Analysing the Shutter Island Opening Sequence.

The film opens with a black screen with text setting the scene which would have been edited in upon post-production. To accompany this there is the audio from the clip following it to help the continuity going from a black screen to video. The chordal strings playing with this audio over “Boston Harbour Islands 1954” may suggest that it’s not a nice place to be at this time as string instruments like the ones used can connote to sadness or trouble.

The screen fades from black into another blank screen from which a ship emerges. By going from black to a foggy establishing shot the cut seems more seamless rather than fading in to a more colourful setting. Before the ship is apparent, what we non-diegetic horns as part of the music become seemingly more diegetic once the ship is revealed although unapparent. This uncertainty both audio and visually (due to the fog) creates a suspenseful atmosphere around our characters. We then cut to inside the ship with a wide shot and the same audio from the sea aiding continuity. We can see someone being sick whose head is obscured by a doorway in an ambient lit room. By placing chains in this shot as well as reinforcing this with the sound of them hitting together, the director is clarifying the scene is defiantly on the ship and possibly hinting at connotations of prisoners - a theme that continues throughout the film. We then cut to inside the bathroom where we are introduced to our main character with an over shoulder shot in which Teddy is framed in the mirror. We soon learn that Teddy is not in a good way shown through his costume of a loosened tie and make up showing how ill he is. Teddy refers to himself in the third person and in doing so the audience learns his name. By previously framing Teddy in a mirror for the audience, the director is later able (at around 50 seconds) to place the audience in the mirror in order to set up a close up in which the fourth wall is broken (teddy can look towards the camera). In doing so the audience is able to empathise with Teddy which is aided by the shot type to show emotion.

We then cut to another room filled with chains and hand cuffs in a blue toned room from which the only warmth created is coming from a small yellow light. This again connotes to the audience that jails/prisoners are a key aspect in the film as this is the second time something has hinted at it. The camera then follows Teddy now in a beige coat which fits with the monochrome aesthetic of the scene and can show his link to something involving crime - judging by his costume, a detective. Once Teddy is outside, we see a wide shot showing another character who, like Teddy, is initially obscured as he is facing the wrong way. He is shown behind a chain-link fence which again connotes to jail.We soon see another wide shot by which the new character is stood balanced and stable while Teddy is juxtaposed against him standing hunched over and gripping the rails for balance to create a contrast presenting this new character as Teddy’s counterpart. We then follow the slow editing pace while the two talk in which we learn more about our characters, all the while the horns continue to play the same note creating suspense causing the audience to think that there is trouble ahead.

Before the flashback the music begins to change while continuing to be suspenseful and uneasy for the audience. The horns which indicate drama and a new addition of operatic voices come in and the colour grading completely changes to have much more warm yellow hues set with high key lighting, contrasting the boat. Using the dialogue “I was” when talking about his wife creates suspicion that they are either divorced or she is dead. Then in the close up of the couples feet in the flashback we see the lady wearing bare feet and red nail polish. This is where it becomes more obvious that she could be dead as bare feet can connote to being vulnerable and the bold colour red is a clear indicator of danger. The editing pace also picks up dramatically in the flash back to build more faced paced suspense and unsettlement for the audience. We then see an alternation from the flashback to the sea and repeating this again quickly to show that something is coming to an end, in this case

the flash back itself and the wife (hence why the shot we alternate between was a close up if her face). This is simply followed by “she died” clarifying the audience’s suspicion. When we return back to the boat we again see the monochrome colouring with Teddy in the foreground indicating he’s the most important character and setting the film up.