Thriller Opening Analysis

The Shining

Whats Happens?
The film starts with a title sequence showing a car travelling along a long road on some mountains with titles/names scrolling up the middle of the screen. The film then carries on from the tittle sequence when the car stops outside a hotel and a man enters the hotel.

Camerawork:
The opening title sequence of the car on the road uses tracking from a high angle to give an impression of the person in the car as a target. The high angle makes the car look vunerable and the tracking camera shows that someone may be following it. The title sequence was also filmed using wide and long shots to establish the setting of the film which was in a hotel in the middle of some mountains. This also made the person in the car seem even more vunverable because it showed the audience that it was in the middle of no where and if they did get in trouble no one would probably be around to help.

Sound:
Throughout the title sequence there was a repetitive low pitched trumpet sound being played with a spooky windy sound in the background which made it clear that the film was a thriller.

Mise En Scene:
The title sequence showed a yellow car along a long road surrounded by mountains on a coast. The simple scenery of the mountains and trees made the car stand out and the main focus.

Editing:
The opening scene only had a few match cuts of the car travelling along the road because it wanted to create the impression of eyes being locked onto the car.

Titles:
The titles used a very plain and simple serif font which scrolled up the screen while the car was shown travelling behind it.