THE SHINING + HICKS' HEXAGON
Danny Torrence riding through The Overlook Hotel hallways in The Shining
A couple of days ago I posted this iconic carpet pattern on my Instagram feed as a little Halloween pop quiz. If you didn’t recognize it then, you certainly do in the shot above if you are a fan of THE SHINING , released in 1980 and sending shivers up spines ever since.
One of the iconic parts of this film and there are so, so, many, (REDRUM! ) is this bold patterned carpet we see as Danny takes a spin through the hallways of The Overlook Hotel finding his way to room 237. We see it again with Danny playing with his toys on the floor. There’s a story there, though…part of it about the carpet and where it came from and another about Kubrick’s use of it.
The carpet itself was designed by David Hicks and is known as Hicks’ Hexagon, a widely utilized patten in design. Although we’ll get to Kubrick’s very intentional use of this pattern, the Hicks’ Hexagon carpet was not created for the film. It had been in production since the 1960s which was well before the movie’s release and likely purchased off the shelf or a copy made for the film, according to FILM AND FURNITURE .
Stanley Kubrick playing chess on the set of Dr. Strangelove
There are a lot theories about why this carpet was chosen for the film and some of them are pretty far out there, but Kubrick’s love of chess seems to have some traction. Every heard of KUBRICK’S CARPET TRICK ? There is a point in the movie where we see Danny sitting on the floor playing with his toys. From one angle we see him sitting in one hexagon but the next frame, shot at a different angle, he has shifted to another hexagon. This is thought to be intentional and meant to represent a chess move, not just a mistake made in editing.
Explanation of Kubick’s Carpet Trick by Juli Kearns, author/artist/photographer of IdyllopusPress Presents
From a design perspective, I just think the use of the bold colors and oversized pattern is brilliant. You know my feelings on color and what kind of emotions they evoke. Nothing says dark energy, door hatcheting, creepy twin finding like these colors with that kid in those halls. What do you think…happy accident? ‘All work and no play?’ Nah, I think he was playing us like a fiddle.
As I mentioned, this is a well known pattern and used in design today, but in wayyyy less creepy color palettes. In fact, you’ll probably start to see it more, but now you have a little history and trivia in your back pocket.
However, if you see it with eerie looking twins holding hands that seem to appear out of thin air…..get in your snow plow and run, girl.
