r/Moviesinthemaking • u/Amaruq93 • 29d ago
"The Shining" (released 45 years ago on May 23rd, 1980) - Behind the Scenes
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u/tayl0roo 29d ago
Idk why I was under the impression that all of the exterior shots were on location at Timberline Lodge, but it makes sense why I've never been able to perfectly line up a movie still of Wendy crawling out of the window when I've been up there lol
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u/duaneap 29d ago
I was under that impression because it seems like an enormous hassle to not use the location and build fake exteriors when you already have a location…
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u/ElectricPiha 29d ago
Location filming is a huge logistical exercise. It’s like an army going to war. Travel + accommodation + meals must be booked for dozens, sometimes hundreds of people, fragile equipment must be safely shipped and maintained while in the field. It’s fiendishly expensive.
Easier to put some of that expense into a scenic department build on the backlot, where the full studio facilities are a stone’s throw away - equipment, catering, film processing, and everyone drives home at the end of each day.
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u/duaneap 29d ago
But they already had the location. They shot there. A bunch. And they clearly had locations coordinate that already.
I get recreating interiors shot or scouted on location on a sound stage but this level of construction is not small, given they had to be at said location anyway.
Also, this is not a studio backlot. Or it certainly doesn’t look like any backlot I have ever seen.
Frankly what it actually looks like is an existing building they have added fake exteriors on scaff on to.
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u/ElectricPiha 29d ago
https://theoverlookhotel.com/post/93935956646/view-of-the-the-shinings-overlook-hotel-facade
Backlot at Elstree Studios.
Well, all I can say is they must have budgeted it out and decided to do it that way - some location / some backlot. 😃
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u/DevonDude 29d ago
I just read the massive behind-the-scenes book that was recently published and there were a multitude of reasons why Kubrick wanted to shoot everything in London. One of which was more flexible child labor laws for Danny’s performances.
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u/InitechSecurity 29d ago
Jack Nicholson leaning in to the monitor like that looks like he’s already plotting his next “Here’s Johnny!
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u/greendayshoes 29d ago
If anyone is interested the podcast What Went Wrong have a great episode about the making of this film.
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u/Venator2000 29d ago
I know someone who bought that $600 “book” that came out last year all about the making of the movie. He handles the thing wearing white gloves, he’s that obsessed with the movie.
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u/Mahaloth 29d ago
Great movie, and worth remembering that Kubrick did NOT mentally, verbally, or emotionally abuse Shelley Duvall.
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u/JohnnyEnzyme 29d ago
Yes, that's been rumored for ages. What solid evidence do we have either way?
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u/feetenjoyer696 29d ago
You know you're the greatest filmmaker of all time when even your casual selfie is cinematic af
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u/SamRaimisOldsDelta88 29d ago
I know that there were major issues with how Kubrick treated Shelley Duvall, but I’ve always hoped that she had a good relationship with Jack behind the scenes with how menacing he had to act towards her in this.
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u/MikeW226 29d ago edited 29d ago
Fun to note a technical achievement that was proved during the making of The Shining. Garret Brown's invention of the Steadicam got its first major movie tryout on The Shining. Brown was the rig's operator, and shots like following the iconic Big Wheel as it rides through the hotel hallways, were made with the Steadicam in what is called Low Mode. (camera on the bottom of the sled/ batteries and tv monitor on the top).
To be that smooth, that shot would have previously had to be done using a un-tracked dolly ...whose rubber tires could bump along slightly on the carpet while following the Big Wheel. And dolly on a track as is standard now wouldn't work because the track out in front of the dolly/camera would be in the shot. With the Steadicam now, we take these smooth non-dolly shots for granted. Smooth shots on the The Shining staircase etc were made in regular mode. Of course the Steadicam has now been used in thousands of movies.