The Shining Scene - 'Come Play With Us'

Jack Torrance gets a job as the custodian of the Overlook Hotel, in the mountains of Colorado. The place is closed down during winter, Torrance and his family will be the only occupants of the hotel for a long while. When the snow storms block the Torrance family in the hotel, Jack's son Danny, who has some clairvoyance and telepathy powers, discovers that the hotel is haunted and that the spirits are slowly driving Jack crazy. When Jack meets the ghost of Mr. Grady, the former custodian of the hotel who murdered his wife and his two daughters, things begin to get really nasty.

'Come play with us' scene:
The scene starts with a tracking shot of Danny riding his tricycle down the kitchen hall in the hotel. Before he approaches the first corner he encounters, there is a non-diegetic high pitched sound; this becomes louder as he gets closer. This convention is used to build up suspense and tension. This entire sequence was filmed in a low angle, making Danny appear more small and innocent when riding on his tricycle; this makes me sympathise and fear for him as he has no protection or anyone near to help him, making him more vulnerable. The next scene cuts to Danny riding his tricycle in a different corridor, this now being a hotel room corridor. He turns the next corner to find two girls at the end of the corridor; this immediately creates a sense of shock/suspense as there is only supposed to be himself, Jack and Wendy. This is followed by a close-up/reaction shot of Danny looking extremely shocked; showing that he weren't expecting them either. This then cut backs to the shot of the girls, there is a shot/reverse shot back to Danny's reaction; however, each time this is doing so, the camera becomes closer to the girls. This creates a sense of fear as the girls are also saying 'come play with us'; which subsequently can make me feel as if i'm obeying their request as the camera is moving closer. The girls voices are in unison, regarding their tone and timing, this is a common convention in horror movies as it can make the audience tense and worried for the character in need of help (in this case, it is Danny). Furthermore, the girls say the phrase "forever, and ever and ever", with split second shots in between of the girls laying on the floor, stabbed to death by an axe in the middle of the hotel hall; this tells me that these were the same two girls that were killed by their father in the hotel. This also makes me feel worried for Danny as each time the girls repeat the word "ever", the camera moves closer towards the girls which this makes the viewer (myself in this instance) worried for Danny's safety, as the girls are insinuating that they want to kill him so he can be with them for all eternity. The sequence ends with Danny covering his eyes for approximately 3 seconds and then peaking out to see if the girls are still there, which they weren't; he then admits to his imaginary friend (who he communicates to through his finger) that he is scared. This portrays the innocence of the boy and how he can suspect something is affecting his safety within the hotel; this juxtaposes with the two little girls in the sequence as they themselves were innocent and were living in the hotel alone with just their mother and father, however they were killed for no apparent reason as their father lost his sanity. Maybe Danny can sense that this may happen to him. The shortness of time within the editing as the sequence progresses, increases the suspense for the viewer, as it is similar to other visions Danny has had in the short space of time within being at the hotel; this also creates a sense of mystery of what lies in the hotels history and what else will be uncovered.