Shutter Island Screenshot Analysis

This screenshot is from the movie ‘Shutter Island’ which is a movie in the thriller genre. This shot is a long shot.  The opening to this movie is simply a blank screen in which a boat starts to appear from in a fade motion. This creates suspense straight away by instantly creating a sense of mystery in the fact that not much information is known at this point and not much is given away either. This scene doesn't reveal anything apart from there is two people on a boat at sea , where as other openings to other genres would usually set the scene instantly giving an overview of where the movie is set. The fact that the mode is old also adds to suspense as it shows they are probably travelling some place that isn't pleasant and can relate back to the look of a pirate ship. As pirates are known to kill people and aren't nice people it can help to generate fear and curiosity for the audience even though it isn't directly related.

This screenshot is from later in the film of ‘Shutter Island’ and is a close up shot. This shot is important as is shows facial expression of the actor ‘Leonardo Dicaprio’, his face shows fear and curiosity. This shot helps the audience to relate to how the actor is feeling and see themselves in the situation at hand. The dim lighting in this shot helps create suspense by aiding mystery to the shot, with half of the actors face dark and the dark background it means that more information is unknown to the audience helping them create up their own scenarios in their head and giving them an over-active imagination to what is going on which can create a lot of fear.

This screen shot is a long shot showing the mysterious views of ‘Shutter Island’ . The lighting is dim and the sky dark which can signify that the place is unpleasant.  The fact that there are two people in the shot wearing all white adds to the mystery at hand as it hints that the place isn't normal and could be a uniform of some kind. This gives the audience a view of location and in this case shows them that the place is un-escapable due to the high cliff walls and no low point around the island. The sign of a trap automatically creates the suspense as many people panic in a trapped situation.

This shot also has dim lighting to create suspense and is a mid shot. The expressions on the actors faces don’t give a happy vibe to the audience and the clothes that they are wearing add to the mystery of the storyline as to why they are dressed in that kind of formal clothing yet seem to be travelling to a horrible place. The shot shows that the actors are looking at something which makes the audience curious as to what they are looking at because it is not in the shot. The mystery and suspense of this creates fear in the audience. 

This shot again reveals little to the audience from the way it is taken from a low angle looking up at the actors. This shot helps create suspicion as it’s a view you wouldn't usually see of a person and it stops the audience viewing where the actors are standing and what is in the scene around them. The dim lighting is used again to show that the place isn't a place you would want to be and the fact they are standing with a policeman of some kind signifies the place might be dangerous.