Deep Textual Analysis:

Shutter Island

Low Key Lighting;Gives it an eerie feel and makes the audience feel tense. It makes the atmosphere dull and gloomy.

Cinematography;It is a landscape shot that gives you an idea of where they are. The place almost seems to appear like the concentration camp that appears in Teddy’s visions – this makes the audience feel like that is not a

safe place and that bad things happen there.

Cinematography;Here is an over the shoulder shot and close up shot. This is

used to show Teddy’s emotions. This is often done in Thriller films. You can clearly see the confusion on Teddy’s face – this

makes the audience wonder why.

Low Key Lighting;Low key lighting is used throughout the film. In this shot it is very

dark and has a lot of shadows. This makes it feel like he is in a dangerous place and is heading into the unknown.

Symbolism;The bars could symbolise that Teddy is imprisoned by what’s

happened and that he feels trapped. This shot also just shows him so he could feel as though he is isolated from everyone else.

Flashbacks;There are a number of flashbacks in the

film that tell you little pieces about Teddy’s past life. This makes the audience work to try and find out what’s going on

Character;Common thriller characters are innocent victims. The innocent

victims in Shutter Island are Teddy’s children. Teddy feels bad that he was unable to save them.

Foreshadowing;Teddy’s children appear in his flashbacks and

hallucinations. Foreshadowing is used to make the audience question what is going on and to keep the

audience guessing.

Characters;Thriller often contain characters that are cops. There

are a lot of cops used in Shutter Island.

Colours;The colours used are very dark and dull. This creates a

gloomy atmosphere. It also gives it quite an eerie feeling.

Sound;There was a brief silence which creates tension and suspense. There

was then an off screen sound which surprises you and makes you wonder what caused the sound.

Low Key Lighting;Teddy is in a new area and so you don’t know what or who is

there. The lack of light makes it difficult to see and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Colour;The colour red is really emphasised in this shot. It gives a

sense of confusion and makes the audience question what’s happened.

Mise en scene;This is quite a creepy shot that makes the audience feel

uneasy and on edge. It makes you wonder what happened.

Red Herring;The cigarettes tend to appear throughout the movie very frequently and are a red herring and

make you think that there could be drugs or something in them that cause Teddy to hallucinate. The cigarettes cause the audience to become suspicious.

Theme;There is violence and murder through the movie. Which is common in thriller movies.

Flashback;Teddy’s past is revealed and suddenly everything kind of makes sense. The scene looks kind of peaceful in a

weird way.

Colour;The colours are quite neutral and plain, which adds to

the gloominess of the scene. The colour red stands out, especially the one red shoe lying on the grass.

The gun is pictured.

Plot Twist;Plot twists are extremely common in Thrillers. The plot twist in Shutter Island is

that Teddy is actually a patient at the hospital. This makes the audience question whether or not this is legitimate or have they just brainwashed Teddy.

Characters;Thrillers often have psychotic individuals. It is later revealed that

Teddy is a psychotic individual. This makes the audience feel sad for Teddy and what happened in his past.