#i had a lot of fun looking through illuminated manuscripts for inspiration!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

puddleorganism · 12 days

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Hey so for your hs au, we're the kids always big dragon things or did they become dragon things at some point via wacky sburb shit? Love the designs they are so cool

Thank you so much!!

The au was inspired by some posts I saw (can’t find them now 😔) that were essentially just talking about how cruel SBURB is, and it got me thinkin a bit.

At this point I’d already had the idea “hey what if godtier let them turn into big monsters” because, and you may notice a theme here, I really like big monsters. There was no lore at all at that point. They literally just. Were big monsters. For fun!

But I got thinking about it more, and kind of came to this conclusion:

Godtiering steals your life, your very humanity from you. It makes you a god, by definition. What if that was very literal?

So the au is everyone starts out like normal, but once you godtier things start to get weird. It starts small, a single pair of wings (which, ironically they don’t actually use to fly. They could, but they still have their floaty godtier powers (and honestly there’s a whole lot of lore around THAT too)). The more you use your godtiering powers and the more time you spend as a god, the less you really… fit inside a human/troll/etc. shape, anymore, and the more your body starts to morph into something larger and grander. Something more befitting of those who have mastered the game.

And that’s basically it, that’s the only way this au diverges from canon. It’s essentially a re-skin of an au lmao

I will say the gods can return to a human shape, but only visually and it’s difficult. They sort of come to embody their aspects - literally - so if they can figure out a way to condense or conceal their aspect, they can in turn condense themselves to be something smaller. Like I said, it’s tricky though. It’s probably something they would’ve only figured out post-canon. That, and it’s something they have to consciously maintain. If they don’t, the rest of them starts to “bleed through” back into visible reality in weird ways. Since it’s all tailored to their aspect it looks different for each of them. I want to draw Dave bleeding through sometime because I have a really cool idea for what it would look like for him.

One last thing, more of a design note than anything. I actually… don’t really like their designs yet. Well, I guess it’s more that they’re not really what I want yet? I do like some of them (especially Dave’s, Dave might not need any revisions actually). While designing them I really want to model them after two concepts:

1. Illuminated manuscripts and heraldic beasts, because the classes are based off of medieval fantasy and I think it’d be sick to reference that.

2. Eldritch/cosmic horror, because that more than anything emphasizes that they don’t really belong in any one universe anymore, and also emphasizes their loss of mortality and thus, in a way, life.

I feel like most of them lean too far towards either one, and aren’t balanced between them like I want. Hence why I’m unsatisfied with them atm! I am very glad you like them though :)

#long post #homestuck

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vincentcatagainsttheworld · 2 years

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#Repost Deborah Harkness FB page 📖A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES Real Time Read ch 1📖 A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES REAL TIME READ, Chapter One “I walked quickly through the original, fifteenth-century part of the library, past the rows of Elizabethan reading desks with their three ascending bookshelves and scarred writing surfaces. Between them, Gothic windows directed the reader’s attention up to the coffered ceilings, where bright paint and gilding picked out the details of the university’s crest of three crowns and open book and where its motto, “God is my illumination,” was proclaimed repeatedly from on high.” (A Discovery of Witches, Chapter One) In the introduction to THE WORLD OF ALL SOULS, Deb explains she wrote TWOAS in order to “[give] you a chance to have a good rummage through my inspiration archive. Though some of your questions will be answered, we hope that they are replaced with new insights and connections.” After reading Chapter One, I had a rummage through TWOAS–I hope you will, too!!--and here’s something from Deb for our first day of the Real Time Read: “As a research student at Oxford, I spent a lot of time in libraries—college libraries like All Souls, Merton, and Corpus Christi, the History Faculty Library, as well as most of the different reading rooms at the Bodleian. When I wasn’t in Duke Humfrey’s looking at rare books and manuscripts, my friends knew they could find me in the Bodleian’s Upper Reading Room surrounded by index cards and notes. The amazing architecture, the painted friezes along the walls, and the collection of portraits atop the bookcases provide plenty of inspiration for any historian—or novelist.” (p. 180, TWOAS) I love this reminder that Deb spent so much time in the Bodleian and it’s fun to imagine her friends coming to fetch her from there. How did it feel to open the pages of A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES, today and encounter Diana in the Bodleian with Ashmole 782 tucked under her chin? Who remembers what they were thinking the first time they read these early scenes in the book? Did you notice anything new on this re-read? What did you discover in your own rummage through TWOAS for Chapter One? Personal Note: It didn’t https://www.instagram.com/p/Cip6tmrMtZ8/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#repost

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disneytva · 4 years

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‘The Owl House’: It’s a Hoot!

You would never think that the dark art of 15th century Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch would serve as the inspiration for a children’s cartoon. Well, thanks to Dana Terrace and her wild imagination, the strange creatures conjured by the European painter have found their way in the new Disney Channel series The Owl House. The show, which debuts in January, and is already in production of its second season, follows the adventures of a young teenage girl named Luz who decides to pursue her dreams of becoming a witch after she stumbles into a strange realm, inhabited by feisty witch Eda and her tiny warrior friend King.

Terrace, a former director on DuckTales and storyboard artist on Gravity Falls, recalls starting to collect her notes and images and putting together her pitch for the story back in 2015. Then, she finally began pitching her story about a young girl who becomes a witch’s apprentice only a few months after she started directing DuckTales.

“Many of the characters have barely changed since then,” recalls Terrace. “I knew I wanted an older witch mentor figure and a young optimistic girl who was the main character, who learns and grows throughout the show. There’s also this trickster little jerk character named King (voiced by Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch).”

The setting for The Owl House changed a little bit since its early days. Terrace says for a brief time, she was toying with the idea of the whole show being set after the young character dies, so that the Owl House is all set in the afterlife. What really had a clear impact on her work is the work of artists such as Bosch, John Bauer, Remedios Varos and the puppetry of Jim Henson.

Real-Life Models

In addition to the crazy creatures of Bosch and religious illuminated manuscripts, Terrace found inspiration in some of the familiar elements in her life as well. “I have always wanted to tell a story about a rough-around-the-edges mother figure, based off of my aunt, nana and mother who raised me,” she recalls.

Terrace says the show’s central character Luz evolved from late-night conversations she used to have with her former roommate roommate and close college friend. “We were both dorks together,” she recalls. “We tried to cut our own hair and it never worked out. We didn’t have many friends. So, in a way, Luz bubbled out of our conversations. When I told her that I was going to base the main character on her, she said, ‘Yes , but you’ll have to make her Dominican.’ So that’s what happened. Luz now also works on the show as a storyboard artist and consultant, and I get to work with my best friend every day.”

As a young girl, Terrace used sneak into the living room to watch cartoons and copy what she liked in her flip books. Her love for shows such as The Simpsons, Pokémon, The PowerPuff Girls and Studio Ghibli movies finally lead her to study animation at School of Visual Arts in New York and make her way out to L.A. to pursue a career in the animation business. Her first big break happened when someone discovered her art blog and sent her a storyboarding test, which led to her landing a job at Gravity Falls and opened other doors as well.

During her big pitch to Disney, Terrace says she was a bit worried to mention Bosch and his odd, evil creatures, but to her surprise, one of the executive’s response was, “Heck, yeah!” “They have been nothing more than enthusiastic and helpful from day one,” she notes.

After spending a good year writing and making the pilot, Terrace began building her production team in 2018. Art director Ricky Cometa and supervising producer Stephen Sandoval also joined the Disney TV Animation production. At capacity, the show has about 50 staffers as part of its pre-production crew, and an overall count of 120 including the overseas teams at Sunwoo, Rough Draft and Sugarcube in Korea. We’ve been very fortunate to work with all of them,” says Terrace. “They’ve made the show really, really spark.”

The Owl House has attracted a top-notch list of vocal talent as well, including Wendie Malick as Eda, Hirsch as King and Sarah-Nicole Robles as Luz. Among the guest star lineup for the show’s first season are Matthew Rhys, Isabella Rossellini, Tati Gabrielle, Issac Ryan Brown, Mae Whitman, Bumper Robinson and Parvesh Cheena. Terrace points out that having a sterling class led by Malick has been a real treat. “Our witch could have been a very hard character to cast, because we wanted to have sass and energy, and Wendie was absolutely perfect. She came in with all her talent and experience, and my first instinct was ‘You don’t need any direction. Do whatever you want to do because you are amazing!”

She also mentions that she knew Alex Hirsch was going to end up playing the little sidekick King. “I used to hear him pitch when I worked on Gravity Falls. I knew that he can bring a lot to the characters he plays. He would also give me some helpful advice about running his own show and working at Disney.”

Art director Ricky Cometa (Steven Universe, Costume Quest) says he was swept away by Terrace’s wild ideas and spectacular imagery, things that were not usually seen in children’s animation. “The second she came in and said, ‘I want you to read this show bible. The first thing that caught my eye was ‘Bosch and the demon world?’ I very much needed help to figure out what this world looks like. We had this blank canvas and there was a lot of religious iconography. I knew we were going to push the boundaries. I mean we are doing the demon realm on the Disney Channel? You bet I’m in!”

Cometa points out that it was clear that they needed to balance the darker aspects of the witch’s world with the more light-hearted and fun components of Luz’s comical adventures. “At first, I wasn’t sure how dark we could have made the world this world that Luz jumps into initially. We had to make clear decisions about when the story needed to be scary— when do we highlight the darker moments versus when the story is lighthearted and welcoming. It was all about finding that right balance of warmth and spookiness.”

Terrace agrees. “If we made everything super scary and spooky — which is something I’m not afraid of, scaring my audience — but if we made everything the same color, then the scary parts and the day-to-day light-hearted parts wouldn’t have popped. We needed that contrast for writing purposes.”

Amazingly enough, Terrace is only the fourth woman to solely create and run an animated series for Disney — following in the footsteps of Sue Rose (Pepper Ann), Chris Nee (Doc McStuffins) and Daron Nefcy (Star vs. The Forces of Evil). She says one of her biggest challenges on the show was going through the learning process to run a writer’s room, which includes four other writers and a writer’s assistant. “Before this show I had always written and drawn my own comics and cartoons, but this was the first time I had written scripts professionally. Learning the process of writing scripts and learning to run a writers’ room was probably the biggest challenge for me. Luckily, I was with a team of talented writers, and we all kind of learned together. Most of that team has carried on to the second season, and we’re very excited to keep writing together.

As the show begins its run on Disney Channel, Terrace says that ultimately she hopes audiences will be entertained by Luz’s world and her off-the-wall adventures. “There are so many different kinds of animated shows out there and so many traditional and streaming services, that I don’t think it’s possible to have a gigantic blowout hit anymore. At the end of the day, no matter how much stuff is out there, stories with interesting core characters and relatable, understandable stories will shine through.”

#The Owl House #Owl House #Dana Terrace #Disney Channel #Ricky Cometa

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peaceheather · 5 years

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Tell me more about your beautiful medieval calligraphy. That's how I first found your blog. Do you do it professionally? Do you like doing it for fun? Is it hard to learn how to do?

Oh wow! I love getting asks about my calligraphy!

I’m a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, which studies and recreates some aspects of medieval life and culture, although some of it might be a bit romanticized. We like our antibiotics and hot water, for example, and ignore anything involving persecution. We can play with anything that happened anywhere in the world before the death of Queen Elizabeth, and while admittedly most of us focus on European cultures and events, there are communities who recreate North African cultures, and active chapters in Korea and China that I know of.

Anyway. In the SCA, members can earn awards for their volunteer service to the organization, their skill at arts/crafts/research, or their prowess at any of our various athletic activities from archery to sword fighting. We have kings and queens whose almost sole purpose is to hold court to give out awards to people at events.

But we’re not going to print off our award certificates on a computer or make a cheesy photocopy. Oh ho ho, no. We’re going to tap a “scribe” on the shoulder and ask them to make you an illuminated manuscript page, with the text of your award on it. We call them “scrolls” which is in no way accurate, but then we also illuminate them like bestiaries or books of hours or whatever, and we write them like royal proclamations or decrees. So artistically they’re something of a mishmash, much like the Society itself.

I’m a scribe. I made my first award scroll in April of 2000, and I’ve been scribing off and on ever since. In the Society, I’ve also earned one or two awards for my skill, my service as a scribe, and my skill/service as a teacher of scribal arts. For a few years I even ran a local scriptorium, though that’s now defunct.

Calligraphy and illumination are two separate skill sets, and a lot of people choose to do just one or the other. Personally, I’m a bit of a control freak and like to oversee all the aspects of making a scroll, so I’ve learned to do everything from layout and calligraphy to gilding, painting, and even some simple bookbinding. I’ve worked with feather quill pens, medieval-recipe ink, genuine 23-karat gold leaf, pigments that were used in period and made according to medieval recipes, and handcrafted animal-skin vellum, and handmade paper. I’ve also used plenty of modern materials, too, though, and I’m not too snobby about which I use as long as the materials are of good quality. (Oh my GOD, the first time someone gifted me really high quality paints! I was blown away by how much better my work got.)

Like any skill, calligraphy does take practice, but I’d first learned it as part of an art class in junior high, back in the early 80s, so picking it back up wasn’t *too* hard. I am left-handed, though, so I had to alter my technique somewhat... I write all my words upside down now, to keep my hand from smearing the ink. Most of what you need, though, is a relatively steady hand, and patience. Especially patience. I know an older scribe who’s developed a tremor in his hands, and he’s found that if he takes slow deep breaths and just works slowly, most of the tremor disappears and he can scribe just as he always has. I also know vision-impaired scribes who use magnifiers and bright light, and keep themselves close to their work.

(There are non-traditional “scrolls”, too, made of clay or carved into stone or wood, or even embroidered. I remember seeing one scroll that was stitched in Braille so that the recipient could “read” it with his fingers. I don’t really do any of that type of work though. I’m not a woodworker or carver; I just don’t have the skillset for it.)

You also asked if I do calligraphy/illumination professionally, and the answer is “sometimes”. I do take commissions for art every now and again, though it’s not a skill that seems to be in high demand outside of writing people’s wedding invitations. Just last year, however, I copied Bible verses for someone to hang on her wall, did an inspirational letter from a 16th century monk to a friend and illuminated that, created someone’s faculty nameplate for their office door, and even made custom Christmas gift tags for someone to put on their presents over the holidays. The going rate for calligraphy is sometimes as high as US$55 an hour, though I typically charge less than that because the people who come to me can’t afford super high rates, and I’m not a full-time professional anyway.

Do I like doing it for fun? Absolutely! There’s something very calming about putting a piece together and working through each of the steps. There’s a bit of instant gratification that goes on when I’m gilding and all that shiny appears. And there’s something inspiring, to me at least, to know that I’m carrying on an art tradition that goes back millennia. It’s also entertaining to try and match a scroll to the recipient’s medieval “persona”, and try out art and manuscript styles from different centuries and cultures. I’ve done everything from 7th century Celtic/Anglo-Saxon to 15th-century Flemish... and then I’ve also done “fake alphabet” scrolls that were in English but appeared Arabic at first glance, for example, or even wonky letters that looked a little like characters from Japan or China. I even have one that I did in hieroglyphics! That was fun.

If you’re ever interested in checking out the Society for Creative Anachronism yourself, just go to their home page and see if you can find a chapter near you. If you want to see more of my work, try my blog, Little Fiddly Bits. And if you want to support my work or commission me, you can reach me via Ko-fi.com/peaceheather or drop an ask in my box here.

Thanks so much for asking!

#about me #ask me anything #calligraphy #scribal #sca #society for creative anachronism #Anonymous

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thezodiaczone · 6 years

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March Forecast for Pisces

You’re back! The Sun is in Pisces until March 20, meaning it’s birthday season for you. Your annual solar return should rev up your energy and personal passions—and you’ll be glad to have this extra fuel to get through what promises to be another busy month. Like January, March is bookended by TWO full moons, both in the committed-partnership zones of your chart. This could bring potent turning points to your relationships. And two planets, Mercury and Jupiter, will slow down into retrograde motion, which could churn up chaos and send out mixed signals.

If you’ve been reeling from the eclipses on January 31 and February 15, March can help you start to make sense of it all. This year has sent most of us off to the races. And with these eclipses activating your houses of work, health and spirituality, you’ve probably got a lot of irons in the fire. There haven’t been many quiet moments to work through all the energy that’s gotten stirred up. You KNOW it’s time for a change…but what, how, when and where?

Fortunately, March should provide some windows to reflect and integrate. And no need to do it alone! On March 1, a full moon in Virgo illuminates your seventh house of one-on-one partnerships. A dynamic duo that’s been heating up over the past six months could become official. Or, since full moons can also signify endings, you might decide to amicably part ways. From colleagues to S.O.s to best friends, this is a perfect moment to take inventory of your most important ties and get back in sync with each other.

A high-flying idea could get called in by air traffic control between March 10 and July 8, when expansive Jupiter turns retrograde in your visionary ninth house of travel, risk-taking and entrepreneurship. Jupiter has been in Scorpio since October 10, 2017, which kicked off an adventurous 13-month cycle that inspired you to throw caution to the wind. After a tough couple of years, it’s been awesome to feel so optimistic and open-hearted again. The ninth house is all about the big picture, and with Jupiter right at home here, you might have a world-changing idea or project that you’re feeling extra excited about.

But have you bitten off more than you can chew? If you’ve scattered your energy a little TOO far and wide, even in the name of fun, Jupiter’s backspin gives you a chance to pull back a little. Give some of your starry-eyed ideas a reality check, putting them into timelines and budgets. Or work on them in phases—better to scale down and test a project out first, which will give you a chance to tweak and perfect your formula.

If you’ve been traveling a lot, you might touch down at home base a bit more often. This is also a productive time for writers and students to finish a manuscript, complete coursework or brush up on technical skills. Don’t worry—there’s plenty more adventure ahead. Jupiter will stick around in Scorpio until November 8, so you can launch into the stratosphere again, and this time with a more realistic plan of action.

The March 17 Pisces new moon marks your personal new year, a day to set powerful intentions that you can manifest over the coming six months. This same day, energizer Mars leaves Sagittarius and your career sector, where it’s been heating up the action but also piling on the pressure. Some work-related burdens could lift, clearing the way for some exciting collaborations when Mars enters Capricorn and your teamwork sector from March 17 until May 16. The eleventh house rules technology, which could make you a social media superstar or a viral vlogging sensation.

You’ll be ready to roll up your sleeves and get productive on March 20, the day the Sun starts a monthlong trek through Aries and your second house of work, money and security. Some of the wild-hearted ideas you had during Pisces season might be worth building out now. Or maybe you’re just ready to get back into a grounded groove with routines, especially as spring arrives. Painting, planting, seasonal cleaning and decluttering: There’s a lot to take care of, and you’ve got the gusto to do it. You could become preoccupied with a major work or life improvement project. Plan, prioritize and break big tasks down into small steps. Less is more during this sensible solar cycle.

But careful how much you pile on your plate, Pisces. From March 22 to April 15, Mercury, the planet of communication, technology and travel, will be retrograde, wreaking havoc in all of these areas. Be vigilant with your budgeting and bills, as errors are more likely than usual. You could lock horns with a client or coworker, or just feel totally misunderstood at every turn. This retrograde can also shake your confidence, and old insecurities might creep up. Do your best to stick to habits and practices that help you feel grounded, even if you can only devote a few minutes each day to them.

March 31 brings a moment of intensity to polish off the month. The Libra full moon beams into your eighth house of intimacy, joint ventures, sex and power. Whew! Some deeply buried emotions might come rushing out today. La luna could drop your guard and inspired you to get vulnerable with one special person. Can they handle the truth—and can YOU deal with being so transparent? Jealousy, trust issues and an all-around sense of intrigue could permeate the air under these penetrating moonbeams.

A simmering, soulmate-level attraction could consummate. This full moon could be a shedding of metaphorical skins, a moment of transformation when you release any energies that are holding you back. But you may crave privacy now as you go into the cocoon—it could take until next month’s full moon, at the end of April, before you fully emerge a butterfly.

Love & Romance

March dangles a pair of delicious carrots, since the month is bookended with two full moons—illuminating your two relationship houses! On March 1, the lunar light powers up your seventh house of committed partnership. If you’ve been wondering “where is this going?” you could get a VERY clear answer in the coming two weeks. Of course, you don’t have to sit around passively waiting for a clue. Take the bull by the horns and initiate a talk—not with tears or ultimatums, but with a warm heart and a soft demeanor that encourage candid conversation.

Also on March 1, affectionate Venus in your sign glides into a harmonious angle with your co-ruler, magnanimous Jupiter, in fellow water sign Scorpio and your ninth house. If you’re unattached, you could meet someone when you’re a bit off the beaten path—or perhaps a person who themselves is from someplace far, far away. Or just get outdoors and do something active, like a trail hike or spring bike ride, where other interesting people might stop for small talk. Couples might take (or at least plan) a romantic vacation—half the fun is the fantasizing about it. The ninth house is a place of candor, so if there are some things that need to come out from under the carpet, grab a broom and make a clean sweep.

Venus stays in Pisces for the first six days of the month, churning up the warm-fuzzies. You’ll be magnetic and irresistible and TBH you’ll enjoy the attention. Then, from March 6 to 31, the love planet will sail through Aries and your grounded, productive second house. And since Mars is jetting through Sagittarius and your long-term plans zone until March 17, you could feel inspired to talk about a future together, or to set some lofty visions with your S.O.

You may feel the pull between stability and adventure on March 11, when Mars forms a supportive angle with wild-card Uranus in hot-blooded fire signs. But rather than impulsively do something you might regret—or not take ANY action—try to find a happy medium. Could you, for instance, have some flirty fun without crossing a line? Look at your own motivation, Pisces: That might help you stay in control of your behavior. (And definitely watch the drinking. Nothing makes a slope slipperier than alcohol.) Under this edgy energy, a work attraction could heat up. Pursue with caution, and make sure you can recite company policy chapter and verse before you go there.

The second full moon—in romantic Libra—lands in your erotic and seductive eighth house on March 31. This could bring big changes, including a turning point in a relationship. Lusty thoughts may crowd out reason, so before you get moonstruck, make sure you know what your heart truly desires!

Key Dates

March 13: Venus-Saturn Square It’s time to slip on the noise-reducing headphones and tune out what those so-called friends are saying. Isn’t this YOUR love life, Pisces? And where is it written that your entire crew and your love interest have to mesh? They just have to get along with YOU.

Money & Career

To the top! Go-getter Mars is in Sagittarius and your ambitious tenth house of career, success and professional acclaim until March 17. Since the red planet only visits every two years (it’s been here since January 26), you’ll want to lean all the way in during the first three weeks of March. A day that you’re totally on fire arrives March 11, when Mars forms an opportune trine to innovator Uranus in Aries and your second house of work and money. An out-of-the-box idea could be a surprising winner—and you may get the backing of a heavy-hitting decision maker today.

If you’re wondering “Should I share this out loud?” the answer is a resounding yes! While you might surprise a few of the stuffier types, even they might be impressed by your trailblazing ideas. But prepare in advance by having a solid plan, facts and figures to back it all up. While you may never need to whip out that Powerpoint pitch deck, it’s better to be safe. Searching for new income sources? Look beyond the familiar, Pisces. Opportunity could arrive out of left field, AND when you least expect it. Uranus rules technology, and one of your online connections could lead to a hot new client or business offer.

Look no further than your personal network from March 17 to May 16, when Mars blazes into Capricorn and your eleventh house of groups, friends and technology. Collaborations heat up, and your social media game is on-point. Word-of-mouth marketing could help spread your message and offerings like wildfire. Ask your people to tell their people, and be generous with your own reposts, giving props to online influencers YOU admire. No shame in being a fan—or reaching out with a well-crafted email or DM. But the best strategy is to do it the LinkedIn-style way, having mutual friends introduce you with a glowing testimonial.

Be proactive earlier in the month and back up your data, contacts and important work. Mercury, the ruler of technology, communication and travel, will turn retrograde in Aries and your work sector from March 22 to April 15. If you’re looking into a new laptop, printer or home office equipment, hold off until the second half of April—or purchase that extended warranty. Thanks to Mercury retrograde, that “refurbished iPhone” could turn out to be a lemon. With the quicksilver planet in your budgeting zone, this is a good time to pay off lingering bills, organize your finances and get your spending and saving plans in tiptop shape.

Key Dates

March 2: Mercury-Jupiter Trine Voice your truth! Take the filters off and speak from the heart. You’ll inspire people with your big ideas and grand vision.

Love Days: 25, 1 Money Days: 9, 19 Luck Days: 6, 17 Off Days: 27, 31

#pisces #Monthly Forecast #astrology #horoscope #zodiac #pisces monthly

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beaverla-blog1 · 6 years

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“The Shining” (1980) Review

Welcome back! This is going to be the first full movie review. Hopefully you have already listened to Season 1 – Episode 2 of “Here’s Johnny” and heard what both Justin and I had to say on this film. I am so very happy that this was the first movie we reviewed, not only because it is a personal favorite, but Kubrick is such a brilliant filmmaker and there is so much to dissect with this film. So before we start the review, let’s discuss some of the more important notes about the development and production of this horror classic.

This movie is based off of the novel of the same name, written by Stephen King. After the commercial failure of his last film, Kubrick needed to make a film that would be more financially successful but that would also allow him to flex his artistic ability. He decided to do a horror film, and for inspiration he locked himself in his office with a stack of horror novels and started his way through them. According to his secretary, there were constant slams against the wall as Kubrick discarded whatever book he was reading because it was not what he was looking for. However, the slams stopped and Kubrick emerged hours later with “The Shining” in his hand. According to Kubrick himself, the reason he chose the text was that “there’s something inherently wrong with human personality. There’s an evil side to it. One of the things that horror stories can do is to show us the archetypes of the unconscious, we can see the dark without having to confront it directly” (from Stanley Kubrick: The Complete Films by Paul Duncan). Kubrick did take a lot of artistic variance from the book, and although this allowed him to leave a great deal more to interpretation it also upset some people, including King himself.

A fun note in regards to casting; Kubrick’s top choice was the man who eventually took the role, Jack Nicholson. Others who auditioned for the role included Robert DeNiro, Harrison Ford, and Robin Williams. It blows my mind to try and imagine this movie with Robin Williams playing Jack Torrance. Stephen King is on record saying that he would not have picked any of these actors (B105FM in 2007).

Principal photography took place over a year, and each day is said to have been extremely long. Kubrick is known for his meticulousness and getting the exact shot he sees in his head. This is where some of the stories about the tensions between the actors and Kubrick arise. Kubrick apparently made changes to the script almost daily, and for anyone who has ever acted before it is obvious how frustrating that can be. Nicholson stopped even reading the new scripts and would just memorize lines or improvise right before shooting a scene. Shelly Duvall had an even more difficult time. She and Kubrick constantly argued, over the script, over the delivery of her lines, and her overall acting skills. Allegedly this fighting became so severe that she became physically ill and even started seeing her hair fall out. The scene where Wendy finds Jack’s manuscript was shot many, many times. This was not only due to Kubrick looking for a specific acting performance from Duvall, but also because he had different manuscripts each in a different language and with that language’s version of “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” (from Chris Hooton at the Independent, January 2017).

“The Shining” was also one of the very first films to use ‘Steadicam’. Steadicam allows a camera operator to maintain a steady shot regardless of his movements or any rough terrain. Garret Brown, the inventor of the Steadicam, was very intrigued by what Kubrick was using his new technology for with this film. So much so, that Brown became heavily involved with the filming and still proclaims the master vision of what Kubrick sought to place on film (from the audio commentary on the 2007 DVD release). The final budget was $19 million and the film made $44.4 million in the box office.

Plot:

I am not going to go into an in-depth discussion of the plot of the film. If you want that, listen to the podcast, go to Wikipedia, or WATCH THE DAMN MOVIE! Needless to say, it’s a great film with a whole lot to discuss. First, I am going to highlight some pros for the film, and then I am going to look at some cons. The film is great. There is a reason why it’s not only considered one of the best horror films, but also one of the best overall films of all time. The script is tight, the acting is brilliant and the tension throughout is palpable. I have also found that the older I get, the more I start to understand what happens to Jack Torrance. When you watch this as a kid, his craziness is scary but hard to relate to. However, as you mature and life starts showing you its hand, it becomes apparent that it would not take too much to take a normal man and turn him crazy. This film is also my favorite kind of horror film, because of how easy it is to see a situation like this taking place in real life.

It is important to note that the plot is not perfect, and those imperfections are far more apparent when watching the film critically. The injury timeline is a little screwy. Wendy tells the doctor at the beginning of the film that Jack hurt Danny five months prior to the start of the movie. However, when Jack is telling the ghostly bartender Lloyd about why his wife hates him, he says the injury took place three years prior to the events in the film. Although it can be explained away that Jack is starting to lose his grip on reality and his view on time is screwed up. And Kubrick is not one to let an error like that fly. But it is never addressed as such and I truly believe it was an oversight. I also feel that Dick Halloran was wasted as a character. I truly don’t see the reason why they brought him all the way from Miami just to kill him. He doesn’t even get to interact with any of the characters and his arc never develops. The film would have been better off having some random forest ranger come up and see what was going on at The Overlook. The furry scene is another that I find out of place. There isn’t a lot of setup for it, and it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the ghostly sights Wendy is seeing as she flees the hotel. It is iconic, I just don’t think it is necessary. Next, I feel the use of the N word is unnecessary. It might be that living in 2018, the word is so far from normal context that when I heard it used in the film I was immediately taken out of the scene. I also don’t think they can even use the excuse “it was a different time” because the film was released in 1980 and it was already established that it was taboo. Finally, my biggest problem is how fast Jack devolved mentally. The film had five months to play with, and for some reason they decided to use less than two for Jack to completely lose his mind. I think that the film would have been better suited to allow more time to pass to make Jack’s devolution make more sense.

With all this in mind, I gave plot 8.5 out of 10.

Cinematography:

I believe that this is one of the best films to use when justifying Kubrick’s genius as a filmmaker. There are three scenes in particular that I find illustrate this best. The first is the opening scene, with Jack driving up to The Overlook. It is shot from a helicopter, and shows Jack’s car driving on the mountain roads, surrounded by nothing but wilderness. It lets the audience know right away, without any need to speak words, that the family is isolated and that there is NO ONE around. The second scene takes place after Wendy finds Jack’s manuscript and his craziness is brought to light. Jack has his back to the large windows in the room and since this scene takes place midday, his face is hidden in the shadow. Wendy however is facing the windows and the light is illuminating her. And it’s as simple as that. Jack is shadowy because he is no longer the man we first met, and Wendy is in the light because she is finally seeing what the hotel has done to her husband. It’s a brilliant piece of directorship. Finally, the last scene that I really feel show why this film is a work of cinematic genius is when Jack is cutting down the bathroom door. The film is shot with Steadicam, so throughout the rest of the movie there are no shaky shots. But when Jack’s axe hits the door, the camera shakes. Each time. This is used to make the audience FEEL how hard Jack is hitting the door through camera work. It is so flawless, that the audience may not even notice.

This is why I give cinematography a 10 out of 10.

Audio:

I also strongly feel that the overall audio of this film is exquisite. One scene that illustrates this is Danny riding his tricycle throughout the hotel. When he is riding on the carpet, it is quiet. But the moment he hits the hard wood, the sound changes. It is abrupt but it is what it would sound like in real life. And again, when Danny goes from the hard wood onto the carpet it is silent again. It would have been so easy to ignore this, but Kubrick knows how important it is to hit the small details. Another audio aspect that I love is the main score. It is brilliant. If for some reason you don’t know it, go listen to it on YouTube. It will speak for itself. I also really enjoyed the “buzzing” that takes place periodically throughout the film. The buzzing will build throughout the scene, and sometimes it will lead to a scare and other times it will lead to nothing. It keeps the audience constantly guessing about what is actually going to happen. The last thing that I think is very important when discussing the audio quality of this film is Jack Nicholson’s delivery. At the start of the film he is articulate and charming. As the film goes on and Jack loses his mind, his speech devolves as well. Ultimately, he is reduced to grunts and screams.

Not surprisingly I gave audio a 10 out of 10.

How Scary is it?

When discussing how scary this film is to me, I feel I have to talk about how scary I found it when I was a kid and then as an adult. The first time I watched this movie, the horror came from the things that were scary to Danny. It is very easy to see how the events that take place in the movie could scare a kid. A rotting corpse attacking you in an abandoned room, two little girls that want you to play with them forever and ever and sometimes appear chopped into bits. Blood rushing down an elevator shaft and filling the hallway. And probably most terrifying of all, your father wanting to murder you. I think every son has a very basic fear that they are not good enough for their dad, and to have it realized in such a malevolent way is brutal for a young kid watching this movie.

As an adult, the fear comes from seeing what happens to Jack. It would be terrifying to be isolated in such a manner as the family is in this film. And to not only be isolated, but to feel yourself losing your grip on reality. To start questioning what is going on around you. To have your wife blame you for something you (think) you could never do again. And probably most basic of all, not being able to trust the one you love while dealing with all of this. This may not be the same kind of fear one experiences when watching a movie like “The Conjuring”, but the fear is one you feel deep in within yourself.

But even with all of that this movie is not all that scary, and modern technology prevents a modern audience from relating as well. Internet and cell phones make the idea of isolation seem so foreign, even when stuck on a snowy mountain.

This is why I rated this section the lowest. 7 out of 10.

Final Grade:

Out of 40, I scored “The Shining” 35.5. This gives the film an 89%, or a B+ which I feel it richly deserves. Even though the film may not be all that scary, the cinematography and acting make it more than worth the dollar it takes to rent on Amazon.

#Stanley Kubrick #Jack Nicholson #scary movies #horror #reviews #Stephen King #steadicam #redrum #heresjohnny

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