Shutter Island analysis
Shutter Island is a physiological thriller with a strong focus throughout the film on the concept the mentally stable vs the mentally unstable. The clip above is the official trailer for Shutter Island as the opening is not available on youtube. The trailer will allow you to see the concept of the film and allow you to gain a certain amount of understanding to follow my notes.
Mise en Scene:
The colors used in the opening of shutter are key to allowing the producers to push across the preferred meaning (Stuart Hall). The colors used are predominantly grays, blacks and other dark colors this connotes the dark atmosphere surrounding the island, the establishing shot used allows the audiences to see they gray fog surrounding the island; possibly connoting the unknown haze and confusion, as well as showing that the percentage of the island is dark rocks this again reinforces the connotations of the dark atmosphere as well as the sybolism of the rocks suggesting it's a rough unnerving place to be. Even the greenery of the plants has shown to be faded, this could suggest the un-natural events that take place on the island connoting that not even the plants can last in the cold hard environment. Furthermore throughout the opening clip there is only use of low key lighting, even when on the boat, this could connote that there is no hope for the pair as they enter into the island. That all 'light' has been drained from the pair of detectives hypothetically speaking.
Next I looked at the stock characters featured in this clip. The clip first opens to introduce us to the main character, Teddy Daniels, at first he is presented as a weak character. He is shown to have an intense overwhelming fear of water, so much so it makes him ill this then connotes to the audience that he is a weak character which contrasts with the strong patriarchal image of him we are presented with as the clip continues this suggests to audiences that perhaps there is something not quite right about Teddy, putting audiences on guard and keeping them alert for future faults in this character that audiences would stereotypically expect him to a strong, independent character. Secondly we are introduced to his ''police partner'', Chuck Aule. He is shown to be the typical expectation of a strong man he, conversely to Teddy, is a strong reinforcement of the concept of Patriarchy as he is a white upper class male and displays dominance as he rules over everyone else in the opening except for Teddy who is his equal. The concept of Teddy and Chuck being the most dominant is reinforced by the costume they are seen wearing, very smart and upper class, as well as the job they do. After this we are introduced to Teddy's wife. She is shown in a flash back as she is no longer alive supporting again the idea of woman being the weaker sex as she was unable to save her self. We are introduced to her in her home setting where she is helping get Teddy ready for work by getting him his tie, this displays her in a typical role for a woman as she appears to be the home maker. Teddy and his wife are shown to be very deeply in love as she often leans on him denoting there relationship as well as connoting her dependence on him, this clip foreshadows to the audiences that Teddy may possibly seek revenge for the unjust murder of his wife, this is reinforced by the dialogue as Teddy talks of how he knows the murderer is on the Island.
The only other characters we are introduced to are the police and the security on the island. They act almost hostile towards Teddy which is unexpected
After that I focussed on the stock settings featured in the opening. The first setting we are introduced to is a boat which has set sail and is surrounded by water, this highlights the concept and idea of seclusion which is often such an apparent theme in the thriller genre, the fact that boat is also surrounded by water, a symbolically dangerous surrounding this combined with Teddy's obvious fear for water foreshadows to the audiences that something bad and scary is about to happen. Another setting we are introduced to which ties in with the concept of seclusion is the grave yard we are shown. Furthermore another setting we are shown with an emphasis on in the opening of Shutter Island is a forest or woods, this is significant as it is an extremely conventional setting of the thriller genre allowing audiences to make assumptions and guess at the narrative that will follow, this creates an enigma keeping audiences engaged as they want to check if what they have predicted is correct. This enigma is often used in Thriller films to create the ''thrill''.
The narrative and theme's made apparent to us in the opening of Shutter Island appear to be a mixture of both conventional and non-conventional. The themes that are presented to us immediately in the opening are: death, mystery, crime, grief and thriller. All of these themes are very typical of a conventional Thriller film however in the opening of shutter island the main themes that are heavily put across to the audiences are the themes of mystery and death. I believe the producers have incorporated this emphasis on these two themes in particular to connote to the audiences that everything isn't as straight forward as it seems and they may need to question these two themes as there may be something hidden behind them. The narrative also follows the typical structure of a thriller film opening. There are several narrative theories apparent in Shutter Island. Firstly Props' character functions, there appears to clearly have the hero (Teddy) , aid (Chuck) and damsel (Rachel, the missing patient). The narrative also appears to include Strauss' theory of binary opposite; sane vs. insane, natural vs. un-natural, police vs. criminals, death vs. life. Producers often include binary opposites in there films as it introduces an edge of competitiveness provoking an enigma as audiences are keen to see whom or what will eventually through the other one. The final key point i noticed about the narrative structure is that the story line doesn't run in a linear order, it begins with a flashback, this is apparent in nearly all thriller films. This is key as revenge or obsession is often a key theme in the thriller genre, using a flash enables them to show this without having to show all the boring in-between bits.
Iconography is a really key aspect in allowing producers to push across the preferred meaning within a film. Shutter island incorporated many iconic props and images specific to the theme of police. For example guns, police badges, smart clothing. These all act as an aid to enable audiences identify the way the narrative may go. The use of iconography can also enable audiences to learn things about each individual character on the screen, for example Teddy is shown still wearing his wedding ring even though audiences have recently learnt that his wife has passed away. This connotes that Teddy is struggling to let go of the memory of his life and is still trying to lead a married life. This idea is reinforced when we learn that Teddy is a smoker suggesting to audiences he lives a stressful life and maybe smoking to aid him in dealing with his emotions.
The last significant aspect of mise en scene i deconstructed was costume worn by characters. Firstly we are introduced to the two main character Teddy and Chuck. They are dressed almost identically in a typical film noire style. Smart clothes, long coats and low hats shielding there faces this creates a strong sense of secrecy as we wonder what the characters are hiding which builds an enigma. Another character we are introduced to in the opening of Shutter Island is Teddy's wife, we see her in a flashback. She is presented in an extremely innocent way wearing a white flowery dress and blonde hair this makes audiences side with her a feel as though a great injustice has been carried out against her.
Camera angles & movement:
The film opens by showing an establishing shot of a boat surrounded by water emphasizing the seclusion and foreshadowing the entrapment the pair experience on the island. As well as the hint at the passive danger on the surface it seems kind and inviting however it has the potential to kill similar to what we learn about Teddy in the narrative. It then cuts to a 2 shot, showing Teddy and his reflection in the mirror making it look as though there are two individuals in the shot. The lighting in the shot makes the reflection looking back at Teddy seem much darker. This connotes the secret dark side to Teddy that audiences are not yet aware of. The next shot we can read from is the two shot of the two detectives this shows distinctively the relationship between the two characters as well as hinting at how key this relationship will be to the narrative. Another shot incorporated into the opening to demonstrate a close relationship is another 2 shot of Teddy and his wife, it then zooms to a close up of his wife, this is all shown in a flashback to show happier times have come and gone for Teddy. Finally they show an establishing shot of the island, this may have been used for a number of different reasons, firstly it shows distinctively how isolated and basic the island, it shows the colors of the island (mainly grays and dull greens) to allow audiences to make appropriate associations as i spoke about earlier and build the appropriate atmosphere, in this case eerie and uncomfortable. Secondly it emphasizes the key role of the island in the narrative, the hole story resolves around it so it is therefore key to distinctively show the island in detail to the audience.
Throughout the clip the camera often remains stationary this could connote the serious nature of the film and enable audiences to focus mainly on the narrative as it is complex and may become hard to follow. The first significant camera movement we see in the film opening is a pan, the camera follows Teddy's wife along the screen and up to Teddy I believe this shot shows a sense of mutual dependance, she goes up to Teddy but we feel as if Teddy always has his eyes on her, this could also symbolize there love for each-other.
Editing:
The pace of the editing is very slow and easy to follow this may be as the beginning does not include action scenes therefore a fast edit wouldn't be expected secondly it enables the film makers to actively engage audiences as well as encoding key clues to enable audiences to follow the rest of the narrative. The cuts used are mainly straight cuts to add a sense of realism allowing audiences to relate to the narrative making it more emotional for them however it does incorporate a few other cuts in the opening such as;
-Zoom in on Teddy's face, this was shown just after he spoke about the death of his wife, this may have been used to enable audiences to clearly see his emotions allowing them to see the distress he experiences when he talks of it.
-Jump cut, this was used to emphasize the cigarettes given to him by his partner Chuck, this shows audiences it may be a key aspect and allows them to clearly notice this as it is needed later in the narrative.
Sound:
Diegetic
- Boat horn, reinforces the setting and adding to the continuity of the film.
- Sound of waves, emphasizes the concept of total isolation as well as setting the scene.
- Dialogue, clearly shows a narrative structure and allows audiences to understand what is going . on in the narrative. It also shows him speaking to himself allegedly a sign if madness.
- Chains clinking, symbolizes the idea of prison foreshadowing Teddy's future.
Non Diegetic
-Eerie music played during opening where company name is shown, it links paramount pictures and subtitles together creating less of a waiting time as well as building suspense and demonstrating the narrative theme as the orchestra sounds mostly strings which is associated with the horror genre.
-Scary music throughout, eerie tension building.
