The Shining (1980): Impossible Window and Broken Spatial Logic

Exploring the broken spatial logic behind Ullman's window, the kitchen freezers, and the hedge maze.

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:06 Ullman's Impossible Window
5:08 The Incredible Freezer Door
9:47 The Bizarre Hedge Maze

#theshining
#stephenking
#stanleykubrick

[TheNeuroticjetfan]

The biggest mystery is how they got all that luggage in a VW Bug.

[christophergriffin]

When the Torrances arrive, the staff aren't throwing dust sheets on the furniture - they are making the hotel shine.

[kyletitterton]

It's so funny that no-one ever considers that Kubrick might have made occasional continuity errors. Or that he just preferred there to be a window in an office because he thought it looked good. He was generally most interested in visuals, he was originally a photographer after all. So it's entirely possible he'd sacrifice that over reality. Many, many other filmmakers do so, why not Stanley?

[CorbCorbin]

At 9:47 Jack’s head is above the maze, looking down as he will later, as the family are being lead just outside of it.
I’ve never noticed this in the movie, but I thought something was weird in the dissolve from the section about the storage doors, and jump cuts.
Sure enough, it’s a image of Jack’s head, put into the shot.

*It disappears very quickly, almost too fast to see it without pausing the video.

[MindiB]

I’ve seen several videos discussing the Overlook’s impossible design: Yours is the clearest and does the best job of describing the specific irregularities, while adding insight into technical and editorial choices that inform the audience’s expectations and assumptions.

[lovemussb]

Officially the most over analysed film in cinematic history.
Great film

[ayem]

very interesting. The Shining has always left me feeling a little disoriented, especially in the case of room 237. the room is WAY too big and would definitely have overlapped the other rooms 😂

[ausomeaspie]

I think Ullman is actually a ghost, because Kubrik uses lights to denote ghosts, there are far too many lights in room 237, the bathroom is extremely brightly lit, lloyd is in front of a bunch of bright lights and the whole movie is called the Shining! The window creates light!

[thor]

so many anomalies "Overlook"ed at that peculiar hotel.
I've always liked that huge pile of the Torrance's belongings along with a tricycle that made the trip up the mountain with them in the little yellow Beetle.

[happinesstan]

The changes to the maze simply reflect that the hotel is no longer the same hotel. This is the hotel in Jack's book.

[mattm]

Kubrick is looking down and laughing his @$$ off at all the intrigue his continuity errors produced.

[TheHelper-lm]

Another possibility is that the office room revolves. And part of the hall opens up to the revolving office with the fake/electrically illiuminated window. A little like in that crummy comedy 'Murder by Death'.

[MrVuJaDe]

I really like the almost poetical approach to your movie analyses. This movie truly was a one of a kind.

[NotFamousReal]

In the book things around the hedge come to life a bit and move around, it's not far off to think that the maze itself can "come to life" and shift.

[BaronTomR]

One other element of the hedge maze is that it can't exist based on the shot of their arrival at the hotel. The hotel is built into a wide spot at the location, with the mountain continuing up just past the far side of the hotel and dropping off just the other side of the parking lot. Not only do we not see the maze in the shot, but there's nowhere in the shot where it could exist as it does in the movie.

[teabagmcpick]

Hmmm... Remember it is all just a set. Specially built spaces in a film lot in England & not all one giant space as if it were a real building, individual areas built to allow SK to film it as he wanted it to look. I honestly believe that the technical & practical considerations of SK realising his vision are what we are seeing & not a whole bunch of hokey-pokey Easter eggs. Everything is done to make each scene as good as it possibly can be & while there are definite subtleties & deliberate choices hiding in plain sight, there's so much magic in his art as a film maker, I don't think we need to create extra sparkle dust - although as with all SK films, we are free to draw our own conclusions rather than be led by the hand to a closed outcome. Just my 2 cents. You do you. Watch SK films & enjoy them anyway you choose.

[InspireCreate]

Dang you showed me a couple different things I didn't already know about from other videos, plus the editing technique. Great work and thank you.👍👍

[trplthr]

Kubrick defies established methods of maintaining spacial logic throughout the film. The scene you included at 8:09 is a great example. 90% of film makers wouldn't use that cut as it defies the 180 degree rule of maintaining spacial logic. In all things, and especially in the shining, Kubrick values aesthetic over convention and that can explain so much misunderstanding about this film.

[SholvaBeats]

Even during the interview things are moving. Watch the ashtray on the desk.

[robertschneck]

What if Ullman's window looks out on an atrium?