Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island takes place in 1954 after WWII. Two U.S. marshals are assigned to investigate a disappearance of a patient, Rachel Solando, at the Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane. The hospital is located off the shores of Boston on an island called, Shutter Island. One of the marshals, Teddy Daniels, has been trying to get an assignment to the Ashecliffe Hospital for personal reasons. Teddy feels that something is not right and is determined to find out what is really happening. Teddy realizes Rachel could not have survived this long and has to be dead due to harsh weather conditions and high security. The hospital denies Teddy’s conclusion. Teddy soon gets an idea of what could have happened to Rachel. Teddy concludes that the hospital has done something to her or is hiding something. The hospital does not let the marshals to access the hospital’s records though. Teddy and his partner question patients and staff and hear many rumors about Ashecliffe. Soon afterwards, Teddy starts to question the hospital and then starts to question himself.
The hospital has “mysteriously” found Rachel and Teddy beings to question the entire hospital. Teddy begins to talk to patients and investigate what is really going on. Teddy has heard rumors about the lighthouse and what things are going on in there. The suspicious Teddy is convinced to find out the truth. He and his partner set off searching for truth. At 74 minutes and 40 seconds, Teddy and his partner have hiked through the woods trying to find a way to get to the lighthouse. The two have hiked through the woods and come to a cliff, where they can see the lighthouse. The men now have to find a way to get to the lighthouse in the cold water, rough waves, and the current.
The environment in this frame portrays a New England island. The movie was filmed on location in order to get the realistic feel of the island. The actors are in an environment surrounded by trees, big rocks, water, and a dark sky. Teddy and his partner do not have any props, which shows how the two men cannot trust anyone. The no props also symbolizes isolation with the people around them. The colors in this frame are also very earthy displaying the nature around the marshals.
Low key lighting was used in this shot to make the shot look darker. The dark light makes the scene feel gloomy. Since Teddy and his partner had to escape from the hospital in order to find the lighthouse, the dark and gloomy shows how the two are being watched and have to be sneaky to find out the truth. The lighting also shows the rough condition of the environment and how hard it will be for the men to achieve their goal of getting to the lighthouse.
The clothing Teddy and his partner wear is the same as what the patients at Ashecliffe wear. The two men wearing the same clothing displays how alike they are to the patients, which is not true. The marshals wearing the same clothing as the patients also show how the men are treated. The men are treated just like patients in the sense that they have to follow the same rules.
The two marshals played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo both act in modern way. The two both study the character and then become them. This modern way of acting shows the best results and a more realistic feel. DiCaprio and Ruffalo both use credibility in the context of the movie to make their characters feel more believable.
The two marshals are staged on the opposite side of the frame from the lighthouse. The distance between the men and the lighthouse shows the obstacles the marshals will have to overcome to get to the lighthouse. The two men are positioned on rocks making them higher than the lighthouse. This shows how powerful and important the men truly are. The height difference also shows that the lighthouse is indeed important to finding out the mystery but will be easy to accomplish.
The marshals and the lighthouse stand on opposite sides of the frame. Why or why not was this effective?
it was effective because it shows how far away the marshals are from the lighthouse. it shows that they are getting close to their objective, and yet they are still so far.
ReplyDeleteI think that they are standing far away from the lighthouse for one reason. To show how far it is. The lighthouse is also really low compared to how high they are in the air. It shows how much of a journey they have to go through to get to it.
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