1. Film Beginning Analysis
Film:ShutterIsland
Director:Martin Scorsese
Screenplay:LaetaKalogridis
Genre:Psychological thriller,Thriller,Mystery
ShutterIslandisa wonderfullyclever,psychological thrillerthatbegins
withan influentialopeningscene. The movie followsaU.S Marshal and
hisinvestigationintothe disappearance of amurderessfrom ahospital
for the criminallyinsane.Itisthe openingscene thatshowsushis
entrance ontoShutterIslandwhere the asylumisbased. A haunting
instrumental isimmediatelyintroduced.Itinstantaneouslycreatesamysteriousandtense feel,and
suggeststhatthe eventsof the filmare to be somewhatdark.Asthe musicisintroduced,we viewa
longshotthat slowlymovesin.We are able to establishthe locationwiththis;we cansee a dock,a
backdropof treesanda fewhut-like-buildings,aswell as twomanlyfiguresandvastwaters.We can
assume fromthisthat thisisthe famous‘ShutterIsland’,anditisthe areaof arrival. The slow move
inof the camera couldsuggestthatwe shouldbe hesitantaboutreachingthe island;maybe itisa
dangerousordark place.We thencut to a mediumshotthatintroducesusto characters,seen
walkingacrossthe dock,and so presumablyarrivingatthe island.The shotfollowsthemasthey
walk,givingustime tostudythem.We can see 4 men,seeminglysplitintogroupsof twoand
definedbyuniform.Twoof the menare inrecognisable securityuniforms,whilstthe othertwoare
suitedandinbowlerhats;theirprofessionisnotsoobvious,butwe couldassume thattheyare
investigatorsof some sort.The factthat theyare havingtobe accompaniedbysecuritypoints
furtherto the ideathatthe islandcouldbe somewhatdangerous,andneedstobe protectedfor
some reason.We thencut to a longshotof theirarrival,beingintroducedtoevenmore characters,
all of whichare in thatrecognisable securityuniform. The ratioof securitytocivilianspresentsthe
needtokeepthe islandprotected.Notonlythis,butmanyare seenholdingguns whilststudyingthe
twomen insuits. Thisisshownclearlybya close up of one loadinghisgunand posingthreat. This
will leave the audience withaburningquestion:what exactlyare these menprotecting? Afterseeing
the two menboarda jeep,the movie cutstoa bird’seye view,extremelongshotthatfollowsthe
movementof the vehicle.Aswe follow,the cameramovesdowninangle sobythe endof the shot
we are almostlevel withthe jeep.Before thispoint,however,we are able toestablishmore aspects
of the setting. The movie thencutstoa close upof a signthat we can assume the vehicle passes.It
issignpostingahospital withinthe grounds,andalsofeaturesthe quote:“Rememberusforwe too
have lived,lovedandlaughed”.Thissignisakeyaspectof the openingscene.Itinformsusof where
the characters are heading:ahospital,andthe quote can suggesttous that there have been
multiple deathsonthe island.Deathisoftenaconventionof athriller,sothissignalone cangive us
a feel of the genre. The nextshotfollowsthe vehicletravellingaroundthe wallsof anenormous
buildingthatafterseeingthe sign,we canassume isahospital. Itslarge wallssuggestsitsneedtobe
protected,creatingmore unansweredquestionsforthe viewers. The cameramovementallowsthe
full extentof the buildingtobe seen. Italsothenswitchestoa low angle shotshowingthose inthe
car lookinguptothe building,presentingthemastinyincomparisontoit.Anothershotthenshows
a colossal barbwire fence thatprotectsthe buildingaswell asitswallsandthispropsuggeststhe
area isa place tobe protected,avoidedandfeared.Itusesaclose up to show itssharp features,
2. creatinganxietywithinthe audience.Finally,we appeartoreachthe destination;alongshotshows
the vehicle drivingthroughthe openinggatesof the building.The size of the vehicle incomparison
to the buildingonce againemphasisesitssize.The shotfollowsthisvehicle asitentersthroughthe
gates,withthe tense musicstill playingandfeararisinginusas viewers.ItswitchestoaPOV shot of
those inthe vehicle sowe almostfeel asif we, ourselves,are enteringthe area.Still withinthisshot,
we move rightup to yetanothersetof gateswhichare heavilyguarded.All of thissecurityand
protectionaroundthe buildingsuggestsonlyspecificpeople canenter,sowhythese twomenin
suits?Thisshotcontinuesonto showthe gatesbeingopenedbytwosuitedguards,revealinga
colossal buildingandgroundthatputs an endto the openingsequence. The ShutterIslandopening
sequence issosuccessful simplybecauseitleavesusgrippedandwithmanyquestionsthat
persuadesustowatch on. Itis producedina way that createsa tense andmysteriousfeel across
viewers,somethingessential inapsychological thriller.
