The document discusses several thriller film conventions used in the film "Shutter Island", including the use of stairs leading to dark places to create a sense of entrapment, the addition of non-diegetic sounds to build tension and reveal a character's emotions, and the use of mise-en-scene to establish the setting and show entrapment through objects blocking escape routes. It also describes how camera angles are manipulated to make antagonists seem more powerful or protagonists seem weaker, hiding threats around corners, and tracking shots during chase scenes. All of these techniques aim to increase panic and suspense for the audience.

1. In this essay I will be talking about the thriller conventions that are used in the film “shutter
island” and why they have used these conventions.
In Shutter Island they use a lot of stairs down to dark
places, this is important to a lot of thriller films
because it shows entrapment because they won’t be
able to escape that easily if something’s happens
down or up to where they went, this is a large part of
most thriller films because it makes scenes more
tense because with dark areas and stairs anything
could jump out on them, this makes the audience
feel that something’s going to happen when they get
to the other side of the stairs.
Another thriller convention that is used in the film shutter island” is that they use a lot of
non-diegetic sounds, non-diegetic sound is music or sound that is added into the film but
the protagonist in the film cannot actually hear this music or sound it is just to add
background noise so you know how the protagonist are feeling at that time or to add sound
so it gets rid of the silence before something jumps out at the protagonist , non-diegetic
sound is important in thriller films because it gets rid of the quiet scenes so then you are
less likely to know when something is going to happen in the scene, also non-diegetic
sounds can are also used in this film to add drama to if there is a chase scene or if the
protagonist is coming to a realism of what is actually happening to him, this is import
because by the tone of the music or sound then the audience who are watching are more
likely to understand what the protagonist is feeling at that
point.
An important part in thriller films is the mise en scene, the
mise en scene is everything that is in the scene, mise en
scene is important in a thriller because it can make a lot of
scenes seem like there is a lot more happening in the
scene, also mise en scene can also make you realise where
they are, example of this is that on “shutter island” seeing
the ocean makes you realise that they are on an island
separated from everywhere else so that they have
nowhere to run because of the waves they wouldn’t be
able to leave the island and they are on an island that is
home to a mentalist asylum where and one point they
escape from it so they are trapped on an island with a
lot of mentalist patients who are able to kill them, also
mise en scene can be used to show entrapment
because they could show a lot of objects between the
protagonist and the exit so it can be shown to say that
the protagonist Is defenceless because they have
nowhere to escape to.

2. Camera angles can be used in in thriller films to make more panic in the audience because in
some scenes with thriller films because they can use the camera to look around corners
which the protagonist cannot see and around these corners could be the protagonist that
they are trying to hide from, camera angles can be used to something seem bigger than
what it is so that what ever it is will look more threatening, they can also use camera angles
to make something smaller to make it seem weaker, this can be important in thriller films
because in can be used to make the
protagonist seem weaker by using a
high camera angle and it can make the
antagonist seem more powerful using a
low camera angle, this is important
because it makes the audience realise
who is the most powerful and should be
feared out of the antagonist and the
protagonist, shutter island does this
well because the person who you think
is the protagonist is actually the
antagonist because ends up being one
of the mentalist patients so it makes
you think that he is weak because of the higher camera angles but then you realise that he
is one of the most dangerous patients that they have so by using higher camera angles it
doesn’t make you think that he is actually going to be the antagonist.
In thriller films they also use panning and tracking shots, this is important because they can
use these in chase scenes, these camera angles are important chase scenes because then
you know who you are meant to be focused on, these camera shots are not just for chase
scenes they can be used if people are walking and are having a conversation they can track
them so if there are a lot of people then they know who they are meant to be focused on.
In conclusion most things to do with thriller films are to do with the camera because they
use it to show the power that the protagonist and antagonist and to show, emotion of the
character also a large part of thriller’s are mise en scene to show things like entrapment.