Analysis of Film Opening. "The Shining"

The Shining Opening sequence (Up until 4.43min)

The Shining (Stanley Kubrick 1980) is a psychological horror based on the novel by Stephen King. The film takes place in a hotel during winter time, in the 1970s. It is about a writer with his wife and son, who accepts the job as caretaker for a hotel over the winter. Soon after moving in, the father descends into madness and is influenced by some kind of supernatural presence in the hotel.

The film opens with a wide angled view of a lake with a mountainous background. The camera tracks across the lake and focuses on the mountains. It then cuts to a birds-eye view of a forest, with a car driving through the middle of it. This immediately makes the audience ask themselves; Who is in the car? Where are they going? What is going to happen to the driver? The camera follows the car across various secluded landscapes. The tiny car compared to the vast landscapes makes it seem isolated or vulnerable, which we later find out to be very significant to the film. As we follow the car, a chilling soundtrack is played in the background. This builds up tension, and helps to identify the film as a psychological horror, as the high pitch of it makes it seem spooky and weird. The titles are rolling up the screen as this is happening, and are written in a very plain, light blue text, which is a fairly non threatening colour.

The destination of the car is revealed, as an ELS of a hotel with a snowy, mountainous background is shown. It then cuts to a still title saying 'The Interview' written in white, on a black background. It then cuts to the main character 'Jack Torrance' played by Jack Nicholson. We now know that he was the one driving the car, suggesting that he is the one that is isolated / vulnerable. Jack walks through a grand hotel with smartly dressed workers. He goes up to the reception, and is directed to the interviewer. Jack seems like a normal guy at first, he is wearing a fairly plain suit and addresses the receptionist politely. There isn't much of a hint as to him being a good or bad yet. Jack walks into the interviewers room and shakes hands with him. The interviewer is wearing a red tie which connotes blood and gore, and suggests both are to come.

It then cuts to a VLS of the outside of a building and a car park. This instantly seems less secluded and isolated as the eerie music at the beginning, is replaced with the sound of children playing and a dog barking. This suggests its neighbourhood, likely to be the main character's home. It then cuts to inside the building, which shows a woman and a little boy sitting at a table eating sandwiches. The woman is wearing deep red, which again connotes blood, and suggests that some kind of tragedy will befall her. We assume these characters to be Jacks wife and son when the boy asks about staying in the hotel for winter. We find that the son is lonely when he says 'There's hardly anybody to play with around here.' This again is a hint towards the isolation and seclusion of the family, and suggests that something will happen to them and they will be helpless. The mother (Wendy Torrance) seems to be timid and vulnerable, as she speaks in a very soft and high pitch voice. The son (Danny Torrance) has an imaginary friend named Tony. This makes Danny seem slightly strange, and suggests that there's something special about him. This becomes more sinister when Wendy starts asking Tony if he is excited about going to the hotel. Danny answers for him in a strangely hoarse voice, as if he has been possessed. As he is does this, he innocently wiggles his finger and munches on his sandwich suggesting that he has a darker side that he can't control. At 4.42 min, after Wendy has asked 'How come you don't want to go the hotel?' Danny replies 'I just don't,' at this point his sandwich has broken in half, which is strange as it was perfectly in tact a couple of seconds ago. This suggests that there is going to be some kind of breakdown, or accident that occurs at the hotel.

At the start of my film, I think the audience needs to be introduced to at least one of the main characters, and get a feel of the time period and setting of the film. Relationships between characters and hints towards how they develop should also be shown.