"The Shining" Opening Sequence

This is the opening scene from "The Shining". What intrigued me the most about this clip was its ability to be simplistic yet so mesmerising; I found I couldn't take my eyes of the screen for the entire 3 minutes. This clip defied many of the typical codes and conventions of opening sequences, but the ones they did include were so powerful, they made up for the ones they didn't have.

 There was a huge range of camera angles, shots and movements which established location. It added a huge sense of mysteriousness since it showed miles and miles of eerily empty land, creating a tense atmosphere. By the camera using wide angled shots, it showed vast emptiness. The use of one car amongst all this emptiness was significant because it gave us a sense of them being alone and venerable so far away from anything. Similarly our attention is then drawn to that one car because there is little else to look at which gives us the impression that something will happen to this car and we shouldn't take our eyes off it. The sequence didn't introduce the audience to any characters, but we got the impression that they were probably in the car since that was the focus of the clip. This cleverly means the audience builds a relationship with the people in the car without evening knowing who they are. We are intrigued to know what happens. There is a title sequence within the opening scene, with the names of actors, directors and producers.

 The colouring of the scene is quite hostile at points with harsh blues and greens being used, and the use of natural sunlight is used and this creates shadows within the frame. This then adds to the eeriness. Within the frame it is often half dark, half light to perhaps suggest we are only seeing half the picture, a lot of the truth is hidden. Ironically the car used as the main focus at points in the sequence is yellow. This contrasts the existing mood of suspicion and tension. The car appears very small on the scene, again adding to the venerability of the people inside, they seem like helpless people in this vast empty world.

 My favourite part of the clip though, and the most significant in my opinion is the audio used within this clip. There is no dialogue or sound effects which keeps us at a distance from the true action and looking as an outsider. This makes us feel helpless because we can objectively see that it seems something bad is going to happen .The soundtrack used is deep and slow which is very tense. Then it is interrupted with loud, harsh noises which almost sound like people screaming, often sounding like sirens going off. It's very eerie and creepy and gives us the impression that something very big is about to happen. At the end when the music quietens and nothing has yet happened, we are left confused but intrigued and I really felt like I needed to continue watching.

I think this is a very successful opening sequence because its simplicity is what draws the audience in. It had given me lots of ideas in terms of my own opening, I realise less is more and trying to cram too much into the first part of a film can be overwhelming and look too rushed, not leaving any time for the story to develop since we find out too much straight away.