The set up reveals that Shutter Island is a remote island prison for the criminally insane, accessible only by boat. Teddy is revealed to be an unreliable narrator, as he doesn't have his own cigarettes and the guards act suspiciously around him. Teddy and his partner seem to have just met but get along, though his partner struggles to hand over his gun. The world is established as a dangerous place through the guards' behavior and chained prisoners. Possible future conflicts include the head guard's desire to control Teddy and manipulate him due to his mental state. The opening utilizes various thriller conventions like mystery, tension, and POV shots to set the stage for a typical psychological thriller.

1. Shutter island:
narrative and technical conventions
BY CHARLIE POTTER

2. What does the set up reveal to the audience
about the setting? Where is this place?
What gives you this information?
From the set up of shutter island it is revealed to the audience that the location
in which teddy and the other marshal are travelling to is in a remote location,
this is known as in order for them to get there they have to take a boat across
the sea. Shutter island is a prison for the criminally insane, it is located on a
large island in the middle of the sea and is only accessible by boat. We learn all
of this through the camera angle which show us the different aspects of the
journey to the island and the island its self and also through character dialog
when they arrived on the island.

3. What does the set up reveal to the audience
about the characters? Choose 1 character and
explain how the set up reveals this information.
The set up revels that teddy is not really who he thinks he it, this can be
seen because he doesn’t have his own cigarettes or lighter this may
seem quite insignificant but it shows the audience that he is unable to
be trusted with such things. Also when arriving on the island the guards
act very carefully and shifty around teddy this is later revealed that uis
because teddy is actually one of the prisoners. When driving toward the
prison the camera angle show teddy to be very observant with the
surrounding which suggests he recognises where he is.

4. What does the set up reveal to the audience
about interrelationship between characters?
About their goals? Are there any things you
learn here that become important later on?
The way teddy and the other Marshall interact with one another
suggest they have only recently just met but they become friendly and
put their trust in one another. The Marshall struggles to take his gun off
when asked to surrender it. This may not seem much but it all becomes
clear later when it is revealed that he is actually teddy's psychologist.
Teddy feels able to put his trust into the other Marshall and this is
because they have met before and teddy feels familiar around him.

5. What is the ‘world’ like: safe, happy or
dangerous? How do you know?
The world in which shutter island is set is quite dangerous, this can be
seen because of the way in which the guard act around teddy when he
first arrives, how they respond after the storm and when teddy wonders
off. Also when you see the prisoners they are all chained up, because of
this it makes the audience question why? And makes them feel
uncomfortable showing them that the film is set in a very dangerous
world.

6. What possible conflicts or strains are there
that will become part of the story later on?
The way in which the head guard talks to teddy and the other Marshall
shows him to like to be in control, even though they do not respond
well at first this doesn’t seem to affect the relations. But it becomes
clear later on in the film that this is the way which the head Marshall
works he feels he is able to manipulate teddy because of his mental
position and because teddy has no recollection of his disorder. He
doesn’t respond badly to being controlled by the head guard he just
thinks that’s the protocol of being on the island. But later on when
teddy comes out of his mental state everything is revealed to him.

7. How does this thriller opening fit with the
thriller codes and conventions of thriller
films?
Shutter islands opening fits with thriller codes and conventions this is
because there is a red herring, flashback, mystery, tension, dramatic
music on the approach to the island, negative atmosphere, the idea of a
stalker following you when driving up towards the prison and POV shot.
These all add up to make shutter island fit into the thriller genre and
creates the start of what turns out to be a typical thriller film.