Time Codes and Durations.

Some clarification on how I timed the shots.

It’s interesting how Stanley Kubrick was able to get all the scenes in this two and one-half hour movie to fall together at precisely the right times. It had to be a massive undertaking as shots from beginning to end have specific precise time codes accurate down to within 60 seconds. With the equipment I have it was very hard for me to precisely measure shots that are only several seconds long. What I did was use the time code on the screen along with my stopwatch. Some of the shots like the first and last have fade ins and outs making it even more difficult. Since reading some of the comments on this blog I decided to spend a little more time on the project and count the frames of some of the shots I mentioned to see exactly what’s happening, and how accurate I was. Although I knew my original data was correct I regret not doing this in the first place. Stanley Kubrick’s sophisticated editing equipment made his job a lot easier as I’m sure that my first assumption that he was counting frames by hand was totally wrong.

Here are some of the shots that I checked by hand. To my surprise the very first one I counted came out exact. Danny’s first vision of the blood coming out of the elevator (00:12 minutes) is exactly 576 frames and on my machine there are 24 frames/second, which makes it exactly :24 seconds long, right down to the frame.



Other shots were several frames over. When he speaks to Tony in the mirror at :11 minutes it’s :24 seconds plus 17 frames.



The “Great party isn’t it” segment (2:12 hours) is :12 seconds plus 8 frames.


I've frozen each shot at the first and last frame. If you subtract the top number from the bottom on each time code you'll see that the duration adds up to the same numbers even if the frames are not exact. This was done on purpose and can’t be manipulated in any way.

Wendy’s vision of the two men in the room (2:10 hours) is :12 seconds plus 17 frames. Other shots are much more difficult to calculate like Danny writing Redrum on the bathroom door (2:00 hours, and which had to be orchestrated from off camera) that is several frames over :24 seconds but it’s impossible to know exactly where to start counting. Danny’s first vision of the two girls (00:21 minutes) is 23 seconds long from when we first see them standing there, but if you count the extra second that Danny looks at them before they leave his field of view it is :24 seconds. The first time we see the Overlook is at 2:43 minutes if you look at the time code but the movie doesn’t start until the after the first second which is black screen. His editing equipment must have read off time codes in minutes and seconds and after a :12 or :24 second on a shot pops up it stays on that number for 24 frames until the next number comes up. I stand by my statement that these time durations are accurate to the second and intentional. There’s no thought in my mind that this could have happened by chance.

Here are a few more.


Exactly 42 seconds, from the first hit we see to when the ax is pulled out.



Accurate to the second from when they walk in to the last frame (2 minutes 12 seconds).



Even dissolves are included. Here it is exactly 1 minute and 21 seconds.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the cast or crew knew nothing about what he was doing with these time codes and shot durations, least of all the editor. He may not have let anyone in on his secret as all of the time clues in the movie are well under the radar screen and have never been eluded to or talked about anywhere before. I wonder if he ever expected any one to find any of this as people watching the movie in a theater couldn't possibly known about how long each shot or scene is.

1. 00:12 Danny’s first vision of the blood coming out of the elevator (:24 seconds).
2. 00:21 Danny’s first vision of the two girls from when we see them to when they go out of his view(:24 seconds).
3. 00:24 Jack’s first trip to the Gold Room (1:24 minutes).
4. 00:42 Danny looks up and we see the door of room 237 to the end of the scene (1:12 minutes).
5. 1:12 Jack’s vision of the woman from seeing the tub to his slamming the door of room 237 (3:24 minutes).
6. 1:21 Jack’s vision of balloons during the party (:24 seconds from when he first sees the balloons and we see them for :12 seconds).
7. 1:24 The Party scene when Jack meets Delbert Grady (the entire scene 9:21 minutes).
8. 1:42 Wendy finds Jack’s novel (:24 seconds from when we first see “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” to when she looks at the entire novel in the box).
9. 2:12 Wendy sees the vision of the old bloodied gentleman saying, “Great party isn’t it” (:12 seconds).
10. 2:21 The very last shot in the movie “Overlook Hotel July 4th Ball 1921” where we may be seeing a vision as the pictures that are there now are not the same ones that were there earlier in the movie (:24 seconds).

I’ve found a few more and most just happen to have a duration ending exactly to the second with :12, :21, :24, or :42.

1. 00:02:42 Our first look at The Overlook.
2. 00:38 Wendy and Danny are in the hedge maze (2:12 minutes).
3. 00:45 We see Jack typing after he scolds Wendy (:12 seconds).
4. 00:49 Girls say “Hello Danny, come and play with us” to when we see that they’ve disappeared (:42 seconds).
5. 00:51 Wendy and Danny watch the Summer of 42 (1:21 minutes).
6. 00:52 Danny with Jack in the bedroom (4:21 minutes).
7. 00:57 Danny plays with his toys near room 237 (1:24 minutes).
8. 1:04 Jack’s first visit with Lloyd the bartender, from when we see Lloyd to hear Wendy scream (4:21 minutes).
9. 1:10 Dick Halorann “Shines” and has a vision of room 237 from his home in Florida (:42 seconds).
10. 1:12 Jack walks into room 237 at the exact halfway point of the movie.
11. 1:15 Jack kisses the woman in room 237 (:21 seconds).
12. 1:19 Danny’s first vision of “Redrum” to the end of the vision of the elevator doors (:42 seconds)
13. 1:22 Jack goes to Gold Room party and talks to Lloyd the bartender up to seeing Delbert Grady (2:21 minutes).
14. 1:33 Jack breaks the radio (spends :42 seconds in Mr. Ullman’s office).
15. 1:35 Dick Hallorann’s second call to the forest rangers (:42 seconds).
16. 2:00 Danny writes Redrum on the bathroom door (:24 seconds).
17. 2:01 It takes Jack :42 seconds to breakdown their apartment door. (The ax scene till we see Dick Hallorann approach is 3:24 minutes).
18. 2:09 Wendy’s vision of the two men in the room (:12 seconds).
19. 2:13 From Wendy’s scream to the end of the lobby skeleton vision (:12 seconds).
20. 2:14 Wendy spots the two bloody elevators to the end of that vision (:21 seconds).

There’s probably much more as I’ve just noted the obvious. The next level may even be more intense. Look what shots I came up, and how they relate to Danny, if you multiply time codes by seven.

1. 7 times 1= :7 Jack mentions Danny to Mr. Ullman.
2. 7 times 2= :14 Danny “Shines” and his Smurf disappears from his bedroom door.
3. 7 times 3= :21 Danny sees a vision of the girls.
4. 7 times 4= :28 Danny goes off to talk with Dick Hallorann about “Shining”.
5. 7 times 5= :28 Danny takes his first tryk ride around The Overlook.
6. 7 times 6= :42 Danny walks up to room 237 for the first time.
7. 7 times 7= :49 Danny sees the girls in the hall and they say to him “Hollow Danny, come and play with us”.
8. 7 times 8= :56 Danny says, “Dad, you would never hurt mommy or me, would’ya?”.

He may be editing the durations of entire scenes, and they may be tied together somehow with other scenes. Each character or related action, like visions or “Shining”, may have a number associated with it. The possibilities are mind-boggling and the durations of shots ending with :12, :21, :24, or :42 may form a larger pattern as there are so many of them.


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Special Numbers.

Stanley Kubrick counts things in a very straightforward manner and what I’m showing you is deliberate and can be easily verified if you look at the movie. The numbers are well hidden and if you’re not observant you’ll swear that Wendy swings the bat 41 times, but he also counts the 1 time she swings it when Jack says “How do you like it?” making a total of 42. You’ll hear Danny say Redrum 51 times but he only says it 9 times in his voice, it’s Tony’s voice the other 42 times. As Danny watches “Road Runner” with Wendy don’t forget to count “beep beep” when it’s sung in the theme song making it a total of 21 times. At first one may think Wendy is looking at line 22 in Jack’s typewriter because we can see it, but line 21 is where she actually stops the carriage as she reads the page.

I've included the numbers 1 and 2 only because much has been doubled from Stephen King's novel for no apparent reason.



(12)

• Room 237 adds up to 12.

• The song at the end of the movie is "Midnight, The Stars and You" by The Ray Noble Band.
  

• The two times shown on the screen, 8 AM and 4 PM added together equal 12.

• We see the exterior of Jack’s Volkswagen 12 times.

• We see Jack hit the bathroom door with his ax 12 times.

• Danny says, “Dad” in the bedroom scene and the piano stabs 12 F notes in quick succession and the melody later plays 24 notes in 4, 4 measure sequences. The same music is heard when he walks up to room 237.

• Jack’s throws the ball against The Colorado Lounge wall 12 times first and 2 times later.

• Dick Hallorann takes 12 steps each time he calls the forest ranger and he takes 120 steps before being axed by Jack (60 that we can see and another 60 reflected in the 2 mirrors behind him on the walls.

• 12 days pass from when we see Jack’s reflection in the bedroom mirror to the end of the movie.

• Danny and Wendy round 12 corners as they walk through the hedge maze.

• Dick Hallorann tells them in the store room about 12 turkeys, 24 pork roasts, 30 12lb bags of sugar,12 jugs of black molasses, etc..

• The names of 12 actual places are mentioned - 5 states and 7 cities.

• There are 12 rugs in the Colorado Lounge as Jack types.

• Wendy and Jack’s bedroom doors have 12 windows on each side.

• When Dick Hallorann arrives we first see the lights on the Sno-cat flash 12 times than 4.

• Jack calls, “Danny” 12 times at the end of the movie.
  

• “KDK 12 calling KDK 1” and The Overlook is KDK 12.

• As he speaks to Tony in his bathroom mirror we see Danny move his finger 12 times. 6 in front of the mirror and 6 in its reflection.

• There are 12 black frames in the film and according to them the date of their final night inside The Overlook is December (the 12th month).

(21)

• At the interview, Jack says his trip took 3 and one half hours – 210 minutes.

• Wendy stops at line 21 as she looks at the page in Jack’s typewriter and pulls up the sheet of paper 2 times.

• Just Before Wendy calls the forest rangers, Jack types 21 letters on his typewriter.

• There are 21 pictures on the wall in the final shots.

• Danny passes 21 pictures on his first trip around the corner in The Colorado Lounge.

• Danny watches “Road Runner” with Wendy and “beep-beep” is heard 21 times (earlier as he speaks with Wendy it can be heard 4 times).

• Danny runs from Jack in the hallway and takes 21 steps, and Dick Hallorann takes 21 steps to get to The Overlook’s front door from the Sno-cat.

• Danny’s toy cars and trucks are in several scenes and a total of 21 are seen in The Overlook.

• There are 21 full footprints in the snow as Danny fools Jack in the maze.

• The date at the end of the movie is 1921.

• 21 double letters in the cast’s names.

Jack To(rr)ance
Wendy To(rr)ance
She(ll)ey Duva(ll)
Da(nn)y
Da(nn)y (Ll)oyd
Ha(ll)ora(nn)
U(ll)man
Ba(rr)y Nelson
(Ll)oyd
A(nn)e Jackson
Bi(ll)ie Gibson
Ba(rr)y De(nn)en
Ma(nn)ing Redw(oo)d
Robin Pa(pp)as
Burne(ll) Tucker
Stewarde(ss)

• Even though we see more, we hear 21 footsteps before Danny climbs into the metal storage bin as he hides from Jack.

• As he speaks to Tony after seeing the vision of the Grady girls we see Danny move his finger 21 times.

• There are 21 cars parked in the row closest to the audience in the shot of The Overlook after the Torrances' arrive.
  

(24)

• When she first spots it, we hear Wendy thumb through 24 pages of Jack’s novel in the box.

• There are 12 steps (6 on the left and 6 on the right) before the first level and a total of 24 to the top of the staircase where Wendy clobbers Jack (the level is the first step to the top).

• Jack asks Wendy 24 questions before she clocks him with the bat.
• There are 2 versions of this film. One is 24 minutes longer than the other.
  

• The newscaster on the kitchen TV reports about a 24-year-old Aspen woman who has been missing 10 days.

• The clip we see in the “Summer of 42” is :24 minutes into that movie.

• In the beginning Danny has 24 stickers on his bedroom door.

• Wendy pulls on the storeroom door latch, 24 times.

• There are 2 sets of 24 photos behind Danny’s head in the play room.

• The numbers of the date 7/4/1921 from “Overlook Hotel July 4th Ball 1921” at the end of the movie added together equals 24.

• Jack sees 24 balloons as he walks to the party.

• Before Dick Hallorann yells, “Hello” Jack limps with his lame left leg 24 times as he walks up to the lobby.

• There are 24 windowpanes on the door to The Gold Room and on Mr. Ullman’s office window.

• There are 24 pictures on the wall behind Danny, and 2 darts in his hand when he spots the 2 girls as he plays.

• Dick Hallorann taps out 2-4 with his fingers after he calls the forest rangers.

• We hear Dick Hallorann’s 24 footsteps as he walks in from the Sno-cat. 21 up to the door.
  

(42)

• Danny wears the number 42 on his T-shirt in their bathroom.

• There are 42 vehicles in the upper parking lot before Jack’s interview.

• Wendy swings the bat 42 times.

• Tony says Redrum 42 times (the last 9 times Danny’s voice changes back).

• 2 times 3 times 7 equals 42.

• Wendy and Danny watch the “Summer of 42.

• There are two versions of the film. One is 24 minutes shorter than the other.
  

• As she walks threw The Colorado Lounge with the bat, Wendy steps on the wood floor 42 times and says Jack’s name 2 times.

• During Mr. Ullman’s tour, 42 windows can be seen on The Overlook before he shows them the Sno-cat.

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• The bloody elevators are always stopped on floor 1 and 2 and the other elevators are always stopped on floor 1 and 4.

• Jack is locked up in storeroom C-1.

• Jack swings the ax 1 time to kill Dick Hallorann.

• “KDK1 calling KDK12”.

• Mr. Ullman’s office is the “1st door on the left”.

• 1 cast member is murdered, 1 goes crazy dies and disappears, and it all happens in 1 place.

• 13 is used several times.

• The height of the hedge maze is 13 feet.

• The total number of times we see the inside or outside of Jack’s Volkswagen is 13.

• We hear a dog bark at their apartment in the beginning of the movie 13 times.

• “KDK12 calling KDK1” equal 13.

• Overlook Hotel is 13 letters.

• 11 (twin ones and a mirror image of itself) is very important, as you will see later.

• “Come play with us Danny, for ever, and ever, and ever” is 11 words. In the book the same line has only nine words.

• The film starts at 00:11 seconds, just after the Warner Bros. logo.

• Danny wears an Apollo 11 sweater as he plays in the hallway and we see him take 11 steps toward room 237.

• The numbers of the call letters of The Overlook KDK 12, are 11 – 4 – 11.

• Jack “Shines” room 237 to at precisely 1 hour 11 minutes into the movie.

• Jack Daniel’s has 11 letters in it.

• As Wendy speaks to Tony in their kitchen we see Danny move his finger 11 times.

• Using a 1980 calender (the year of the movie's release) the date of their final night inside The Overlook is 12/11 (click here).

(2)

• 2 identical girls 2 years apart in age, 2 identical elevators, 2 identical boilers, and 2 identical halves to the hedge maze in Jack’s vision of it (4 sets of twins).

• There are 2 mazes in the movie. The hedge maze and the mathematical one created by Stanley Kubrick.
  

• There are 2 hotels in the movie where the novel has only one.

• The Grady girl's ages are changed from the novel. Each has 2 years added in the movie.

• 2 women are in the bathroom of room 237 where the novel has only one.

• Everything we actually see on a TV set is shown 2 times, 2 cartoons, 2 movies, and 2 news casts.

• Jack has 2 bright yellow possessions and breaks down 2 yellow doors (1 panel on the first one and 2 panels on second).

• The word “Shining” is mentioned 2 times throughout the movie.

• Danny has 2 visions of the Redrum door.

• From the number of room 237, 7 minus 3 minus 2 equals 2.

• Wendy tries to reach the rangers on the radio, “KDK12 calling KDK1” is repeated 2 times and said 2 times.
  

• Wendy tries to reach the forest rangers 2 times.

• Jack says, “How do you like it?” 2 times and the line “For ever and ever” is repeated 2 times.

• Wendy hits Jack with the bat 2 times.

• There are 2 doors in the entrance of room 237, the other rooms have 1.

• Danny goes up to room 237 2 times and we see him drive his trike 2 times, and we see him playing with his toys 2 times.

• Redrum is written on the door 2 separate times (look at the number of strokes in the lipstick on the door – 10 the 1st time as we see in both of his visions, and 14 strokes when we actually watch Danny write it, for a total of 24 strokes). When looking at a flat surface, even it’s filmed at a different angle, a straight line doesn’t become curved and a curved line does not become straight (look at the D and the middle R).

• Indians are mentioned 2 times, 2 tribes are noted, and the same Indian is seen 2 times moved to 2 different places.

• Jack destroys 2 doors.

• Grady “put both barrels of a shotgun in his mouth”.

• 2 scenes are filmed in the maze and 2 in the storeroom, and Jack’s interview is split into 2 separate scenes.

• It took 2 years to build the hotel.

• Throughout the movie, the paper Jack’s novel is typed on is 2 different colors, and seen in 2 different boxes on his desk with 2 different colored typewriters sitting next to it.

• In their apartment, we see Danny’s bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room 2 times each.

• Jack thinks he has two $20 bills and two $10 bills in his pocket.

• Jack sabotages 2 items.

• 2 fictitious towns are mentioned - Sidewinder Colorado and Stovington Vermont.

• Dick Hallorann calls the forest rangers 2 times and makes a total of 4 phone calls.

• Only 2 entrances or exits to The Overlook are actually used in the movie.

• There are 2 Gold Room signs, the 2 different stands they’re on switch places throughout the movie, and 2 artists appear on it.

• We see Wendy reading 2 novels – “The Catcher in the Rye” and “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”.

• Dick Hallorann “shines “ 2 times.

• Dick Hallorann shows Danny and Wendy 2 storerooms.

• Wendy has to hit the Sno-cat ignition 2 times as they leave.

• There are 2 Sno-cats used in the movie and only 2 people leave The Overlook at the end.

• There are 2 different hedge maze entrances, and although we’re led to believe that there’s one entrance Danny "Shines" in the end of the movie and moves it closer to him.

• Dick Hallorann says Danny's nickname "Doc" 2 times as he "Shines" during the tour of the storeroom.

• Jack is frozen 2 times in the movie, once in The Hedge Maze while chasing Danny and secondly in the picture on the wall in the last shot।

• Each time a black frame is used to indicate the day of the week they are 2 days apart; Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday.

• The phone rings 2 times when Dick Hallorann calls the forest rangers.
  

(4)

• There are 4 representations of the Hedge Maze, and all are different (the map, the miniature, Jack’s vision of it, and the actual maze).

• In the last shot, Jack holds up 4 fingers of his right hand in the picture....

• 4 shots are filmed in the reflection of a mirror.

• The Overlook has 4 floors, 4 Presidents stayed there, and 4 designs are on the lobby floor as you walk in.

• A hand sized ball is seen 4 times throughout the entire movie.

• Danny has 4 visions of the little girls.

• We see the inside of Mr. Ullman’s office 4 times and there are 4 pictures of Mt Hood at its entrance and 2 light switches on the right that appear later in the movie.

• There are 4 main characters and we see them eating 4 times and drinking 2 times, throughout the movie.

• Dick Hallorann makes 4 phone calls.

• There’s rampant speculation about these, but 4 things have 2 different explanations in the movie, Grady’s 2 names (Mr. Ullman speaks of Charles Grady, and Jack meets Delbert Grady), 2 different lengths of time when Jack stopped drinking since hurting Danny (Wendy says “5 months” and he says “3 … years ago”), Grady’s daughters (Mr. Ullman speaks of Charles Grady’s daughters of 8 and 10 yet in Danny’s visions we clearly see non identical twins and Jack tells Delbert Grady he saw his picture in the newspapers and “You chopped your wife and daughter up into little bits”), and the time The Overlook is closed for the winter (Jack expects “5 months of peace” yet Mr. Ullman clearly says it’s closed for 6 1/2 months).

• There are 4 visions of the bloody elevators (Danny 3 times and Wendy 1 time).

• Jack flips 4 light switches in The Gold Room and there are 4 mirrors in its hallway entrance.

• There are 4 weapons used in the movie, a bat, a knife, an ax, and Danny’s wits.

• Twice, Grady knocks 4 times on the storeroom door to wake Jack.

• Tony speaks 4 times thought the movie.

• The first time we see Jack’s typewriter 4 pencils are neatly placed next to it on the desk.

• The 4 TV sets in proximity to people who “Shine” are seen on at different times and none of them have any visible wires coming from them.

• Wendy yells Jack’s name 4 times as she runs to him during his nightmare.

• 4 years are mentioned in the movie - 1907, 1909, 1970, and 1968 (the lower is 2 years away from the higher).

• 4 dates are mentioned in the movie - 5/1, 5/15, 7/4, and 10/30.
  

• There are 4 steps in the entrance of their apartment.

• Dick Hallorann says, “Hello, anybody here?” at the end of the movie 4 times.

• Wendy sees 4 visions, all near the end of the movie.

• 4 bathrooms are used in scenes.

(20) (is very important as you will see later) and other multiples of 5. (its use may be inspired from the novel, but more has been included).

• There are 20 people in the close-up in the second to last shot of the movie.

• Mr. Ullman tells Jack about the “25 mile stretch of road” to Sidewinder and “20 feet of snow in the winter”.

• Jack talks about “5 months on the wagon” and “5 months of peace” as Mr. Ullman tells him The Overlook is closed between10/30 and 5/15. (10-30=20 and 5+15=20). Their first full day in The Overlook is Halloween.
  

• Five days of the week are shown on screen and each is 2 days away from the next.

• The two girls say “for ever, and ever, and ever” at :50:00 and Jack says the same words at :55:50.

• Wendy tells Danny she’ll “be back in just about 5 minutes” than drags Jack to the storeroom at 6:55.

• We hear or see Jack swing the ax 30 times (29 times to bust down the 2 doors and 1 time to kill Dick Hallorann).

• “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” is 10 words.

• Dick Hallorann watches channel 10 in Miami and they talk about “10 inches of snow” in Colorado.

• We see Dick Hallorann take 60 steps before he walks into Jack’s ax.

• There are 30 large spires on the miniature of the hedge maze.

• When the ranger tries to reach them on the radio, “KDK1 calling KDK12” is repeated twice and said 5 times.

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Garden Variety Mistakes.

The page of The Hotel scrapbook changes between shots without being touched.

The overhead light appears later in the movie.



The hook on bathroom door appears between shots.



Danny slides on his back but the snow is on his chest.



Someone's rearranged the books on the window between shots.



The fire extinguisher disappears.



The gum on the bottom of Jack's shoe disappears in the storeroom.




The tray moves onto a different sink (second to third).



The chair and table disappear between shots.



The fifth Hedge Maze spire gets broken off between shots.



One chandelier near Jack is missing, just in this shot.


Someone brushed their teeth and used the towel between shots.



Danny's bruises heal very quickly.



The spoon on the table in the back disappears as the scene progresses.



The bulb in the exit sign in the back is on, than blown out, than repaired.




The boxes move closer to Jack on the right and left without being touched.



The snow on the side of the Snow-Cat disappears.



The storeroom door changes throughout the movie (look at the indentations).



The USFS sign moves higher between shots.



The clocks aren't working in The Overlook and they never match up from shot shot.



Everything on Wendy's dresser moves between shots without being touched.



He doesn't move an inch but the ranger’s cup rotates clockwise 45 degrees between shots.



Someone cleaned up and placed a nice neat pile of wood on the left after Jack walks in.


Everything's been rearranged and some 7up Is gone.



Dick Hallorann's body moves even though he’s dead.



The door latch reverses after they walk in.



The coats have been rearranged even though nobody went near them.



The cigarette disappears in the ashtray even though no one is smoking.



The ash on Wendy's cigarette gets longer in one second.



The chairs disappear throughout the scene.




There is blood than no blood on the knife.




The cameraman’s reflection is in the mirror.


The cameraman's shadow is on their backs.


The camera truck can be seen moving in the windows.



A blue folder appears and the phone disappears between shots.



The box with the novel in it appears between shots.



The ashtray on the nightstand moves without being touched.



The bearskin rug disappears.




One arm is out of the window, then both are.



After danny slides down the snow is untouched.



Artificial snow never seems to melt.





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