Jasmine Masters, BA (Hons) Computer Animation Arts, UCA Rochester.

From book to screen, Stanley Kubrick adapts the written novel by Stephen King; The Shining (1980)   for a cinema audience, using gripping suspense and mystery to captivate the audience’s attention in “ a brilliantly cataclysmic venture” (Parker, 2019) into a psychological horror. Exploring the world within the Overlook Hotel hidden within the mountains and how such an environment can exaggerate the ways in which isolation can play an effect on a family of three; as well as look at how fragile minds are easily warped and twisted when there is little contact to the outside world can somehow magnify the characters problematic situation. (Fig. 1, see below). Fig. 1 The Shining (1980) [Film Poster, Advertisement]. Throughout the cinematic it explores themes of domestic violence, warped time frames and focuses largely on isolation. We first get a glimpse at Jack Torrance’s violent character through how he aggressively talks to his wife Wendy when she first interrupts ...

Black Narcissus (1947) was adapted from a novel written by Rumer Godden and was then altered to be a film that was then directed, and screen written by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. The film displays themes of religion, underlying ideas of exoticism and female sexuality as suggested by Tim Dirks “Black Narcissus (1947) is a provocative, dazzling and rich-colored psychological-religious and sexual drama” (Dirks, 2019) that is then portrayed through the convents nun characters as they begin to dwell into personal pleasures whilst residing in the isolated environment the Himalayan mountain side provides. (Fig 1. see below). Fig. 1 Black Narcissus (1947) [film poster, Advertisement] At the time Black Narcissus (1947) was made, World War Two (1945) hadn’t long ended and women being able to work in the workforce had risen since they had been a key part in the war effort; particularly in the labour force as the more men were required to go to war – this included farmer...

From the creative mind that is Tim Burton comes Edward Scissorhands (1990); directed by Burton and co-written with Caroline Thompson as screenplay writer, together they create a suburban world full of prejudice and curiosity as well as create a visual full of   “special effects and visual tricks to create sights that have never been seen before.” (Ebert, 1990). Within the feature Burton appears to focus mainly on exaggerating suburban life in a small town ranging from the 1950’s to the 90’s and looks at various stereotypes and common archetypal themes that take place in a skewed and distorted society. (Fig 1, see below) Fig 1. Edward Scissorhands (1990) [Film Poster, Advertisement.] Within the feature film, Burton explores the theme of suburbanisation heavily through the mise-en-scene of the street layout, depicting very uniform houses that vary in pastel colours to show individuality of the occupants living there (Fig 2, see below). Through doing so it creates t...

Directed by Sir Ridley Scott and written from the minds of Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett; Alien (1979) is a film full of jump scares, high suspense and restless curiosity, as stated by Roger Ebert “At its most fundamental level, "Alien" is a movie about things that can jump out of the dark and kill you.” further emphasising the menacing and hostile nature of the foreign organism. Alien (1979) not only pushes boundaries in terms of visual design, but also in subliminal messages hidden within the film that the audience will have to sit a decipher; these include woman empowerment, challenging misogynistic views and the vulnerable qualities that reside in men. (fig. 1) Fig. 1 Alien (1979) film poster This sci-fi horror conveys themes as mentioned above strongly through its character line-up; depicting a crew of seven mineral ore miners consisting of two women, four men and one undisclosed A.I. who all vary in characteristics and personality. On the first silent...