Mise-en-Scene Analysis

Here's some mise-en-scene analysis of the title sequence from the somewhat dated thriller film "The Shining".

The Shining

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Initially i thought that mise-en-scene didn't play a vital part in this title sequence. However, after thinking about the theme of the film I could see how elements of it were reflected in the setting used etc. Throughout the title sequence the audience follows a car as it journeys through a vast and deserted area of mountains and trees. This unknowingly sets the audience up for a key event later in the film; this being when the family move into a similarly deserted hotel. The tension and suspense the audience feel throughout the title sequence(awaiting a climax or event)is similar to the suspense they later feel as the family explore the hotel. The car somewhat lost within the huge setting represents how minute the family is in comparison to the events and characters around them later in the film. The heaviness of the forest areas around the car make it seem enclosed and captured. All of these suggestions made within the title sequence represent a feeling/event later to come and provoke emotions in the audience that will develop throughout the film.