The Shining - Opening Credits

For our coursework we are making and opening sequence to a film, and credits are included in this. Therefore I have looked at ‘The Shining’s opening credits as example and inspiration as it is thought of by many as the scariest ever horror film. The film was made in 1980 directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the novel by Stephen King
It starts off with a forward tracking establishing shot looking out over a large lake with mountains either side of it. It then cuts to a birds eye view shot of a dense forest, with a road running through it with one car on it. The music begins straight away even though there are no credits yet. It is very low pitched with a slow tempo, and has an eerie, creepy feel to it. The camera follows the car, always slightly behind as it drives along the long winding road with masses of uninhabited landscape either side of it. This gives the impression they are being followed, and the wide stretch of land surrounding them emphasises their isolation and shows how alone they are, a long way from anywhere or anyone.
The credits are simple just like the opening sequence itself. They are not in a spiky font or dripping with blood, they are just pale blue, plain and easy to read. In my opinion I think this mirrors the significance of the film - How at the beginning they are just a normal family and Jack Terrence (played by Jack Nicholson) is just a normal guy – it plays on how anyone, even the people you love and who love you can turn against you, and go insane. However despite the simplicity of the credits, I think this opening sequence is still very scary and the music plays a big role in this. The creepy low pitch tune gets slightly louder and then a high pitched, whiny score is put in its place this has a strong ghostly feel to it as it sounds like distant screams and howls giving the audience an idea as to the nature of the film. At 2:34 we then see an image of the hotel, it is at the bottom of a mountain further stressing the sense of seclusion about the setting of the film.
Obviously we cannot do birds eye views shots of vast forests and remote mountain hotels like The Shining, however I do think there is a lot we can take from this as an effective horror opening. Firstly the point that stands out for me is that it doesn’t have to be fast paced and gory right away, the opening can be more subtle and still be just as scary. Also I think the change in pitch of music works really well in keeping a long sequence interesting and this clip also shows that both very high and very low pitch music can be very effective in horrors. Additionally I think the sense of isolation is very disturbing with no one around to help you, and I think this can be just as well achieves on ground level