Kubrick's use of various techniques marks patterns throughout his films. His use of the tracking shot and the way he expresses time are two consistant techniques found in both Eyes Wide Shut and The Shining. An example of a tracking shot from The Shining is when Danny is filmed riding his little tricycle trough the hallways of the hotel. This is shot at a low angle to show his course through the hotel from his perspective. The camera is behind him and moving forward with him. This type of tracking shot also occurs in Eyes Wide Shut when the doctor explores the house where the sex cult is held. As he walks through the big rooms, not knowing what he might find, the camera follows closely behind him. This creates suspense in that the viewer does not know what he might stumble upon.

Thematically, Kubrick considers time in terms of past, present and future; time is expressed using flashbacks and alternate realities. The past is represented in The Shining when Danny gets flashbacks of the twin's corpses. The vision of the past only lasts a few seconds. This also occurs in Eyes Wide Shut when the doctor gets a vision of his wife having sex with another man. In both films the present is communicated through narration, which happens as the story progresses. The future is represented in both films through the alternate reality of the dream world. Jack experiences the future in a dream, where he sees himself cutting Wendy and Danny into little pieces. In Eyes Wide Shut, Kidman dreams of a place where everyone is having sex with everyone else; in this way, the sex cult is exposed because of this alternate reality, which is the dream world.

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Michelle Tirkalas