The opening sequence begins when Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) a U.S marshal meets his new partner Chuck Aule. They set off on a ferry to begin their investigations on Shutter Island, the home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane. Trying to track down Rachel Solando, an escaped patient.
As the film begins we already get an eerie feel, the music is tense as the opening title unveils, it begins to create suspense from the very start while we are waiting for the opening shot to begin. Already we can see a misty location, the lighting is washed out and very light slowly revealing the silhouette of a creaky old battered boat. The washed out lighting gives off a mysterious effect, typical in the thriller genre as it creates a sense of suspense and curiosity for the audience. As we meet Teddy we begin to ask questions to ourselves, who is he? and why is he on the boat? As Teddy meets Chuck we begin to ask more questions, why does he know so much about Teddy when they've only just met? The constant questions that the audience generates while watching the film is again, another convention on the thriller genre, it keeps the audience engaged and creates the idea of confusion, the numerous questions begin to confuse us making us feel less aware as to what is going on making us just as vulnerable and confused as the characters in the film. Along with the eerie music we also see a slow mo, these are used in the thriller genre to create a sense that it's not reality, it's not the real world. These slow mo shots with the suspense building music really helps empathise to the audience how out of the real world we are supposed to feel.
In the opening scene we even witness the first flashback, flashbacks are common in the thriller genre as it helps us establish the characters past as we the audience are often thrown right into action or an unclear part of the characters lives. Flashbacks again also add to the idea of confusion. As the boat approaches the island, the music gets louder and louder, the lightening begins to darken, this is done to highlight the fact that the island is a dangerous place, a unsettling place, somewhere that you would not want to be. Dark lighting as a common convention in thriller films as it reinforces the sense of mystery and the unknown. The fact that the location is an island is very common, this is because it is a isolated and secluded area, there's no escape. The isolated location is very common because it creates the idea that the characters are trapped and have no way out. We already find out that there a deadline 'I'd appreciate it if you'd hurry up about it...storms comin' they are against time. Having a deadline is common in the thriller genre as it adds more 'pressure' the characters are against time and we the audience are desperate to see if they will make the deadline.
We witness a creepy looking woman as Teddy and Chuck enter the hospital grounds who appears to be telling Teddy to 'shhh' we realize that later in the film she was just a red herring however, out initial thoughts are that she's a femme fatale or just plain villain. Red herrings are common in the thriller genre as they confuse the audience, make us believe that someone is a villain when they are not. They are used to lead the audience astray from the plot.
All in all Shutter Island has an fantastic opening for a thriller film as it presents many conventions of a thriller from the very beginning (flashbacks, dark lightening, red herrings etc.)
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