10 Screen shots from Shutter Island which have been analysed using sound, mise en scene, camera work and editing. Also, terms I have included some of the stereotypical techniques etc for thriller films in my analysis

1. Shutter IslandOPENING SCENE ANALYSIS WITH SCREENSHOTS

2. Camera shot and
Sound
The opening scene begins
with a wide shot of a boat
appearing through the mist. It
creates a sense of mystery as
all we see is nothing but thick
fog, and then a boat
appearing. This peculiar start
to the film is intriguing and
creates a feeling of anxiety
and uncertainty, and creates
disorientation for the audience
as they are not immediately
given a sense of location. This
makes the audience want to
see what happens next and
grabs their attention.
Also, deep, low orchestral
music is used to increase the
tension of what might happen
next and creates an unsettling
mood for the audience. The
dramatic music makes the
audience associate people and
places as to whether they are
good or bad by the tone/key of
the music. As well as being
able to change the audience's
mood.

3. Camera Shot and
Mise En Scene
The next shot is an over
the shoulder shot where
the camera has been
deliberately positioned to
reveal the character,
Teddy’s, reflection. This
shot could infer that the
character has
connotations of a split
personality as the
audience can see him
and his reflection. This
makes the audience feel
uneasy as the character
is now made to be
untrustworthy, even
though he is a Marshall
who the audience should
be able to trust. Also the
use of a mirror is a
key/stereotypical prop
within a Thriller film.

4. Silence
The use of silence before Teddy’s
flashback and when he is inside
the mental home for insane
criminals and makes eye contact
with the old lady with a slash mark
on her throat, creates a sense of
unease for the audience as it
heightens their senses as they
don’t understand why these
moments in particular have been
highlighted. It prepares them to
listen and pay particular attention to
whatever is about to happen next.

5. Flashback Duration of 11seconds (-1 second for present day
water clip ~ 10 seconds)
Dramatic music and fast paced editing
These screenshots are from Teddy’s flashbacks to when
his wife was alive. There is no diegetic sound to the clips
involving his wife, other than the clip of the water back in
the present day with Teddy. The non diegetic dramatic
music throughout the clip is of low key, suggesting that
what appears to be happy memories, are not. Making the
audience feel on edge, as they are not sure what is
happening or what might happen. Going back to the
screenshot of the sea water in present day, makes the
audience wonder if his wife actually died in a fire and was
killed by the smoke, or if her death had something to do
with water or drowning. This makes the audience start to
not trust him, as they don’t understand the significance of
the water and why it has been highlighted during Teddy’s
flashbacks of his wife. Also the fast paced editing to these
clips suggest that Teddy doesn’t want to reveal to much
about his wife, creating a sense of mystery and
weariness for the audience.

6. Mise En Scene and
red- Herring
This screenshot is taken just after
where Teddy has flashbacks to
when his wife was alive. Just
before Teddy comes back from his
flashbacks, we see a glimpse of
the sea water. This makes the
audience wonder if his wife
actually died in a fire and was
killed by the smoke, or if her death
had something to do with water or
drowning. This makes the
audience start to not trust him, as
they don’t understand the
significance of the water and why it
has been highlighted during
Teddy’s flashbacks of his wife. Just
after the flashbacks, Teddy also
asks for a cigarette as he seems to
have lost his. He lights the
cigarette, but only moments
beforehand he was talking about
his wife supposedly dying from the
smoke from the fire; this leads the
audience to not trust him even
more than they already do.

7. Camera shot and
Sound
When the island is finally
revealed through a wide shot,
the dramatic orchestral music
starts; making the audience
associate the island with
corrupt and terrifying thoughts
as the music is sudden and of
a low key
As they get closer to the
island the music becomes
more full and dramatic,
increasing the level of tension
and anxiety for the audience.
The music becomes more and
more intense as the audience
travel with Teddy from the
docks with the guards to the
first gates of the Criminally
Insane Hospital. The rising
symphonic of the dramatic
music as they approach the
hospital makes the audience
feel un easy and creates a
false sense of danger as
nothing actually happens, but
the music infers otherwise.

8. Sound and Mise En Scene
Exaggerated sounds of chains/metalic sounds
are emphasised from the very beginning on the
boat, all the way through to the chains around
the patients/prisoners feet and hands. This
emphasises to the audience that chains are a
key prop within the film and they connote being
trapped/imprisoned. Which could make the
audience weary and feel trapped.

9. Red Herring and
Camera Shot
A close up shot of the
Hospital Cemetery sign has
been used to clearly show
the quote “Remember us
for we too have lived, loved
and laughed”. This makes
the audience feel on edge
for what Teddy is about to
face inside the Hospital, as
we know this sign is
referring the past patients.

10. Mise En Scene
When the Prison
Officer talks about ward
A and B, we see two
ordinary looking
buildings of a red brick
colour. But when he talks
about ward C, the
audience see a longshot
of huge, grey building
that looms over the
hospital campus. This
infers to the audience
that Ward C is a horrible
dark place, as grey is the
dominant colour and it
makes them feel
uncomfortable and
nervous for the
characters as they may
venture into the building
later on in the film.

11. Red-Herring
This screenshot is from when
Teddy and Chuck arrive at
Ashecliffe Hospital for the
criminally insane and Teddy
catches this women’s eye who
acts suspicious and hand
signals Teddy to be quite
however we as the audience
and Teddy himself don’t know
what she is talking about and
leads us to think that this is a
red herring.
The camera angle in this shot is
a mid shot but she is the focus
point in the shot. This is
engaging the audience into
what she is saying to Teddy and
makes us think that she is
important in the story line.