Summary
- A viral analysis video suggests using CGI to improve a standout scene in The Shining where Shelley Duvall’s character stares at blood gushing from an elevator, aiming to make her appear closer to the blood.
- The video received backlash on Twitter, with users arguing that Stanley Kubrick intentionally made the film ambiguous, and using CGI would not clarify the scene.
- The supposed improvement misses the point of the scene, as practical effects can be just as effective, and the purpose is to delve into Wendy’s psyche rather than provide a clear visual.
A viral analysis video of The Shining seeks to “improve” the film through CGI. Directed by auteur director Stanley Kubrick, The Shining is hailed as a classic. Since its release in 1980, Jack Torrance’s nefarious murders at the Overlook Hotel have been a quintessential image within modern horror, and the film includes some of the most iconic shots and scenes of all time.
Blender Guru suggests a reform of one such standout scene in a new video using CGI. In the clip, he suggests a problem with the classic scene in which Shelley Duvall’s Wendy stares at waves of blood gushing from an elevator: Duvall and the blood are not in the scene at the same time. This, analyzes Blender Guru, means that the audience is left to speculate whether the blood is real or hallucinatory.
The video then posits that the clip could be “improved” using CGI to make Duval appear closer to the blood. The clip then went viral, with many users taking to Twitter to reject aspects of the clip.
As @seinfelddahog put it, they were “going to spend the rest of the day being really annoyed by this clip.”
@EPM106 sardonically added that “Stupid idiot Stanley Kubrick accidentally made the events of The Shining ambiguous,” riffing on Blender Guru’s argument that the scene’s blur of fantasy and reality is what necessitates the CGI.
Agreeing with the previous user, @KevinEsquire3 chided that this vagueness comes within the otherwise “straight forward movie.”
Many users, including @querrellecel, also guffawed at the video’s comparison to the would-be The Shining CGI with an effect used in Ready Player One.
Why This Video Sends The Wrong Message About CGI
As the internet’s rage would indicate, there’s a ridiculousness to The Shining CGI redo. For one, the video does not even attempt to actually recreate the scene with CGI, instead showing a cutout of CGI being clumsily wiped out by the blood torrent. Even though the video is mostly for the sake of analysis, it is hard to fully envision what the creator is trying to amend given the slapdash fix.
Furthermore, this supposed improvement to The Shining misses the point of the scene, and of CGI’s effective use more broadly. While CGI can certainly work wonders to improve the visual effects of the scene, practical effects can also be extremely affecting when well-employed. In the case of The Shining, the point of the scene is not to look crystal clear, but rather to get inside Wendy’s psyche as she plays witness to inexplicable horror. As users sarcastically indicated, The Shining is ambiguous by design, and using CGI would not clarify the elevator scene.
