Shutter Island Opening Scene Research (Thriller)

Shutter Island

Credits: 

• A film by MARTIN SCORCESE
• Produced by MICKE MEDAVOY and ARNOLD MESSER
• Screenyplay by LAETA KALOGRIDIS
• Based on the novel by DENNIS LEHANE
• Director of photography ROBERT RICHARDSON
• BEN KINGSLEY
• LEOARDO DiCAPRIO
• MARK RUFFALO
• Edited by THELMA SCHOONMAKER
• Music by ROBBIE ROBERTSON
• SHUTTER ISLAND

These credits are all written in bold capital letters, and are also coloured red. This is indicating murder or death. The titles all flicker and blur quickly which suggests a paranormal effect to the thriller movie, the audience will then have to focus on the text which suggests a connotation of mystery. The size of the text is small/medium. Each credit is positioned in the corners of the screen apart from the final credit, being in the center of the screen.
The sound in this opening scene is tense. A crescendo of the volume of the opening music is used to create suspense and a dramatic feel towards the opening scene. Lots of different instruments are used in this clip to create a dramatic and crowded atmospher but also keeps it simple and easy to fiure out the genre of film that the audience are about to watch. At the end of the opening scene, the music within the last shot is the only sound that is heard. The music is presented as more sinister as it is louder and gives the audience more ability to hear it. The music unnerves the audience and makes them feel as it something is building up, which is a typical convention of a thriller film.
A lot of camera angles used in this clip are simple things, shuch as pans, slow zooms, over the shoulder shots, extreme close ups, close ups, low angle and establishing shots are all used in this opening scene. There is one shot where the camera twists on a birds eye view style down a flight of twisted stairs. This creates a twisted atmosphere and suggests that there is a sense of a contorted mind as this film is a thriller. The close ups that are included in this opening scene do not give a lot of the story line away, only a sense of tension and nerve racking.
The editing in this opening scene is used well as the shots are all very dark and gloomy. This represents the idea of murder and mystery. A few fades are used between some shots, for example when the snow is falling, and it then moves to another scene and you can still faintly see the snow fading away into the next scene. This is used to confuse and entice the audience into watching what seems a scary and thrilling film.The cuts of each shot are typically short, which does not give away a lot of the film itself.
Within this clip the mise-en-scene includes the power of lighting used in each frame. The low key lighting and amount of darkness suggests a sense of unknowing, suspension and tension. A match is lit towards the end of the opening scene to worry the audience and make them question why? who? and where? There is also a gun in this opening scene, suggesting definite murder or crime within the film. This connotes that the film has a sense of mystery and horror. Not many other props are used in this opening scene. However, the lack of characters shown in this clip suggests the idea of hiding and secrecy is shown well due to this. Only four characters are shown fully but that is police officers, opening the gates to a prison, which easily connotes the idea of crime.

This opening scene is worth looking at for inspiration for my own opening scene to a thriller as it presents every idea of thrilling/scary into one short clip.