1. I love the opening credits to The Shining as they are
simple and not too flashy. This is to be expected as the
film was released in 1980, a time when technology and
editing software was very limited.
The colour of the credits is blue which could symbolise
many things as an association with the colour blue is
coldness, e.g. the cold feeling you get when watching
The Shining, or the coldness of the weather in one of
the final scenes. The blue text credits are displayed in a
scroll-up motion which adds to the simplicity of them. They are displayed against a panoramic view
as the background. The music played during the opening sequence is an eerie sort of music, typical
of a horror film. It immediately puts the audience on the edge of their seat as we know something
bad will happen.
At first one may think that these opening credits aren’t
appropriate for a film such as The Shining as the main
theme of the film is isolation, and this credit sequence
demonstrates the complete opposite of this by showing
great views of mountain ranges, lakes, forests, long roads
etc. that are large
open spaces. The
snow we see
appear upon the
mountains towards the end of the sequence could
represent the snow that appears towards the end of the
film.However there is a sense of looming isolation as
throughout the credits the camera follows one car the
whole way, and
only at one point do we see another car pass, for the rest
of the sequence it is alone in the middle of nowhere. This
could be used to symbolise many things in the film such
as; Jack Torrence being the driver of the car upon the
long open road with choices of which way to go but with
a great danger if he skids or has an accident symbolising
that once at the hotel he becomes a man with choice in a
perilous situation.We do however see a couple of cars stationary as the main car passes. These could
represent the people that Wendy Torrence contacts in the final scenes for help but isn’t
successful.An alternative explanation is as the Torrence family are confined in the hotel by
themselves throughout the film, and the only other person for them to communicate with is Dick
Hallorann who is rarely about, especially towards the end
of the film when he proves difficult to contact when
needed. I also believe these credits are appropriate for the
film as it is classed as a psychological horror, and I believe
the credits add to the thinking that the audience must to
do fully understand the film. Finally the credits end with an
establishing shot of the hotel where the Torrence family
will be staying and where the film is set.