Setting

The first shots of the feature length film are that of a lake where helicopter shots are used. The creepy, ominous electronic music, accompanied by the sweeping shots of the camera following the car, seem almost like a ghost chasing Jack all the way to the hotel. As the intro. continues, the music loses the bass and brings in really sinister sounds, almost like ungodly creatures screaming. This puts the audience on edge. Also the wide-angle lenses used on the helicopter shots make the scenery look unsettling as it creates a “disconcerting visual distortion” (Falsetto, 2001, Pg. 70). The distorted look of the isolation can be seen as uncanny because our eyes are made to see right in front of us, it does not include the surrounding areas outside our normal view. The Overlook Hotel is introduced in the same manner as the intro, a helicopter establishing a shot to show the isolation of the hotel in the mountains. This is when we get our first proper look at the hotel’s exterior and the more you watch the film the more you begin to realise that the interior makes no sense. This takes on the idea of Freud’s Theory of the Unheimlich as Tatar states “A house contains the familiar and congenial, but at the same time it screens what is familiar and congenial from view, making a mystery” (Tatar, 1981, Pg. 169). It is a big hotel and this family of three are going to be living there for several months. The idea of family trying to make an unhomely place a home is uncanny, as it is a familiar location, but it does not make sense.