Shutter Island is a 2010 American neo-noir mystery psychological thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese, based on Dennis Lehane's 2003 novel of the same name. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels, who is investigating a psychiatric facility on Shutter Island after one of the patients goes missing.
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| The teaser opens with a lightning flash on a close-up of Teddy Daniels' face, which exposes his discomfort in sleep to the audience. As typical of a psychological thriller, we are positioned close to his head, implying that the main conflict will be the main character's perception of the mental institute and his own experience and existence. Opening the scene with non-diegetic, grand orchestral crescendos imply the coming pace of the trailer. |
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| The orchestral piece is temporariliy silenced for a voice over saying: "Gentlemen, welcome to Shutter Island". As the diegetic voice over says this, we immediately are pulled with a fast zoom and tracking shot towards the gate, then to a woman who looks completely disheveled, and ragged. The camera slows whilst passing her, making the action of commanding quiet even more poignant. The orchestral piece picks up again when a close up of a lady's feet appear, then a close-up of the woman. She is seen with short blonde hair, blue eyes and red lipstick, hugging the main character, so that the audience assume that she may be his wife. The tension here is ramped up by a repeat of the lightning coupled with diegetic thunder sounds. |
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| Here, fast straight cuts are used to cut away from the action very quickly so that the audience can only get a glimpse into the mental institution. Diegetic sounds like Teddy's shout, the lighting of the candle and the prisoners are exaggerated over the non-diegetic track to emphasise the significance of those actions. The colour pallette in these 7 shots are repeated and alternated, one with dull fire oranges, whites and browns, the other with pale blues, greens and aged browns. The discodance within the orchestral piece swells into a forte, becoming increasingly louder, and therefore creating a tense, claustrophobic environment. |
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| A single discordant horn can be heard over the woman's laughter, which intensifies the already bubbling tensio in the scene. The woman has black hair and an aged blue jumper, suggesting that she may be one of the patients. The fact that the characters there face and turn away from the camera is significant- suggests that there is a secret which is being withheld from outsiders- the only way to know it is when you become one of them. Teddy's curious face seen through an over-the-shoulder shot suggests that his deseperation to find the problem within Shutter island is innocent, also reflected in his white overals. this is further emphasised by the hand held movements of the next shot: a child's hand reaching outwards. |
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| The non diegetic music builds to a interupted cadence, whilst the pace of the tracking shots increase immensely. Use of the tunnel and cliffside generate a parralel between the prisoner running away from the bottom right side of the camera, and teddy reaching towards the bottom left side of the camera. The symbol of death is evident with the blonde woman fading away, whilst being manhandled by an escapee, thrown directly into the cage and into the centre of the audience's view point |
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| The next four shots are seen in quick succession, The rising dolly shot of the stairs, the fire motif repeated from the last shot of the woman/girl and The repeat of the tunnel running are all symbolic of the chaotic sense of invasion of the mind, as well as ramping the tension to a climax, where the non-diegetic music is silenced with a reverse of the first shot: a lightning flash to black, which is very interesting, as the teaser become cyclical. |
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| The ending title is the only title seen within th tailer. The last shot is also an establishing shot of the island, which fades to an inkblot using the same colours, which add a certain mystery to the end. Its also interesting to note that the final few seconds of the teaser are in silence, as if to fully trap the audience's interest and curiosity to the rest of the film. |
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