fact I have less respect for artists who run around saying "this is what my art means!". It defeats the point of having made the art in the first place :) Regarding the thesis in this video, in a Guardian interview last week Jan Harlan (exec-producer on The Shining) stated that the sets were deliberately designed to mismatch.

[@SharifAbdou]

You have an amazing eye for detail and a lot of patience ;) After watching your analysis of The Shining, I'm viewing the film in a completely different way. Thanks for posting.

[@collativelearning]

@SheilaTequila1000 You could say, without evidence, it was studio dictation if you wanted to avoid the notion that Kubrick was playing with spatial disorientation, which there is a great deal of evidence for, including quotes from SK himself in the video. Kubrick never made a purely commercial film, perhaps with the exception of some of his early shorts and, at a push, Killer's Kiss.

[@calabiyou]

theses analyses are great. i know king thought kubrick's shining lacked something (like he thought some of the jumpscares could be anticipated too much by the horror-literate and also Jack's performance starts out too crazy rather than progressing into craziness) but he clearly brought many interesting ideas to the project too

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

I know it's late, but it's hard to reconcile him in this with Somethings Gotta Give.

[@jerm8146]

Watching this 11 video years later and feeling nostalgic about the time when you could watch a video without hearing “let’s talk about todays sponsor” halfway through

[@MegaMoviemaker13]

the mismatch of the outside and inside of the Hotel are due to the fact that the exterior shots were filmed at a real hotel before (or after) they had filmed the interiors on the sound stage

[@collativelearning]

I pretty much agree. There's not much worth studying today.

[@kh-if6hn]

Collative Learning There Will Be Blood

[@collativelearning]

That's a good question. I'm not aware of their being any significance to the pattern, which seems to just wriggle its way across the set.

[@UnleashthePhury]

Sending a workers into a hedge maze with the wrong map 1000% seems like a Stanley Kubrick thing to do.

[@collativelearning]

@FilmFreak237 Yeah I did try a flip shot match (Kubrick had done that with the the guy jogging in circles in 2001: Space Odyssey), but couldn't find one. If the shot was flipped then SK must have been very conscious of what he was doing - Danny remains to Wendy's right in both shots.

[@collativelearning]

@dbytor Kubrick wasn't involved in the occult, that's just a net myth, like the claim he was a 33rd degree mason. There are refs to the moon landings in 2001: A Space Odyssey. See my article on it for details.

[@HAL9000s3]

I'm astonished by this film. There are so many layers that one can view it many times over and still come away with something they hadn't noticed before. Kubrick is not just one of the best-ever film directors. He may be the best sci-fi/horror director we will ever see. "The Shining" is his magnum opus.

[@collativelearning]

Over 100,000 viewers plus a handful of journalists who covered this video when it was first released care. It's even been confirmed by the exec producer recently that the sets were actually designed to disorientate by being spatially impossible. If that's not relevant then please tell us what is?

[@collativelearning]

Yes, the extra scenes are important - not scary, but important to the hidden themes.

[@FanjanC]

Very interesting. Thank you for the analysis. Kubrick is an inspiring director and story teller.

[@KylesCustoms]

Cool stuff! I wish I had the ability to notice things like this!

[@evergreenappreciator]

A thought just struck me. If Kubrick's Gold Room was supposed to represent the federal reserve, then perhaps it makes sense that it doesn't seem to fit in the Overlook. There is no gold in the reserve, we were taken off the gold standard and use fiat monopoly money backed by nothing. So perhaps there is no Gold Room in the confines of the Overlook?

[@knuckle12356]

It wasn't.

[@collativelearning]

Not quite. Kubrick actually used a pair of real twins to play the girls. It's a deliberate contradiction and relates to other themes in the film. See full analysis on my website, which is packed with sourced references to the production history.

[@stews9]

Just watched both and find them, as with all your work, exceptional.

[@collativelearning]

@MarcelGioberti How do you account for Kubrick's statement about thematically using a "labyrinthine layout" and the utterly blatant mismatching table top maze designs?

[@collativelearning]

Thanks, and no. I don't think The Shining is at all about the moon landings. 2001 is the movie to see for Kubrick's take on the space race. There's a big article about it on my site :)

[@collativelearning]

@supremer2punkt0 It's a good idea, but when the characters are first in the gold room Ullman tells Halloran "We're on our way through to the basement ...". He wouldn't say that if they were already down there.

[@Harbaksh1234]

Binge watching your work! Brilliant stuff!

[@howellferguson1461]

Seen this movie more times than I care to admit. Never noticed this. Super interesting video. Love it!

[@collativelearning]

@canecorsomob it's a good idea, but when the characters are first in the gold room Ullman tells Halloran "We're on our way through to the basement ...". He wouldn't say that if they were already down there.

[@collativelearning]

I decided not to take part in Room 237, but have some good chats with Rodney Ascher. In the archives did you look at Jack's Scrapbook? There's a week's worth of reading alone in that one prop!

[@sanoalecs]

You know that Kubrik was nomalised to raspberry for this film ? WTF ...more than a masterpiece , more than a movie

[@collativelearning]

Yeah i did try that, but no cigar. I read somewhere since that I used two separate mazes, but haven't verified the source.

[@collativelearning]

Yes, a very specific jump cut. Possibly just cutting out some unnecessary dialogue, but possibly more disorientation.

[@ElpSmith]

I think another visual impossibility is the twins. The girls are supposed to be years apart but they look like twins…until you look a little closer and they look like maybe sororal twins but the actors are identical twins. It kind of has you as a viewer wondering if they are twins or not. This was the cause of a big argument between my sister and I

[@swarmtown]

Very fascinating. Excellent work.

[@nebulasuprio]

very interesting and thoroughly depicted - it was a pleasure watching this analysis! what's also interesting is that the maze is not seen in the aerial shots.

[@2bin]

8:21 In regards to this carpet scene, you can see that there is discontinuity between when Danny is playing during the overhead shot and when he looks up and you see the hallway. There are objects that are in the hallway shot that do not appear in the overhead shot.

[@collativelearning]

Thanks. I don't think the HD thing comes into it. I noticed most of the discrepancies quite easily in the standard DVD release :)