The opening scene of The Shining uses complex camera angles to follow a car driving through remote, snowy mountains. High angle shots track the car's journey for over two minutes with changing scenery. Bright natural lighting creates long shadows that give a sense of fear and isolation. Unsettling, low-pitched dramatic music builds tension throughout the opening and contributes to an uncomfortable, ominous tone. The complex camerawork and unnerving music effectively set the mood for a suspenseful psychological thriller without revealing any characters or plot details in the first three minutes.

1. Film Opening Analysis: The Shining
Firstseenonscreenisa wide shotof whatappearsto be a veryremote area.The audience cansee a
lake withmountainsandthe skyline inthe background.The cameraquicklyzoomsinandsweeps
overthe lake.Thisslowlyfadesintoanextreme highangle shot(birdseye view)whichlooksdown
on a car travellingalongasmall roadsurroundedbytreesandwater.The camera continuestostay
at thishighangle whilstfollowingthe caron itsjourney.A quickeditchangesthe camerato a lower
highangle shotwhichthencontinuestofollow the car.Afterthisanotherquickeditchangesthe
angle of the camera and the scenery(toa road in the mountains) andagaincontinuestopursue the
car. Eventuallythe audienceisable tosee the vehicle asthe cameraovertakesitandswoopsoff the
side of the mountain.Once more,the patternof the highangle shottracking the car prolongs.Asit
maintainsthisthe scenerychangesslightlyasthe car movesdeeperandhigherintothe mountains,
for example,the audience cansee imagesof snow cappedmountains.The camerathentracksalong
the road as the car comescloserto meetingitsdestinationandforthe openingtitlestofinish.After
twoand half minutesof the openingscene andcreditswe are introducedtothe overlookhotelfor
the firsttime,we knownothingaboutitbut whatit lookslike andhow bigitis.We assume thisis
where the storyisgoingto take place.Bythe endof thisthree minute clipthe audience still donotk
nowwho the car that the camerahas beenfollowingbelongstoo.
Throughthe whole openingverybright,ambientandnatural lightingisused.Due tothe fact that the
sunlightissovividlarge shadowssilhouette the tall mountainsandtreesandstretchacrossthe lake
and road.This providesthe audience withasense of fearasit suggeststhatthisplace isnot as nice
as it looksorsomethingbadisgoingto happentodarkenthe area.It appearsto be a verypeaceful
place,however,due tothe musicandthe vast gulf of isolationwe know thatthisnotgoingto be the
case andthere issomethingsuspiciousaboutthe area.
The music featuredonthese openingtitlesisaveryeffectivedramaticdevice.Atthe startof the
openingthe musicisverydeepsoundingandsinglenotesare played,withchangesinpitch.This
continues,where attimesthe notesgethigher,howeverthe musicisstill verymonotone.At
approximatelyfortyfive secondsthroughthe openinghighpitchedsoundscanbe heardthroughthe
extremelylownotes.Thisaddstothe dramaticand tense feel the musicgivestothe audience.This
followsafewsecondslater.Eventuallythe titlesbegintoappear.The colourof the fontis blue,
whichisusuallyseentobe a gentlercolourbutKubrickmakesthisfontseemmore eerie bythe
soundhe usesof tribal musicandscreamingwomen.
In myopinionthe musicmakesthe audience feel veryuncomfortable andonedge.Ithinkthis
openingtheme musicisagoodexample of havingeffectsonthe audience.
The openingof thisfilmallowsus tohave an ideaof the type of complex cameraanglesthatcan be
usedand howa good piece of musiccan make the openingof the filmimmediatelyappeal tothe
audience andindicate whattype of genre thisfilmisgoingtobe.