Analysing film opening sequences-The Shining

Analysing film opening sequences-The Shining

The opening sequence of The Shining contains a variation in camera angle. The main camera angle used is a very long tracking shot (VLS), following a car driving on the road along the mountain. The use of VLS is used to help set the setting the film and helps the audience understand where the movie is set. The use of the tracking shot following the car connotes to the audience that this car is important and builds tension. This is affective because it makes the audience wait in anticipation to see what will happen, so it makes them want to continue to watch.

The use of  music is a key feature in the opening sequence due to the lack of dialogue. The music is a low pitch, contrapuntal, non diegetic sound to build up a dramatic scene. The use of the dramatic sounds in contrast to the nice view of the country side on a sunny day overseeing a lake gives the audience the impression that something bad is going to happen and that they are foreshadowing something scary to happen. This is affective because it confuses the audience and makes them want to find out what is actually happening. Making the sound  more low pitched give it a more menacing and gloomy. It connotes to the audience that there is something threatening around and something bad will happen in this film.  The music in general could be a reflection of the mood of the film.

The contrast of the happy beautiful sunlit mountain and the deep, low pitch menacing music also builds tension within the audience and creates a nervous anticipation in their bodies. Building this tension in the audience makes the action scenes have more impact and come as more of shock to them. This is because they wouldn't expect bad things to occur in a setting that is nice and innocent.

The company have created a narrative enough a immediately in the film. Theorist Roland Barthes believes that all narrative texts contain action codes, enigma codes and semantic codes. The tracking shot of the car makes the audience wonder who is driving the car and why the camera is focused on that car instead of the scenery elsewhere. This links to Barthes' theory because the car/ driver of the car seems enigmatic. Enigmatic figures are never revealed immediately, and them keeps the audience watching because they want to find who this character is that is driving the car.

Another enigma code indicated to the audience in the opening sequence is that there are no characters introduced or seen at all. Conventionally, even if their identity isn't revealed completely, characters are seen in the opening sequence, however, in this opening sequence, there are no characters seen at. This makes the audiences want to continue to watch at least until they see a one character and hopefully learn a little bit about a character.

The camera VLS tracking the car driving along the mountain captures not only the car driving but also the whole scene around it. The use of the VLS makes the car seem very small and minute compared to its surrounding. This isolates the car and singles in out in comparison to the setting.  This could connote to the audience that the people in the car are in the middle of nowhere and that they're alone. This could suggest that further on, they will find themselves in a situation and they won't be able to find any help because they're alone.

The use of camera angles is key to the representation of people in this opening sequence. The car in some ways could represent the people in the film and the camera being a greater presents. The high angle on the car makes the car look smaller and inferior, which connotes that some characters are under threat and that they are made to look small and inferior to whatever the threat may be. This intrigues the audience because initially, due to the fact that the car is the only subject that is focused on, the high angle makes it look minute which may signify that there is a important subject that the audience can't see. This links back to the enigma codes.

The mis-en-scene in the opening scene can indicate further ideas of enigma codes. The colour of the car that is being followed is yellow. Although this may not connote anything to the audience, yellow cars aren't commonly seen and are seen to be unusual. This may represent a particular character as strange or different to the rest. This may be the enigmatic character that is trying to be represented, or maybe a regular character who nobody would expect to be strange.