According to the plot, the entire book takes place in one hotel, the Overlook, but the filming of the movie took place in two locations. The exterior shots were filmed at the hotel that inspired the writer — the Timberline Lodge, while all interior shots were filmed at the Ahwahnee Hotel, located in Yosemite National Park in California. Stanley Kubrick wanted to shoot the film in chronological order. Given the various sets prepared for the film and the action constantly moving from one set to another, absolutely all filming locations and sets made for the film had to be available for shooting at any time. Therefore, all the pavilions of Elstree Studios were occupied solely by the sets of The Shining. Filming began on May 1, 1978, and ended in April 1979. When the filming process was nearing its end, the studio began shooting the fifth part of the Star Wars saga, The Empire Strikes Back, and the artificial mountain snow that covered the Overlook Hotel was later used for filming scenes on the planet Hoth.

Filming Locations:

Exterior of the Overlook Hotel

In the Movie

The scene where Jack Torrance, along with his family, drives into the mountain hotel "Overlook." Also, Wendy and Danny walk around the hotel grounds and find a giant hedge maze in the backyard.

In Reality

The scene was filmed outside the Timberline Lodge. This is a large mountain hotel that fit perfectly into the film — it is big, secluded, but has a rather distinctive appearance that looks calm at the beginning of the film but evokes completely different emotions by the end.

Inside the Hotel

In the Movie

The scene where Wendy, despite her husband's prohibition, enters the large hall that is in the center of the hotel and is currently Jack's office. She approaches the desk to look at the manuscript but discovers that it consists entirely of a repeatedly duplicated phrase. At that moment, Jack notices her.

In Reality

The scene was filmed at the Ahwahnee Hotel. According to the filmmakers, the interior of this hotel, with its giant hall and beautiful staircase, suited the film better than the hotel that was only filmed outside. Some scenes were shot not inside the hotel but in constructed sets, presumably to avoid getting everything covered in blood. In the novel, the horrific events take place in room 217, whereas in the film it is room 237. The hotel managers asked Kubrick to change the number so as not to scare off visitors, since room 237 did not exist in the hotel at all.

Road to the Hotel

In the Movie

The scene where at the beginning of the film, Jack Torrance's family drives to the hotel in the mountains so that he can work there as a caretaker during the "off-season," when there are no tourists at the hotel and someone needs to look after it. He decides that this is the perfect atmosphere for his family and an opportunity to write a book.

In Reality

The scene was filmed on the road leading to Mount Hood in Oregon, USA. This picturesque location fit perfectly into the scene showing that the family is heading to a secluded and very peaceful place. There are vast forests for many hundreds of kilometers around, and closer to the mountain, snow and cold appear.