Shutter Island

1    What 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.

2     What 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.

4    What 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.

5     What 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.

6     How 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.