Thriller Project (Part 1) | Research (Section 3) | Shutter Island

Shutter Island (2010)

Shutter Island is a psychological thriller directed by Martin Scorsese. The film was based of a novel by Dennis Lehane and follows the character of Edward ' Teddy' Daniels who is investigating  a psychiatric facility on Shutter island.

Clip Analysis

In the opening scenes of Shutter island the first thing we see is some sort of asylum, it is damp, dark and lonely, this instantly creates a gloomy atmosphere and creates the setting that the movie will be based upon. We then see a spiral staircase, going down and spinning fast, this represents a person with mental health issues, which links to the films main story line. We then see another empty room which helps with the mood and setting the scene. We then see a close up of a shaking hand, also representing a mental person, enforcing the 'asylum' feel to the film. Next is a shot where it is moving quickly toward the asylum gates, with the security opening the doors. This puts you in a first person narrative, making it feel like you are experiencing going through the gates with the direct link to the viewer. We then see a fireplace in the background of the shot with a chair in the foreground, followed by a gun on the floor with a shoe stepping onto it and dragging it across the floor. This is then followed by a shot of a prison cell will cuffs on the wall that could hold a person. There is then a shot of a match being lit and then to finish, a very long wide shot of the island. 

The camera work in this opening scene is used to portray emotion, using direct link to the owner through camera work. Still shots are used through the scenes that show the setting of the movie. This will put an effect on the opening scene that symbolizes loneliness, through the fact you can almost see the silence, with no movement apart from the natural wind or rain. 'Loneliness' and 'natural silence' apart from the nature, is highly associated with mental health. The next shot is a very high shot looking directly down a spiral staircase. This long, tunnel looking, staircase, from a high shot, represents, the long, dark journey the people in hear go through, with no light at the end, suggesting there is no getting out. This camera work it great for this type of effect. The next camera shot is the extreme close up of the man's hand. This is used to clearly highlight he is shaking, which clearly shows the emotion and getting the 'mental health' theme across. The next shot is a moving shot into the gates, this has a direct link to the viewer, making them feel involved and there looking through the shot. It looks like it is a free hand camera, to get the effect of a real persons eyes as they approach the asylum. An extreme close up of the fire and the gun, helps develop the scene and setting, with guns associated with an asylum and the story, and fire helping with the gloomy atmosphere. The last shot is a wide shot of the island giving a whole overview of what the setting is like. As the camera shot shows it is an island surrounded by water, this symbolizes loneliness and isolation from the outside world.

Credits

The titles in this opening scene is in red and white. Red is used to symbolizes blood, or fear, which foreshadows action or terror in the movie. The titles flicker very fast, and pan in very small movements very fast. This represents, the mental health in this movie, showing fast flickery thoughts almost, linking the viewer directly to the emotions of the future characters and the asylum as a whole. Firstly the director is mentioned, then the producers, screenplay manager, 'based on the novel' and then finally the actors. The titles appear over the more still shots with not much happening.

Editing

The editing in this scene, uses a slight slow zoom while showing the setting, this slight movement, as the camera work, shows loneliness with little movement, giving it that gloomy atmosphere. The next shot is the spinning spiral, this creates the effect of 'mental health' as previously mentioned. The transitions between shots, are usually long fades, the shots turn black before the next shot. This effect, when goes to black creates a dark atmosphere, and also symbolizes dark, loneliness and almost nothingness. Between fire and matchsticks there is two quick straight cuts, this adds a tiny bit of fast pace, and is a contrast to the slow, lonely feel, to a fast pace shot for 3 seconds, then back to the long edits. This suggests the mood change in the asylum, as it could snap at a fast pace. The setting in this is dark and gloomy, and looks very damp, which corresponds with the atmosphere of the film. The props like the matchstick and the gun relates to the theme of an asylum, and small possibility's of danger, if it gets out of hand.

Sound

The sound in this scene is a critical for setting the feel of the whole movie. The sound consists of all non-diegetic sound. The music consists of quite strings and then loud deep horns giving a creepy, gloomy  atmosphere to the film.

Thriller Project (Part 1) | Research (Section 2) | Memento

Memento (2000)

Memento (Christopher Nolan) is a psychological thriller. The opening scene is played in reverse and gives a very weird and eery feeling to the film right from the start. Throughout the film, Memento is presented as two different sequences of scenes; one being black and white clips which is shown in chronological order, and the other being in colour but shown in reverse order. At the end of the film, these two sequences meet therefore completing the story. This type of filming and editing was very unique and brought a new idea to the filming industry. This short opening scene is very vague and gets the audience intrigued as to what is happening.

Clip Analysis

At the start of Memento, the camera shows a polaroid photograph of a dead man, being held in a persons hand. As the scene continues, the polaroid photo returns to its un-developed state and then returns to the camera which had just taken the picture. The camera pans upwards from the man putting away the camera to his face which has some blood and cuts on. The camera then cuts to blood running back from where it came from. It then cuts again to an empty bullet shell on the floor. By now the audience can have guessed that this man shot the other man since he was taking a picture of the body and there was an empty bullet shell on the floor. You can figure that he isn't a cop or an investigator by the way the blood is returning to the body, it shows that the man must have died just moments before. The scene then speeds up as the man crouches down and holds his gun up. There is then an interesting shot from behind the man, looking down onto the dead body. The glasses that are on the floor fly back onto the dead man's face as he un-naturally floats up. The camera then cuts to the bullet shell going back into the gun and the gun firing with a loud noise. It then cuts back to the behind the back shot as the dead man comes back alive and screams.

Credits

The opening credits are placed on top of the video towards the start when the man is looking at the picture. The scene carries on with the polaroid photo gradually fading and the titles are shown in a blue coloured font.

Editing

Having the camera static for most of the introduction creates a lot of tension as the viewer cannot see anything else in the surrounding scene and therefore can become nervous or unsure as to what could be happening. It keeps them very much in the dark about everything that is happening in the scene and let's them try to guess what is going to happen.

Sound

The music for this sequence is slow dramatic music that helps to build up tension within the scene. It makes the audience inquisitive and intrigued as to what is happening in the scene. The sound plays an important part in establishing the thriller genre; the slow building music creates an atmosphere of tension.

Thriller Project (Part 1) | Research (Section 1) | The Usual Suspects

Usual Suspects (1995)

The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer) is a neo noir crime thriller. The first scene opens in medias res on a boat in the middle of the night. The plot of the film is about what has happened on the boat. This short opening sequence is set up to pull the audience into the story and grab their attention. It not only moves us forward along the story's plot line but is also littered with clues that foretell and foreshadow crucial occurrences later on.

Clip Analysis

At the start of Usual Suspects, it is an extreme close up of a pack of match sticks being lit which then cuts to a man, who is sat on the floor, holding the match sticks while looking worn out. This makes the viewers interested in why the man is worn out. He lights his cigarette with the matches and the scene then cuts to what looks like an oil barrel that is spilling out oil onto the floor. It then cuts back to the man who then drops the pack of lit matches onto the floor which ignites a line of oil. There is then a series of cuts of the fire going down the line of oil, one of which passes a body on the floor which makes the view intrigued as to how the person died. There is then a final cut of the fire moving to which some liquid appears from the top of the screen and lands on the un-lit oil. The fire then reaches the liquid and stops making the viewer wonder where the liquid is coming from. The camera then pans up to show a man peeing over a balcony onto the oil. The lighting is dark so the viewers cannot tell who the man is. This then cuts to the man walking down a set of stairs from the balcony. It looks like they are on a boat. This is also implied before this scene when the credits are shown as the camera is panning across some water. I am not commenting on this however as I could not find a YouTube clip with this on. Once the unknown man is on the deck, he walks towards the first man, he goes past the body laying on the floor. Once he gets to the first man, he gets out a lighter and puts it off screen as the camera is showing a body shot without his head, implying he is lighting a cigarette. The first man looks up at him and then shows disappointment as he lets out a sigh. This makes the audience realise that the lighter has lit up the unknowns man face and the person on the floor recognises him. The unknown man then says 'How you doin' Keaton' to which Keaton sniggers and replies 'I can't feel my legs'. This makes the viewers even more intrigued as to who Keaton is, why his legs hurt, how he knows the unknown man etc. Keaton then answers one of the questions by saying 'Keyser'. You later find out in the movie why this is so significant. Keyser then asks 'Ready?' as he puts the lighter into his pocket. Keaton then asks 'What time is it?' to which Keyser looks at his wrist watch and replies '12:30'. This makes the audience wonder why the time is significant. Keyser then pulls out a gun, walks up to Keaton and then there is a cut to the top of the boat and you can hear two gun shots go off. This is when the first two minutes end.

Credits

Like I said earlier, before this scene the title credits are shown. This includes people such as the Main Actors, Director, Music Composer, Film Company etc. These are shown on top of a video of a lake. The camera is panning across the lake which gives the viewer a small amount of information about where the scene is taking place. The opening scene is very plain but effective with showing the viewer all the main people that were part of making the film.

Editing

The editing within this opening scene consist of mainly straight cuts, often cutting from dialogue to an action-match or close-up. The straight cuts help the viewer to understand what is going on in the scene without being distracted by more complicated cuts. It also helps to build tension as straight cuts are straight to the point and keep the user immersed within the scene. Action matches are used to keep the scene flowing from one cut to another by keeping the action that's happening on screen in sync between each cut. An example of an action match being used in this scene is when the fire is running across the floor, when the fire goes off screen on one shot it cuts and  goes to another shot that has the fire entering the screen to show that this shot is a continuation of the previous shot. Slow motion was added in pre-production towards the end of the scene and after the first two minutes. When Keyser is walking away he drops his cigarette which lands and sets the oil on fire again which then leads to the ship blowing up. Slow motion is used when he drops the cigarette because it makes the viewer focus on what is happening and it gives them time to realise the significance of the cigarette being dropped and helps them to link that to the reason the ship blew up.

Sound

The sound plays an important role in establishing the genre; within the opening sequence as the slow music begins to build, the tension increases as the camera continues to follow the fire. The producer added in fire sounds in pre-production to emphasise the danger of it. The gun shot would also have been added in pre-production as it would give a much clearer sound. When the camera tilts up and the viewers get to see Keyser for the first time, this is when the music first starts. The music is a scored track consisting of string instruments. It sounds like it uses low pitch chellos and synchronises with what the viewer sees. For example, the music is a very low pitch when Keyser is talking to emphasise his authority and strength and then it rises to crescendos when you hear the gun shots and when they boat sets on fire to raise the suspense and creates a climatic scene.

Preliminary Task (Part 4)