'The Shining'

In today's lesson, we watched a DVD called 'The Shining' in our media lesson. It was a thriller about a caretaker who lives in a huge empty hotel with his wife and son. However, he slowly starts to go crazy. At the start of the film, we the audience are informed of what is going to happen throughout the film.

I enjoyed the film for a variety of reasons; most predominantly because of the large inclusion of suspense the whole time. The film used different sounds such as high pitched screeches and low droning tones to build suspense for the viewer, and it also used different camera angles such as first person view and bird's eye view to keep the viewers engaged and interested.

Another sound effects that aided this effect was the intro soundtrack. It was a 'heart beat'-like sound. At the same time on-screen, there was a bird's eye view and the camera was following a car in a predator's style. This established isolation and remoteness. Later on in the film, the child is playing with toy trucks. Again, it is a bird's eye view shot and then you slowly see a ball roll into the frame. You re unaware of who threw the ball, and so when the camera pans upwards from the POV of the child, suspense is created.