The use of symmetry within The Shining plays to the outcome of the characters well,  often indicating the presence of the hotel’s effect on events occurring. This can be identified within this scene of The Shining, when Jack is encountered with the waiter in the bathroom, who is positioned opposite him with a mirror behind.  The idea of symmetry can somewhat suggest to the audience that the events are parallel, perhaps going in sync, therefore strengthening the supernatural control around the Overlook Hotel. The mirrors also imply that Jack is in fact gazing into a reflection, and the idea that the character opposite him is real is challenged, displaying the true detriment of Jack’s sanity.

An example of both Steadicam and symmetry in the Shining is highly prominent in the scene with Danny encountering the twin sisters in the corridor. Firstly, in relation to the use of Steadicam, the tension built whilst the camera follows Danny’s journey on the tricycle through the Hotel is transcending and thus has become an iconic moment in cinematic history. It was successful in placing the viewer’s perspective directly as Danny’s, raising the tension of the scene and sustaining the horror to an empathetic degree, thus retaining verisimilitude. The sisters also exemplify the connotation of reflection, therefore intertwining the supernatural quality that is also represented in the movie, such as the mentioned scene in the bathroom.

Reflection is quintessential in the  connotation embedded with symmetry within the movie.  Two imperative examples include:

The use of “REDRUM” with symmetry, which backwards spells murder toward the culmination of the movie, strongly suggests the importance of reflection, and conveys the idea that the representation of reflection in regards to the hotel could be a symbol of a different timeline of events undergoing. For instance, in the second image when Jack wakes up in bed, the camera alludes the audience with the whole shot in the mirror, however when panning to the right it is proven the shot was just a reflection. Therefore, this could be suggesting that what the audience is watching is very much an alternated form of events, engulfed with supernatural ambiguity.