The Shining Diorama

Now that the BAV-O-RAMA is up and running cleanly, with signage and everything, it’s high time I start thinking about the next diorama. I knew from early on that my second installation would be from The Shining, in particular the fourth encounter between the Grady twins and Danny when he’s on his big wheel in the hallway. Keep in mind the video of that scene below does contain some graphic images.

I will not be focusing on those graphic images, but rather on the angelic image of the twins at the end of the hallway hand-in-hand.

The scene of the Shining featuring the Grady Twins in the hallway

I have been re-watching this scene numerous times, and one of the things I noticed is the carpet is not the iconic orange hexagon designed by David Hicks.

David Hicks Hexagon carpet from The SHining

The carpet in this hallway scene with the twins is a drab blue carpet with 12″ grey borders (must be the help’s wing of the hotel), which should be far easier to reproduce for the floor of the diorama. I also researched the tricycle Danny was riding around the Overlook Hotel on, and it’s not a Marx Big Wheel but rather a Hedstrom Trail Cycle:

Hedstrom Tricycle from Shining

I searched to see if I can find an original and there were none to be found. I could substitute it with the more common Marx Big Wheel of which you can get a knock-off for roughly $100, but we’ll see. The ceiling can be off-white, and I might see if I can find a hanging light similar to those in the scene to have the light directly in the diorama—which would be sick. After that, the last prop is just a Danny doll with a red hoody, bowl cut, and jeans.

Danny on tricycle facing the Grady Twins

I think this diorama might be a bit easier than Creepshow, but I just jinxed myself. The real trick of this diorama, in my opinion, is using the three walls of the diorama to capture the depth and perspective of the hallway. The above shot could work well, but I’m hoping the Grady Twins will be more prominent on the back wall, while at the same time the prints on the side walls capture the depth of the hallway and its various details such as the wall paper, doors, and closets. Given Danny’s back will be up against the window, the prints that go on the side walls will have to account for his perspective, as well as the cut of the carpet. I think I have to talk with Michael Branson Smith and get his take on sizing the Danny figure and the big wheel in order to ensure the prints can both highlight the twins while providing a sense of the hallway’s depth.

As I have mentioned before on this blog, I experienced a similar moment with the Grady twins at a random Z Pizza in Springfield, Virginia when the family stopped in for a slice. Turning the corner on the way to the bathroom I came across a life-sized print of the Grady twins on the wall—it was beautifully jarring. I took the above video of Miles and Tess to make a fun memory and have wanted to re-create the scene ever since. The genius at Z Pizza used the close-up of the twins from that scene, but for my purposes the close-up would throw off anything resembling realistic dimensions for the diorama:

Scene in the Shining featuring a close-up of the Grady Twins in the hallway

Anyway, long post short: I need to lock-in dimensions and scale and this thing should be in the bag.