Exposition - meeting the characters, establishing the setting, the tone, establishing the normal of the films world.
Rising action - the central conflict is introduced and the tension between the protagonist and the antagonist begins to mount
Climax - The climax is the turning point, which marks a change for the better or the worse in protagonist future.
Falling action - The major action has happened. This is the aftermath. This is the sorting out of the major conflicts resolution.
Denouement- The Creation of the new normal. The conflict is resolved.
Narrative Form
Narrative form is the structure through which movies tell stories. When we speak of 'going to the movies' we almost always mean we are going to see a narrative (story).
Narratives are everywhere.
Narratives appear throughout media and society - in novels, plays, comic books, television shows and even commercials. Narratives are most common in fiction films, but appear in all basic types of film. E.g. documentaries, animated films, experimental and avant garde films, short films.
Events occur in space and time.
A narrative is an account of a string of events occurring in a space of time. Narratives do not unfold randomly but rather as an ordered series of events connected by the logic of cause and effects. This logic of cause and effect ties together characters, traits, goals, obstacles and actions.
Claude Levi Strauss, a French theorist gave media studies a number of influential theories that help us to understand how meaning is established quickly in openings. Binary opposites create meaning through establishing what something is not. We understand the world through a system of power weighed opposites.
Tzvetan Todorov.
Traits are attitudes, skills, habits, tasters, psychological drives and any other quality's that distinguish a character. Traits in opining scenes are relevant to later scenes; this is related to cause and effect.
1What does the set up reveal to the audience
about setting?
First of all in the opening of Shutter
Island we are experiencing the location and setting. Throughout the whole of
the first few minutes all we see are very dark, misty and abandoned locations. The
first character we get information from is the captain of the boat. We very
quickly realise he is very quick to tell them “there’s only one way on and one
way off”. This reveals to us that this is a dangerous island. Also when the
mist quickly moves away we get a wide shot of the location and we see how
massive this island is. We see the storm looming over the island which could
be foreshadowing that this place is not what it seems and we also get a deadline
from the captain saying this. We also have music that frequently gets louder as
we get closer to the island. This is done to add suspense and tension to the
opening.
2What does the set up reveal to the audience
about the characters?
Teddy is a strange character as in the
first scene we see of him we get the idea of him already going insane as he’s
talking to himself and telling himself to ‘pull himself together’. We struggle to tell if teddy is the protagonist or the antagonist. We also see many
character traits coming throw. We find out that he is one of the best detectives
around of his generation, which means he has to be very smart and clever. As
teddy is walking out of the room we notice he is walking throw what looks like
a cage with chains hanging from the ceiling. For some reason we suddenly see
that Teddy has a fear of water. Even though in the opening we don’t get many
clues why he is afraid, but we see a flashback to his wife, then a gunshot,
then to the sea and then back towards the photo of Teddy’s wife. This gives us
an insight of his past however not giving anything away to the audience.We also see the patients on Shutter Island
waving at Teddy like the already know him. The set up reveals a lot about Teddy
as we see not only the people around him knowing him?, we also see the parts of
the island being recognized by him. Teddy makes a comment about him seeing
electrical fence’s before. Which could mean he may have been in prison?.
3. What does the set up reveal to the audience
about interrelationship between characters?
Teddy and Chuck are partners, as they have
been put together to find the missing patient. When the head guard takes the
guns away from them we see the facial expression on Teddy’s face while Chuck
can’t seem to unhook his gun however he has been working as a detective for 4
years but hasn’t worked out how to do it?. Teddy using this facial expression
could show us he doesn’t trust him. Therefore Teddy has to be careful about
what he does and say around him. Chuck not being able to do this simple
task, could ruin the whole plan and give everything away to Teddy.
4What is this world like?
This world is not a safe place, we
frequently have dark lighting and always seeing guards around with guns. Also
we see the guards on edge the whole time while Teddy is there , this is because
they know that Teddy is a murderer. We also see in the grounds of the island,
there are patients that have chains round their feet and hands to keep them
from doing anything dangerous. We never see anything happy throughout the
opening as this would be unnatural if we did see something happy in a
thriller film. We also get this tone of danger especially as we find out that
there are guards everywhere and also a missing patient which creates a red
herring.
5What possible conflicts or strains are there
that will become part of the story later on?
There aren’t many conflicts shown in the
opening, apart from between the guards and Teddy. We see this from Teddy saying
‘why are the guards on edge’ and the head guard replying with ‘right now we all
are’. Teddy doesn’t understand this however we then realise later on in
the film he was talking about Teddy.
6How does this film opening fit with the codes
and conventions of thriller films?
The first code and convention we see is the
thriller music, which is key to a thriller film because you need music to add
suspense and tension. We also see a dark setting and dark lighting which is
usually found in a thriller film. Even though we haven’t seen any crime the
people that have been put on Shutter Island have committed a crime of some
sort. We also have a sense of mystery and confusion throughout the opening, as
we find ourselves having to watch it a couple of times to be able to understand
what’s going on and making assumptions on if its true or not. This a key feature for thriller films as we want that sense of
confusion and for the story not being set out straight away. We also see POV being used throughout this opening. POV is a key convention in thriller's. We see this when teddy is washing his face and during the first look of the island.
This is the trailer for shutter island, even though its not the opening you can get the sense of thriller, darkness and confusion.
What does the set up reveal to the audience about this setting?
Firstly, from the location we can already tell their is an uneasy, dark atmosphere as they're in the middle of nowhere that looks quite abandoned, and foggy. This already can introduce the feel of the rest of the film just because of the opening. You can sense danger is near as they get closer to the island and the creepy music increases. We are then introduced to the building as the fog fades and we now they've arrived.
What does the set up reveal to the audience about the characters?
We first learn that Teddy, the main character, is strange and on edge as we see him talk to himself and say "pull yourself together", and has a fear of water. However he is smart as he is supposed to be one of the best detectives around. But without revealing too much to the audience we get a flashback of Teddy with his wife and we assume she is dead from a gunshot sound. The flashback can hint to his fears also. Something strange happens as the people who already are on the island wave to him as if they're old friends which can confuse the audience and make them wonder if he's been there before
.
What does the setup reveal about interrelationship with characters?
Teddy has a partner who he has been made to work with called Chuck, we can learn that Teddy does not yet trust Chuck meaning he must be careful around him. This is because when they're asked to hand in their guns, Chuck is very fidgety with his and appears to not know how to unhook it although he's been a detective for 4 years.
What is the world like?
From the setting and dark lighting, you can tell it isn't a safe environment and it seems very dangerous. Everyone including the guards seem on edge, especially around Teddy leading the audience to question is he is who he really says he is? Also, the prisoners are all chained up so you know they're threatening and could harm others.
What possible conflicts or strains are there that will become part of the story later on?
When Teddy says "why are all the guards on edge" and they reply "right now we all are", it hints to the rest of the story and throughout the movie we find out to why they say this. Also when we see he has a fear of water which we learn about later on.
How does the film opening fit with the codes and conventions of thriller films?
Crime which is a key convention, fits in the opening as we can assume everyone is in the institution for criminal reasons. The dark setting and depressing weather is connotation to the film atmosphere as it is dark, foggy and gritty. A complex plot is common in thrillers and we see it being used in the opening because of the flashbacks and throughout, as we are mislead to believe who the characters really are and their pasts. Also, music is key and we hear suspenseful music throughout to build tension and set the mood for the rest of the film.
