The opening of a film introduces the audience to the world of time and space in which the narrative takes place. Opening sequences provide a platform from which the narrative is launched and are often called "set ups".

During the opening sequence the filmmaker introduces the characters and begins to develop these characters for the audience who is also orientated into both the physical settings and the historical settings.

The Shining Opening Sequence/Credits

The opening sequence in The Shining starts off by us flying through a massive lake, we are then sent up in the air to get a bird's eye view of a small car travelling through a snake like road. This is to show us how grand and vast America is.

The opening credits then scroll up, the colour of the font is blue which is usually seen to be a more gentle colour but Kubrick makes this font seem more eerie by the sound he uses of tribal music and screaming women.

After two and a half minutes of the opening scene and credits we are introduced to the overlook hotel for the first time, we know nothing about it but what it looks like and how big it is. We assume this is where the story is going to take place straight away.

Character

Character development is the relation to the audience of a character's personality, beliefs, strengths, weaknesses and emotions. We are normally introduced to the main protagonist at the start of the narrative. From this point onwards, we learn more about who they really are.

Character development can be done through various narrative devices. The simplest is the traditional "Once upon a time…" fairytale format, which we are immediately introduce to the main character and then told their story.

Another technique is to look back on the character's life or part of it.

The Shining Characters

The characters in The Shining include: Jack Torrance, Wendy Torrance, Danny Torrance (and Tony), Dick Hallorann, Stuart Ullman, Delbert Grady, the Grady Twins and Lloyd the bartender.

Jack Torrance: The father of the Torrance family, we are first introduced to Jack when he walking into the Overlook Hotel at the start of "The Interview" scene. We learn that he is applying for the job of caretaker for the hotel over the winter while no one is using it, he learns about what has happened there in the past, but passes this aside by saying that time alone is exactly what he needs for his new writing project.

Jack rings his family to let them know he got the job and sounds like a typical loving father and husband. However, we start to notice changes in him as soon as Danny starts asking questions when they are driving to the hotel.

Through out the movie Jack is continuously changing, becoming a "mad man", he finally loses it when Wendy accuses him of hurting Danny, which he really did, and Danny makes up the story that there was a women in room 237 that did it. He goes to the gold room and to cover the fact that he really hurt Danny he starts talking to ghosts, one of which is Delbert Grady who convinces Jack to "correct" his family. By the time Wendy notices all the papers that all say "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy." he has completely lost it and attempts to take the baseball bat off her to beat her with it.

Once he is let out of the food storage room by Delbert and "the others" he goes on a mad rampage with an axe, he kills Dick Hallorann before he had a chance to save them and chases Danny into the maze, but is out smarted by him, this then leads Jack to his death.

Wendy Torrance: From the moment we meet her to the end of the movie we find her very annoying, she is a nuisance as she is continually interrupting Jacks work and making stupid remarks and statements.

Wendy is your typical mother and wife, always looking after her child and waiting hand and foot on her husband. At least she thinks she is going the right way about doing this.

Danny Torrance (and Tony): We are introduced to Danny when Jack is having his interview, we think he is your average kid for his age, he even has an imaginary friend, Tony, who later we find out is the boy who lives in his mouth.

Danny has a special gift called "shining", jack also has this gift but it is not used how Danny's is, Danny uses his gift to communicate with Tony who lets him see things of the past and future and he can communicate with Dick Hallorann (who also has the shining) using telepathy.

Setting

The setting of a fictional film narrative refers to the location and the historical period in which the story takes place.

Location refers to the physical geography of the story.

The setting of a narrative helps to tell the story because the audience already has an understanding of settings and their context within film genres.

In genres such as western, film noir, comedy, romantic comedy, science fiction and fantasy, the audience also understands the codes and conventions that apply to specific genres.

The Shining Setting

Just like Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick also left nothing to chance when it came to the setting of his movies, especially The Shining anyway. Some good examples of this is when Jack is throwing a tennis ball against the wall, the wall he is hitting contains Indian traditional drawings of two twins. Continuing with the Indian theme, the whole hotel is filled with Indian tapestry, carpet and wall items to remind us that this was once an Indian burial ground.

In the bathroom of the Gold room the room is nearly completely red, this is to show us what is to happen by representing blood (the blood spilt by the death of Dick Hallorann, the blood that Wendy sees come out of the elevator and the blood all around the room that Danny sees when he sees the twins dead).

The setting of The Shining also has an American theme, we are constantly shown an American flag in nearly every room, and also Danny is always wearing American clothing to show us how "great" America is.

Storyline

Story lines, including

• Central and concurrent story lines and the motivations, conflicts or narrative issues raised in them
• Ways in which story lines comment upon, contrast or interrelate with other story lines in the text

The Shining Storyline

The story starts when Jack is interviewed for the role of caretaker of an isolated hotel where he plans to write his novel over the winter. Danny is warned about the hotel by the boy who lives in his mouth, Tony. The first month goes past without an incident, Jack starts to get writer's block and steadily gets more frustrated and deranged. Danny sees the twins murdered, Tony tells him that they are merely pictures so he doesn't tell his parents.

Danny comes to room 237 for a second time, this time it is open so he enters, later he Jack has a nightmare about chopping Wendy and Danny up into little pieces, Wendy rushes to his side and Danny enters with a bruised neck, Wendy immediately accuses Jack because he has done this before.

Jack furious by this accusation storms into the Gold Room where he meets the bartender, Wendy rushes in to find Jack asleep and tells him about the lady in room 237. Jack and Wendy argue over Danny's health and leaving the hotel. Jack returns to the Gold room which is now a 1920's style party, here he meets Delbert Grady who convinces him to "correct" his family.

Dick Hallorann who has been contacted by Danny using his telepathy makes a desperate attempt to save the Torrance's, while he makes is way to the hotel jack has gone on a mental rampage after Wendy knocked him out with the bat and locked him in the food storage room.

Hallorann arrives but is killed by Jack almost instantly, Jack discovers Danny's hiding place and chases him into the maze where he is outsmarted and left to die as Wendy and Danny escape in Hallorann's snowcat.

Just before the end credits, we zoom in on a photograph of a lavish ball which had been hanging in the hotel the entire time. In the center of the picture is a young Jack; the caption reads: "Overlook Hotel, July 4th Ball, 1921".

Structuring of Time

Film narratives operate within codes and conventions, and as the audience we view them with an understanding of these conventions. The structuring of time within a narrative is an example of these conventions. Film uses convention top help the audiences overcome the limitations of real time. Occasionally, a film narrative presents the story in real time, in other words, screen time and story time are the same.

Audiences accept the convention that films compress time so that the events of a character's lifetime can occur for us within 2 hours we have set aside to watch the film.

Time can also be manipulated in a film narrative though such devices as time-lapse photography, slow motion, fast motion, flashback and flash forward.

The Shining Structuring of Time

Most of the film is in real-time as it is all happening step-by-step in a sequence that is east for us to follow. For example when Jack is having a nightmare we follow Wendy the whole way when she runs to his side. Time is sometimes compressed to help us move on with the movie as we don't need to see certain parts, like when Hallorann is on his way to the hotel we see him on the plane, then in a car and then in a snowcat before he arrives at the hotel.

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect is a narrative function. Everything that happens in a story must happen for a reason. There must be a cause for there to be an effect. The cause and effect chain is a foundation of story telling.

The Shining Cause and Effect

A good example of the use of cause and effect in the movie is when Jack kills Hallorann, he is then left to die in the maze.

Another example of cause and effect in the movie is at the start of the movie when Stuart Ullman warns Jack of what can happen when you are isolated for too long, Jack brushes this off as if it is nothing, the result of this is Jack becomes exactly like the man in the story and tries to kill his family.

Point of View (From Which the Narrative is presented)

In presenting the narrative, the filmmaker decides from whose point of view the story will be told. In a conventionally plotted narrative, the point of view that one or two main protagonists. Point of view does not need to be limited to only one character.

Point of View in which the narrative is presented, including

• Character, or other viewpoint
• Story information given or withheld at different points of the narrative

The Shining Point of View

The main point of view in the movie is told by the narrative, though some of the movie is told by the point of view of Danny and Tony.

Narrative point of view: tells the whole story from start to finish.

Danny and Tony point of view: shows us what has happened in the past and what will happen further along in the movie.

Closure or Closing Sequence

The closing sequence brings the plot of climax both in a story and emotional sense; it is the point at where the audience reaches an understanding about unanswered questions relating to the story and characters.

The Shining Closing Sequence

The suspenseful closing sequence of the movie starts off just after Hallorann's death when Jack chases Danny into the maze, Jack starts off following Danny's track until they suddenly end and takes another path where he gets lost, up to this point we thought Jack might get him, this ends up resulting in Jacks death and Wendy and Danny's escape.

Just before the end credits, we zoom in on a photograph of a lavish ball which had been hanging in the hotel the entire time. In the center of the picture is a young Jack; the caption reads: "Overlook Hotel, July 4th Ball, 1921".

~ Production Elements ~

Camera/Film:

Camera is the most obvious of the production elements. Camera techniques develop the plot, narrative possibilities and characters. The camera angle affects how viewers will perceive that subject. Angles can establish relationships, create moods and develop story lines. Camera movement can also be used to create emotion or draw the audience's attention to a subject. Camera shots are used in context to a situation in the film.

There are 5 basic camera angles:

• Eye-level
  Example 1: When Jack is in the Gold Room, we see Lloyd the bartender in an eye-level angle.
  Audience Reaction: We can see everything around Lloyd's background and adds to the ghost-like effect.
• High Angle
  Example 1: When Jack is following Wendy up the stairs as she is swinging the bat at him, there is a high camera angle located on Wendy's shoulder looking down at Jack.
  Audience Reaction: We feel as if Wendy is more superior to Jack and it looks like Jack is walking up towards us. Suspense is felt by the audience.

Low Angle
Example 1:After Danny has written "" on the door we see a low camera angle of what he just wrote.
Audience Reaction:This makes the word look more frightening.

• Birds Eye
  Example 1: At the start of the movie we see a birds eye view of the car driving through the wavy road.
  Audience Reaction: This makes the car look as if it is not a threat and shows us how long it has to drive.
• Unusual
  Example 1:When Jack has been locked in the food storage room we get an unusual camera located under Jack looking directly up at him.
  Audience Reaction:We feel awkward.

There are 3 basic camera movements:

• Panning
  Example 1: When Jack is walking across the Gold Room to the bar during the 1920's ball.
  Audience Reaction: We follow Jack as he walks and see that he is changing again.
• Zooming
  Example 1: At the end of the movie there is an extremely long and slow zoom in towards the photo frame of the ball containing Jack.
  Audience Reaction: We are very curious and want to know what is in the photo.
• Tilting
  Example 1: When Jack is walking up the stairs after Wendy the camera tilts down to view Jack and up to view Wendy.
  Audience Reaction: This makes Wendy look ore superior than Jack

There are 7 basic camera shots:

Close-up
Example 1: When Danny is contacting Hallorann by telepathy there is a close-up of his shocked reaction.
Audience Reaction: We are also shocked and know something bad is going to happen.

• Extreme Close-up
  Example 1: There is sort of an extreme close-up when Jack is hacking at the door, the extreme-close up is of the axe coming through the door.
  Audience Reaction: We are terrified along with Wendy.

Medium Shot
Example 1: When Jack is in the Gold Room, we see Lloyd the bartender in a medium shot.
Audience Reaction: We can see everything around Lloyd's background and adds to the ghost-like effect.

• Long Shot
  Example 1: When Danny gets out of the cupboard after Hallorann is killed. We see this happen in a long shot of the hall.
  Audience Reaction: We assume Danny is far enough away to run away from Jack.
• Extreme Long Shot
  Example 1: At the start of the movie there is an extreme long shot of the overlook hotel.
  Audience Reaction: This allows us to see all of its surroundings and how isolated it is.

Point of View or Subjective
Example 1: When Jack is looking down at the model of the maze we see it from his point of view.
Audience Reaction: Because we can see Danny and Wendy in the model we then realise Jack also has "the shining".

• Reaction Shot
  Example 1: When Danny is contacting Hallorann by telepathy there is a close-up of his shocked reaction.
  Audience Reaction: We are also shocked and know something bad is going to happen.

Additionally the film format will affect the mood and look of a film. Some format options available are black and white, colour film, digital video and animation.

Lighting:

Lighting allows objects and characters to be seen by the audience. This can be the most creative elements of film making. It can also help with character development. Characters can be made to look friendly or evil through the use of lighting. The background of a shot is lit up to create a broad depth of field. Additionally lighting can describe a relationship or set a mood.

Lighting can be described in four categories: Soft, Hard, High-key and Low-key.

• Soft Lighting: wraps around an object, casting shadows with soft edges. This creates a soft, warm feeling.
  Example 1: When Jack and his family are driving to the overlook hotel.
  Audience Reaction: This makes us believe this is a happy loving family.
• Hard Lighting: Consists of bright whites and dark blacks and creates harder edged shadows. This creates a cruel, cold feeling.
  Example 1: When Jack sticks he head through the door and says “Here's Johnny”.
  Audience Reaction: We are freaked and scared.
• High-key Lighting: Creates little shadow. Set tends to be flooded with light. This is often used to create a normal “Happy” scene. The use of strong key lights mean that only parts of the set are lit other parts remain in shadow. This can create a very dramatic effect with only some object being high-lighted.
  Example 1: When Jack is talking to Delbert Grady in the bathroom of the Gold room.
  Audience Reaction: This is a very dramatic scene for the audience a we learn that Jack is about to kill his family.
• Low-key Lighting: If key lights are set at a Low point very strong shadows are thrown on surfaces. This can create an eerie effect.
  Example 1: When Hallorann is driving the snowcat to the Hotel.
  Audience Reaction: This makes us believe he isn't going to get there on time to save them.

Lighting also helps convey the point of view of a character.

Visual Composition (Mise - en - Scene):

Visual composition refers to everything within the frame. It determines how the shot develops the characters and storyline. It can also incite responses and emotions within the audience.

Questions that need to be considered for visual composition are:

• How will the shot be lit?
• How will the shot be arranged?
• Where will the actors be placed?
• What props will be placed in the shot?

In the movie The Shining, just like Alfred Hitchcock, Kubrick left nothing to chance with the visual composition of his movie an example of this is:

Example 1: When we first meet Lloyd there are three panels behind him, the middle is lit up and the outside ones are dark, this is to emphasise his face.

Audience Reaction: The lighting of the panels gives a ghost-like effect to Lloyd.

Example 2: We see a lot of shots containing these three panels, another example is when Wendy comes into Jacks work room and again the two outside panels are dark and the middle is light to bring out her face.

Audience Reaction: This shows us her extremely annoying face and reaction to all Jacks questions and comments.

Acting:

This refers to the work of an actor or actress who tells the story by portraying a character. Through the use of body language, tone of voice, posture and delivery of lines develops the character and creates a relationship between the character and audience. In some cases the qualities of the character are due to the reputation of the character.

The acting in The Shining is not to shabby, though Wendy (Shelly Duval) lets the whole movie down, she takes things completely overboard, for example when Jack is hacking at the bathroom door she looks completely fake. On the other hand, Jack Nicholson, who plays Jack plays his part perfectly, when it comes to the range of emotions and personalities he must portray we are completely fooled into believing it is actually happening.

Example 1: Wendy's reaction when Jack is hacking at the bathroom door.

Audience Reaction: We are scared for Wendy, but can see she's just an actor as she goes way overboard.

Editing:

Editing is the process of placing images and sound in an order to tell a story and create emotion. Editing is the process of looking at the footage shot and selecting the most appropriate shots which then are assembled in a sequence that conveys a narrative to the audience. It can establish setting, develop character, restructure time and express point of view.

Editing serves three major purposes:

• Narrative:allows the audience to follow the character throughout the narrative and can also express a character's thoughts.
• Emotional:the way in which a film is cut can produce an emotional response from the audience.
• Intellectual Editing:the director is able to plant a thought or concept in the audience's mind.

Additionally editors often combine visual images and sounds to develop narratives.

Example 1: When Danny sees the two twins, then it flashes to them dead, back to them, again to them dead and finally back to them.

Audience Reaction: We are completely horrified.

Sound:

• Dialogue
  Example 1: When Wendy comes into Jacks work and he has a go at her using an aggressive tone and dialogue.
  Audience Reaction: This adds to our knowledge of Jack changing into a mad man.
• Music/Score
  Example 1: In the opening sequence there is tribal music in the background with the occasional women screaming.
  Audience Reaction: This creates an eerie effect and makes the opening blue credits more daunting.
• Sound-effects
  Example 1: When Danny is riding his tricycle across the floor over the floor boards and then carpet, then floor boards again etc.
  Audience Reaction: This sounds like the music when Jack is chasing Danny in the maze so it might be a hint as to what is going to happen later on.

• Opening Sequence
• Character
• Setting
• Storyline
• Structuring of Time
• Cause and Effect
• Point of View (From Which the Narrative is Presented)
• Closure or Closing Sequence

Production Elements

• Camera and Film:

1. Camera Angle
2. Eye-level
3. High Angle
4. Low Angle
5. Birds Eye
6. Unusual

• Camera Movement:

1. Panning
2. Zooming
3. Tilting
4. Camera Shot
5. Close-up
6. Extreme Close-up
7. Mid Shot
8. Long Shot
9. Extreme Long Shot
10. Point of View / Subjective
11. Reaction Shot

• Lighting:

1. Soft Lighting
2. Hard Lighting
3. High Key lighting
4. Low Key Lighting

• Visual Composition (mise-en-scene)
• Acting
• Editing
• Sound:

1. Diegectic
2. Non-Diegectic
3. Dialogue
4. Music / Score
5. Sound Effects
6. Voice Over

~ Story Elements ~

Opening Sequence

The opening of a film introduces the audience to the world of time and space in which the narrative takes place. Opening sequences provide a platform from which the narrative is launched and are often called ‘set ups’.

During the opening sequence the filmmaker introduces the characters and begins to develop these characters for the audience who is also orientated into both the physical settings and the historical settings.

Character

Character development is the relation to the audience of a character’s personality, beliefs, strengths, weaknesses and emotions. We are normally introduced to the main protagonist at the start of the narrative. From this point onwards, we learn more about who they really are.

Character development can be done through various narrative devices. The simplest is the traditional ‘Once upon a time…’ fairytale format, which we are immediately introduce to the main character and then told their story.

Another technique is to look back on the character’s life or part of it.

Setting

The setting of a fictional film narrative refers to the location and the historical period in which the story takes place.

Location refers to the physical geography of the story.

The setting of a narrative helps to tell the story because the audience already has an understanding of settings and their context within film genres.

In genres such as western, film noir, comedy, romantic comedy, science fiction and fantasy, the audience also understands the codes and conventions that apply to specific genres.

Storyline

Story lines, including

• Central and concurrent story lines and the motivations, conflicts or narrative issues raised in them.
• Ways in which story lines comment upon, contrast or interrelate with other story lines in the text.

Structuring of Time

Film narratives operate within codes and conventions, and as the audience we view them with an understanding of these conventions. The structuring of time within a narrative is an example of these conventions. Film uses convention top help the audiences overcome the limitations of real time. Occasionally, a film narrative presents the story in real time, in other words, screen time and story time are the same.

Audiences accept the convention that films compress time so that the events of a character’s lifetime can occur for us within 2 hours we have set aside to watch the film.

Time can also be manipulated in a film narrative though such devices as time-lapse photography, slow motion, fast motion, flashback and flash forward.

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect is a narrative function. Everything that happens in a story must happen for a reason. There must be a cause for there to be an effect. The cause and effect chain is a foundation of story telling.

Point of View (From Which the Narrative is Presented)

In presenting the narrative, the filmmaker decides from whose point of view the story will be told. In a conventionally plotted narrative, the point of view that one or two main protagonists. Point of view does not need to be limited to only one character.

Point of View in which the narrative is presented, including

• Character, or other viewpoint
• Story information given or withheld at different points of the narrative

Closure or Closing Sequence

The closing sequence brings the plot of climax both in a story and emotional sense; it is the point at where the audience reaches an understanding about unanswered questions relating to the story and characters.

~ Production Elements ~

Camera/Film:

Camera is the most obvious of the production elements. Camera techniques develop the plot, narrative possibilities and characters. The camera angle affects how viewers will perceive that subject. Angles can establish relationships, create moods and develop story lines. Camera movement can also be used to create emotion or draw the audience’s attention to a subject. Camera shots are used in context to a situation in the film.

There are 5 basic camera angles:

• Eye-level
• High Angle
• Low Angle
• Birds Eye
• Unusual

There are 3 basic camera movements:

• Panning
• Zooming
• Tilting

There are 7 basic camera shots:

• Close-up
• Extreme Close-up
• Medium Shot
• Long Shot
• Extreme Long Shot
• Point of View or Subjective
• Reaction Shot

Additionally the film format will affect the mood and look of a film. Some format options available are black and white, colour film, digital video and animation.

Lighting:

Lighting allows objects and characters to be seen by the audience. This can be the most creative elements of film making. It can also help with character development. Characters can be made to look friendly or evil through the use of lighting. The background of a shot is lit up to create a broad depth of field. Additionally lighting can describe a relationship or set a mood.

Lighting can be described in four categories: Soft, Hard, High-key and Low-key.

• Soft Lighting: wraps around an object, casting shadows with soft edges. This creates a soft, warm feeling.
• Hard Lighting: Consists of bright whites and dark blacks and creates harder edged shadows. This creates a cruel, cold feeling.
• High-key Lighting: Creates little shadow. Set tends to be flooded with light. This is often used to create a normal “Happy” scene. The use of strong key lights mean that only parts of the set are lit other parts remain in shadow. This can create a very dramatic effect with only some object being high-lighted.
• Low-key Lighting: If key lights are set at a Low point very strong shadows are thrown on surfaces. This can create an eerie effect.

Lighting also helps convey the point of view of a character.

Visual Composition (Mise – en – Scene):

Visual composition refers to everything within the frame. It determines how the shot develops the characters and storyline. It can also incite responses and emotions within the audience.

Questions that need to be considered for visual composition are:

• How will the shot be lit?
• How will the shot be arranged?
• Where will the actors be placed?
• What props will be placed in the shot?

In the movie Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock left nothing to chance with the visual composition of his movie. Three examples of this are:

Acting:

This refers to the work of an actor or actress who tells the story by portraying a character. Through the use of body language, tone of voice, posture and delivery of lines develops the character and creates a relationship between the character and audience. In some cases the qualities of the character are due to the reputation of the character.

Editing:

Editing is the process of placing images and sound in an order to tell a story and create emotion. Editing is the process of looking at the footage shot and selecting the most appropriate shots which then are assembled in a sequence that conveys a narrative to the audience. It can establish setting, develop character, restructure time and express point of view.

Editing serves three major purposes:

• Narrative: allows the audience to follow the character throughout the narrative and can also express a character’s thoughts.
• Emotional: the way in which a film is cut can produce an emotional response from the audience.
• Intellectual Editing: the director is able to plant a thought or concept in the audience’s mind.

Additionally editors often combine visual images and sounds to develop narratives.

Sound:

Sound can be divided into two categories:

• Diegetic
• Non – Diegetic

Diegetic sound is where the narrator tells the story. The narrator presents the actions and thoughts of the character. Also the sound of glass breaking as a character smashes a mirror is referred to as diegetic sound.

Non – Diegetic sound comes from the outside world of the story. This can include the sound of a characters heart beat as a character runs or music playing in the background of a scene.

Other types of sound include:

• Dialogue
• Music/Score
• Sound-effects
• Voice over

Director adn screenwriter Cameron Crowe, known for giving us such blockbusters as "Jerry Maguire", "Vanilla Sky", and "Say Anything", among others, had chosen my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, and more specifically, my place of employment, The Brown Hotel, to film many of the scenes for his new movie, "Elizabethtown".  Mr. Crowe arrived in April along with a team of writers and producers, checked into the hotel, and declared it home for the next for months.  As a bartender in the hotel's lobby, I became accustomed to seeing him in the wee hours of hte morning, lounging in one of the lobby's sofa, his brow furrowing in concentration as he labored over the masses of paperwork surrounding him.  I tried discreetly to sneak peeks whenever I brought him his standard sparkling water, but my respect for his privacy and his work restrained my curiousity.

With each passing day, more and more Paramount members arrived, and they quickly became like family to us.  They sahred work with us, the pitfalls and the perks, and we sometimes became sounding boards when difficulties on the set roused tensions.

We were all very excited when the actual filming began.  Some of us had been invited to visit one of the sets in nearby Versailles where a funeral scene had been scheduled for shooting.  While touring through the funeral home chosen for the scene, the crew members pointed out all the intricate details; the easel with sympathy cards for the deceased character tacked on the surface, filled out with heartfelt sentiments by the crew members and the casket that the actor would lie in.  Pictures of the actor and his fictitious family members had been carefully placed about the room in frames that had been painstakingly chosen to compliment the decor and the atmosphere of the scene.  Details as small as the thermostat and the light switches had been changed as Mr. Crowe decided.  It was all so facinating!  Learning about the myriad of details involved in even the most minute aspects of a film scene brought a newfound respect for movie making.  It made me feel sad to think of all the movies that were so meticulously made, but were unsuccessful for whatever reason.  After all the work required, how devastating it must be for those involved to have the movie fail at the box offices!

It was after 3:00 am,  and my shift was over.  Before leaving the hotel, I stopped in the lobby to catch some of the filming.  As Istood in the corner watching all the commotion as they tried to film a scene depicting a wedding reception, I was saddened at the thought of it all ending.  The cast and crew would be leaving tomorrow.  I would miss passing Mr. Crowe in the corridor and hearing him say "Hey! How's it going? Are you working tonight?"  I would miss the informative and fascinating discussions with the director of photography.  I would miss the friendly chats with Orlando Bloom as I encountered him walking his constant companion, his dog, Cidi, at 2:00 am outside the hotel.  I would miss happily running all over the hotel in search of hot chocolate for Kirsten Dunst after she shot a scene on an unusually chilly summer day. 

These things, although really very small, were pleasing to me; I knew it was an opportunity I would most likely never encounter again, and one that I would always look back upon with fondness.

The next day, I stood looking out the window from the second floor, watching the crew load what must have been millions of dollars worth of equipment.  Most of the crew had departed earlier that day.  The remaining members were mostly "stagehands".  I watch as Mr. Crowe approached to give instruction to one of the men doing the loading.  After a moment, they were joined by Orlando Bloom.  Watching them in conversation, I silently told them goodbye, and that we would miss them.  As if he ahd read my mind, Mr. Bloom Looked up and noticed me in the window.  He smiled and pointed up at me, saying something to Mr. Crowe.  Both men smiled up at me then, and I'm sure I was beaming as I smiled back.  And then they both waved; not because I was a fan; because I was Jordan, the bartender at the Brown Hotel, and a friend.  If only I had had a camera at that moment, to catch those two famous faces smiling and waving at ME!  I couldn't help it; tears filled my eyes as I waved back, and I hoped that they knew how grateful we all were to them for giving us this experience.  They turned then, and disappeared around the corner, out of my view.

I sighed inwardly, the old cliche "gone but not forgotten" coming to mind.  How true, I thought to myself.  Our brief time with Paramount productions brought us excitement, education, and yes, in many ways, friendship.  As I turned away from the window to get back to work, I realized that I was already counting the days until "Elizabethtown" finally premiered.

I planned to be the first in line.

Excited his mother, ushers him to pursue his love. Florentino writes a letter the size of a book to give to her, expressing how he feels. She eventually accepts it and is about to deny his request for her hand in marriage, when the aunt tells her, not to be a fool and accept. She does reluctantly and without her fathers permission. Her father played by John Leguizamo, whisks her away to the country, as he only just moved there and with the intention of his daughter marrying above their class. A telegraph boy was not what he had in mind. With his love taken and nothing, but his writing, Florentino begins a quest of love and passion in poetry. Eventually marrying a doctor played by Benjamin Pratt, Fermina struggles with her boyhood crush and her very attractive and rich husband. Florentino does not give up and the story lends itself to a true romantic tale.

Unfortunately, I have not read the book, but having seen the film, I am inclined to do that. The story was beautiful, the twists, the plot points, the actors, the cinematography, however, the faults were too many for me to enjoy the film. I wanted to ring Florentino's neck for crying so damn much, but I forgave that writing privilege, for the sake of it being a love story. Yet, there is not one excuse acceptable for the poorly done make up and aging done to the actors. I could see the cracks in the make up for God's sakes. The parts of the story that I'm sure were in the book, but obviously missing from the movie, would probably have made for a more believable timeline. One minute their young and acceptably aging to the next faze in life. However, when they age from middle age to senior citizen, not only does the make up get worse, but so does the believability of time. I would have liked to see more in regards to what Fermina was doing. She seems so meek and mild, but with an underlying spunk to her throughout the whole film and then by the time she meets up with Florentino again in her old, old age of 72, she is not only sure of herself, adamant about her wants and needs, but also easy to show her breasts, which she was very shy about early on. How did this character development take place? We never find out.

I certainly agree to take the extra step to go read the book first and if you can overlook the poor make up and poor transition of time, then the movie may add to the books experience. I give the movie a 6.

Well, it isn't time travel. Even though he goes back to the morning of the same day, there is only one Bill Murray. If it was time travel, he would have had encountered multiples of himself, first the original, then every time after an additional Bill Murray would exist. Plus you can't travel though time when you are dead. So that's not the case.

He could have gone though some sort of worm hole or transport to another dimension, a dimension where it is that day and morning again, but that's not exactly right either. No matter what happens to Bill Murray, he always wakes up in the same health, and age that he woke up to the on the very first morning of Groundhog Day. When traveling to another dimension, if you spill coffee on your self, the coffee stain would come with you to the new dimension. Again, the dead can't travel to other Dimensions.

So what happens? Well, when Bill Murray goes to sleep he actually does wake up and continues with the following day. Bill Murray is unaware of this life just as YOU are unaware of your other existences in other dimensions. Bill Murray continues with his entire life, and time goes on until the universe collapses on itself again only to start over in another big bang. Everything that has happened happens again, including Bill Murray's trip to Punxsutawney to cover the Groundhog story.

What happens to Bill Murray is that his original "existence" or "consciousness" is picked out of the universe when he falls asleep. Time passes to the end of time and the universe; and start of it again to the point of Groundhog Day. At that point the consciousness of Bill Murray is re-inserted into the same but started over universe. This occurs in a blink of an eye. But in that blink of an eye, everything and everyone everywhere has been destroyed. Bill Murray's existence is in a sense asleep in the meantime.

The only sort of "time travel" that occurs in the film would be the same time travel that occurs when we fall asleep at night and wake up in the morning only moments later. All the time is accounted for; it just passes really fast, almost instantaneously. Bill Murray is unaware of this time as is the viewer of the Groundhog Day movie.

To put it another way, imagine a video tape being a universe. When you start the video tape, that universe begins, when the tape is over, that universe has been destroyed. Every time the video is played, the same thing happens. After watching the video tape again, a viewer would know what to expect. Anybody that is in the video tape will still do what they do every time because in a sense, they don't know any better. Bill Murray is just replaying in his video tape universe, except he is aware that the tape is being played again. However, he is unaware that the video tape has been played all the way though to the end, rewinded, and started over regaining and continuing his conscious existence again on the morning of Groundhog Day.

Note: I suppose it could be said that the universe was just "rewinded" back to the morning of Ground Hog Day and the reason Bill Murray knows it has been rewinded is for the same reason of his "consciousness" being plucked out of the universe and moved back to that point. There is nothing that I know of in science that could explain how time can magically rewind. Rewinding time to me is more fantasy than sci-fiction.