Research and Planning: Trailer Analysis.

Trailer Analysis: Shutter Island (2010)
 

Genre.

Shutter Island is a psychological thriller, we can tell through different elements within the trailer for example, the use of low key lighting and many jump cuts to create the suspense needed and often associated with thriller films as well as the use of non-diegetic music in the background which adds to the eerie atmosphere and creates the suspense needed in a thriller trailer. As well we can tell through the plot, well what we understand of it through the trailer, there are many aspects associated with thrillers for example, the idea of a secluded island for mental patients which have all killed and we have somebody investigating some sort of event which has happened and we have a small element of blood and suggested violence however it's more to do with the confusion flashbacks that we see Leonardo Di Caprio having within the trailer. One theory that can go with this trailer is Andrew Sarris' theory that "genre is the idea that it has a recognisable style that draws on an existing audience"  so this trailer sticks to many of the aspects and associations used in thriller trailers which helps them to draw on an existing audience that enjoys a film which plays with the mind more than just simple blood and gore of a horror.

Representation.

We have a few different representations and stereotypes just within the trailer, we have the main character (Leonardo Di Caprio) and his colleague which are shown in their uniform and look smart and clean and with the police badge is seems to have a certain degree of intelligence so that is a stereotype that does go hand in hand with the police force but then we have the complete opposite shown, as we see the first mental patient who is actually chained to a nurse and is losing hair with a crazed look on her face and looks to the officer and 'shh' him, so again another stereotype is being played on here, and old stereotype because this film is not set in current type so the old stereotype is that mental patients are completely insane and need to isolated and chained up, they are seen as a danger to society and to create this stereotype they have made her look a certain way  so she fits with the stereotype which is obviously a negative representation and this is carried throughout the trailer as all the 'patients' are kept behind metal bars and we see clips of patients with huge scars on their faces and also them often trying to escape. So this film has used old negative stereotypes of mental illnesses to create the eerie atmosphere and also to make the police look superior to them.

Narrative.

From the story we can see that the story is about a secluded mental island and some officers have been called in to investigate one of the patients disappearing which does seem typical of the thriller genre as it has the suspense created from the eerie island and the 'scary' factor which in this case is the mental hospital and it's patients and 'psychological problems' are something used commonly in thrillers. The trailer seems to have some structure to it, it starts with the equilibrium where the officers are calm and are just coming to investigate and it takes it slowly through parts of the story obviously showing us some of the peaks for example when he gets dragged up the stairs by a patient towards the end of the trailer however, as a thriller does it casts some sort of confusion or twist into the storyline, and in this trailer we keep getting flashes of the main characters holding a woman or walking down a corridor and also flashes of a blood covered woman which have seen in the trailer before in a photograph so true to a thriller, this trailer only hints at the story and then completely throws you off by adding in the confusion. Two theories can fit into this trailer in terms of narrative but they work together to create the relationships of characters, we have two officers one the main character and the other seems like an assistant, the assistant officer seems to take on the character role of a donor (Propp's Theory) as he hands pieces of information to the main character "what if when you were looking into them, they were looking into you, now they have us both, here, now" but the main character seems very much the active character as he does the investigating and he is the one seen with the patients which gives the impression that the other characters are passive characters they just take on the role of donor every so often to help the active character.

 

Audience.

This film will probably appeal to an existing audience, one's which enjoy thrillers that you have to stay active within and have to concentrate on the film to understand all the twists in the storyline.

Audience:

Age- the age of audience could vary although I would say that this film will appeal more to a young adult because it seems that bit strange and in some parts scary, however I think this could definitely appeal to a more mature audience because it isn't set in modern time and it's not an unrealistic film and they may enjoy watching an active film.

Gender- I think this film and many thrillers tend to appeal to both genders, because this film isn't gendered in any specific way even though we have the main character as male we do have other female characters which we don't get much information so the audience may be intrigued to find out what their role is within the film.

Lifestyle/Interests/Psychographics- Because of the context of the storyline, this film may be of particular interest to an audience interested in the psychology part and the workings of the 'mental' island. Definitely, the audience that will be attracted to this film will be an audience that is interested in active films and films that keep the mind going because even from the trailer we can see that there are many twists in the story.

 

Media Language.

Cinematography.

• In this trailer we see a lot of contrasting images such as we see a lot of tight framed mid-shots/close-ups and then a lot of long shots with a much wider frame however both work together to create the secluded and isloated atmosphere because we have to close tight framing to represent the image of being trapped and also the wider shots which show to literal isolation of the island.
• Throughout the trailer we do see a number of low angles on Leonardo Di Caprio which creates the impression that he is the superior character within the film however there is one clip at the end where it shows a birds eye view of him being dragged by a patient so this could show how the patient is now in control therefore he becomes higher than him.
• One thing that is strange in the trailer, is that whenever he is talking to the patients, he is always on eye level with them, when talking to the woman at the table and even the man through the bars, they are always placed on the same level when talking with eachother which suggests to us that he is on the same level as them however we have seen many contrasting images to this, but when watching the film this all becomes clear but to somebody watching the trailer it only adds to the confusion.

 

Editing.

• Editing is heavily used within this trailer as it does with many thriller trailers, at the beginning of the trailer we see the equilibriam where all is calm and we just get a few clips montaged together to give us a small understanding of what is going on, during this each seperate clip dissolves into one another using a black screen inbetween which again adds to the calm start of the trailer however still creates an eerie atmosphere because we have moved on from each scene and it becomes darker as the trailer continues.
• The trailer then dramatically changes and it all becomes straight cuts and jump cuts, it begins with straight cuts which still have a slightly harsh edge but they just move the trailer on slightly and this is used to slowly introduce different characters or aspects for example when we see the woman chained up, it is only a straight cut to her rather than a jump cut to create a scarier image of the woman, this could be to slowly ease the audience in.
• However as the trailer develops and we learn more about the plot it all becomes jump cuts between very short clips and some even back to the same clip but this again is used to create the confusion for the audience to draw them in. For example, when Leonardo Di Caprio is walking towards a corridor, it jumps to another corridor in a house and then back again, each clip is a couple of seconds long but because of the jump cut manages to stick in the audiences head because it's more dramtic therefore more interesting.

 

Sound.

• Throughout the trailer, a soundtrack is playing underneath and it is the same piece of music throughout however it does change the pace and tone/key during more intense parts for example the middle of the trailer is when we are shown all the peaks of the disruption and some sort of story is starting to unfold, the music seems to change slightly it gets quicker and the key/tone seems to change slightly and as the trailer reaches the climax for the audience so does the music however comes back down when the credits/information is running at the end, which signifies that at that particular clip the film reaches some sort of climax maybe.
• The dialogue changes throughout the film as well, at the beginning the dialogue is calm and seems quite 'intelligent' as it's the officers and the doctors speaking so all seems very official, and when Leonardo Di Caprio is talking to one patient at a table, he seems quite patronising again adding to the negative stereotypes of the patients.
• However, when the trailer is reaching it's climax the dialogue becomes a lot more distressed and faster and more questions begin to arise from characters, which makes the audience question even the small clippets they have seen.
• We have simple sound effects used within the trailer to create the suspense and also make it seem a lot more scary and eerie, we have the sounds of patients screams in the background and the sounds of the them pushing against the bars which shocks the audience and also works to create a very eerie atmosphere within the hospital.

 

Mise-en-scene.

• We get many different images within the trailer that create different stereotypes, one significant image is that of the woman with barely any hair, and who is chained to a nurse, this image obviously creates a massive megative stereotype of the patients but it also works in creating more 'sinister' characters for the audience to be aware off.
• But we have different contrasting images of the patients, more negative than anything as we see two more both with cuts on their faces and doing something strange for example writing on the wall in blood or playing with the match, both again create a sinister scary image of the patients. But we have one contrasting patient, the woman at the table, who looks perfectly normal however, we know she must have done something because she is a patient in the hospital but it sends out an underlying message to the audience that the patients don't just have to look crazy to be dangerous.
• We see two different sides to the hospital, we see the classic all white building within and shiny floors with nurses in white uniform walking around and we also see some equipment in a very short clip, but then we have the other side which is dark and uses a lot of low key lighting, some shots only have the match that is lit to seem like the only source and everything is in a gloomy atmosphere, two stark contrasts which can again relate back to the character imagery that it's not always what it appears to be on the outside.