Script To Screen: “The Shining”
This notable scene from the 1980 movie The Shining, screenplay by Stanley Kubrick & Diane Johnson, based on a Stephen King novel.
A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.
Setup: Wendy has growing suspicions about the sanity of her husband Jack…
INT. HOTEL LOUNGE - M.L.S.WENDY, carrying baseball bat, walks away into Lounge. As
she goes, she turns and looks about her - CAMERA TRACKS
after her. WENDY
Jack...?She looks about and then moves L-R past table, with his
typewriter on it. She walks L-R behind pillar and appears
again on the other side. CAMERA TRACKS with her. WENDY
Jack...?WENDY stops and looks about. CUT TO:M.L.S. WENDY, holding bat, in f.g. She turns and walks away
to JACK's typewriter on table in b.g. CUT TO:M.S. Low Angle - JACK's typewriter in f.g. WENDY moves
forward into shot. She looks down at sheet of paper in
typewriter. CUT TO:M.C.S. Sheet of paper in typewriter with repetition of line
on it, reading: "ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY."Sheet of paper is turned up, showing repetition of line.
Again sheet of paper is turned up showing repetition of line. CUT TO:M.S. Low Angle - WENDY looking down at sheet of paper in
typewriter. She looks cam.R - then moves to cam.R. CUT TO:M.S. Sheets of paper, filling cardboard box. CAMERA TRACKS
IN on top sheet, showing repetition of the line "ALL WORK
AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY." filling sheet. CUT TO:M.S. Low Angle WENDY looking down at box of paper in f.g.
She holds up top sheet and looks at it - then puts it down
in box. CUT TO:M.C.S. Sheets of paper filling box. WENDY's hand enters
cam.L.f.g. She flicks through sheets of paper and sees they
are all filled with repetition of line: "ALL WORK AND NO
PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY." CUT TO:M.S. Low Angle - WENDY flicking through sheets of paper in
box. CUT TO:M.S. Pillar. CAMERA TRACKS R-L revealing WENDY, back to
camera, looking through sheets of paper in box on table in
M.L.S. JACK enters cam.R.f.g. JACK
How do you like it?WENDY SCREAMS and turns round to face JACK.
Here is the movie scene:
Note how closely aligned the movie is to the specific camera shots in the script.
I’ll see you in comments for a discussion of this scene from The Shining.
One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a weekly series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.
For more Script To Screen articles, go here.
