The Sequence begins with a huge establashing shot of a lake, and the mountines all around it. The shot is nearly a birds eye view and is at a canted angle. The camera then tracks past a small island on the lake, and speeds towards one of the mountines. During all of this, eerie, very subtle music is being played. All these elements within the first few seconds of the sequence has an instantanious effect, which is to give the audience a good idea of the themes and content of the film, since the beginning shots give a sence of an ominous force which surveying the area, and the very desolate, isolated area also shows the audiance that the charatcers in the film are going to be very cut off.
The shot of the lake then fades away, and is replaced by a birds eye view of a car driving along a deserted road surrounded by very dense woodland. The camera follows the car as it drives, and it is intresting to note that in this BEV the car seems extremly small, and the audiance really have to concentrate to make it out amongst the woods. As the camera tracks the car, it slowly moves closer and closer towards it, giving the audiance a gradually clearer view of it. the shot then cuts to another BEV, but this time the camera is much closer, and the scenery has changed from woodland to a kind of empty brush area, and the effect of this is to show the audience that the car is travelling a very long way, since they have passed what seemed like a huge section of woods. This part of the sequence also gives many clues to the narrative, since it gives the sence of the car being followed by a large malevolant force which is much larger and more powerful than them, and it is hunting them like a predator hunts its prey, and this links to the narrative because the "Overlook hotel" is seemingly possesed by a powerfull force which looks down upon Jack and his family. Also, this opening sequence mirrors a later sequence in the film, when jack is looking down at a model of the Overlooks garden maze, and the camera cuts to a BEV and makes it seem like Jack is looking down on his wife and son while they walk in the real maze. All this makes the opening sequence very prominant, since it gives not only clues to the audience, but parts later in the film reference it.
The music during all of this becomes gradually louder and much more menacing, with layers being added to it. Conversley to the rest of the sequence, the music follows much of the conventions of a thriller opening, since it includes typically "scary" sound effects, such as women screaming and chanting, while the rest of the sequence is much more ambiguous about the films nature, since the opening does not introduce any characters, and does not show the aftermath of a crime, both of which are very common conventions of a thriller. There is no Diegetic sound in the opening, and i belive this adds to the un-nerving quality of the opening, since including no "real" sound makes the sequence seem almost otherwordly.
The Sequence ends with a long shot of the Overlook and its mountinous surroundings, and this, combined with the continuation of the music, makes it clear to the audiance that this is were much of the action is going to take place, and that it is a place to be feared, since the use of the longshot shows that the overlook is completly in the middle of no-where, and is cut of from other people, setting up the lonley mood of the film, and creating another layer of suspence for the audience.
Overall i belive that the opening sequence for "The Shining" is extremly effective in creating mood and atmosphere, since it does not introduce any characters it can concentrate on setting up themes and symbolisism, making the audience try and decode what is going to happen in the film, and while it includes almost none of the stereotypical conventions of a thriller, it still maneges to be more effective than most other openings, even today.
A List of shots in the Opening sequence are:
Establashing shot.
Longshot.
Birds eye View.
Canted.
Tracking.
fil.
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