Homework - Film opening analysis

Shutter island opening analyze

The first shot is a long shot of a boat on a misty sea which creates a mysterious feeling as the mist limits what the audience can see. The Shot after that is the first shot of Teddy Daniels the main character, he is the first character we are introduced to, but a medium shot is used. In this first shot we only see the bottom half of him which may suggest something wrong or abnormal to Teddy. As Teddy looks into the mirror in the next close up shot, we see both his shadow and himself this may imply a man with Multiple personality. The next shot is another close up of Teddy from the mirror perspective, this may be the split between how we see Teddy as a character to how the other character sees him. In the next shot we see Teddy coming out of the bathroom, first the camera focuses on the handcuffs hanging from the ceiling and then it focuses to Teddy walking across the room. This may suggest that this might be a trap or some sort of danger is coming. When Teddy walk out the room a medium shot is taken of another character literally “behind bars” and his back towards the camera this makes the audience unable to identify if he is an enemy or friendly which builds tension. The rest of the shot is medium to close up shots of the two talking on the deck, this limits the audience to what they can see creating a mysterious tension as it is difficult to grasp a sense of location. These shots were also mostly very tilted and shaking with the waves creating a sickness feeling which may refer back to Teddy’s physical state.Orchestral music combined with the boat horn creates a mysterious and tensioned feeling. Character talking to himself may refer back to his physical state. Afters character says “come on” the camera starts following normal compared to the first half of the opening which may refer back to his split or multiple personality. Fast cuts and sudden transition in the first half of the opening suggest his panicking and the second half with slow cuts and smooth transition shows he's calm a collected. This may be an example of a split personality of some sort and the breaking point of the first and second half of the opening is when Teddy said “come on” to the mirror to himself. When Teddy is in the dark and cramped room inside the ship it gives the audience a feeling of not being comfortable as we feel like we are in the room with him. The outside is different as everything more open and the audience may feel more relaxed.