The Shining

Redesigned Titles for the movie 'The Shining' This assignment required the student to redesign the title sequence for a film of our choice. I was drawn to The Shining, which is not just a cult classic horror film but a film that lends itself to distinct imagery, mood and thematic development. We were encouraged to not create a direct representation of the film but some kind of an interpretation of its theme. Since the main protagonist is a writer, the visuals show degenerating handwriting as a physical manifestation of his state of mind. Aware that the writer in the film actually uses a typewriter, I used a typewriter-based typeface for the titles. The titles appear misspelled, overwritten and repetitive to add to the feeling of a disturbed state of affairs. The other two characters in the film are the stay-at-home spouse and the child of the writer. I represented the former as the woman dicing tomatoes at a furious pace. The child is represented by the toy car. Fast cuts, stop-motion, choppy typography, ominous music and abrupt cuts between the actions of the three characters suggest that they are driving each other to insanity. The climax suggests a violent encounter where the paths of the three characters seem to have finally crossed.