Presentation - Shutter Island Trailer Analysis

Film trailer shutter island from meg2606

Slide 1:

Shutter Island, which was released in February 2010.. Psychological thriller. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo.

Slide 2:

It’s 1954, and detective Teddy Daniels has been brought to Shutter Island which holds a psychiatric hospital, to investigate the disappearance of a patient. However, as the investigation proceeds it becomes more sinister and puzzling as more dangerous criminals escape, and Teddy starts to doubt everything, like his memory, his partner, and his own sanity.

Slide 3:

This is a comparison of the detectives from the film trailer, to real life detectives in the nineteen fifties. From the costumes in the film trailer, you can already tell that the story is not based in nowadays time. Both investigators wear long brown/beige coats, with hats, shirts and ties, and also both investigators are smoking cigarettes, which is very stereotypical of a 1950’s detective.

Slide 4:

I find that from this film trailer it is very easy for the audience to identify the genre. This is because throughout the trailer, it is clear that there is an on-going investigation for a missing patient. They have also used mis-en-scene to show that the detectives are investigating in a psychiatric prison as the patients have very pale skin, little hair, and piercing eyes, like the elderly woman who tells the detectives to “Shhh” in the trailer. There are also jumpy bits of the film trailer to show that is a psychological thriller, such as the insane patient jumping out at Teddy whilst he is locked up in his cell.

Slide 5:

Within the first ten seconds of the trailer, the audience is introduced to the main A-list actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, which would appeal to a target audience of 18-35 year old females, but I also feel the film target audience is both male and female, as the young and attractive detectives would also be seen as “heroes” which would appeal to men too. An older audience could also be attracted to the film too, as the time setting is in the 1950’s, which an older audience may relate to. However, whatever the age that could be attracted to the film trailer, they would have to enjoy psychological thrillers, as in the trailer there is use of diegetic dialogue when the detectives say “it’s a mental hospital, for the criminally insane”, and then a non-diegetic soundtrack begins with organ instruments that sound haunting and solemn, and carries on with sounds of violins and a tapping noise to represent the insanity around the detectives.

Slide six:

The film trailer lasts 2 minutes and twenty three seconds, and I accounted 131 shots roughly. I found that throughout the trailer, a regular shot used is a panning shot. I thought this shot may have been specifically shown as it could represent the insanity and suspicion around the detectives, and throughout the whole film. There were transitions used throughout the film trailer, and the main one that I noticed throughout it was a fade in and out of the shot, such as in the beginning of the film trailer when there are five of this exact same transition used one after the other. I felt this transition represented the film genre well in the film trailer as it could represent the insanity of the patients as their actions are one thing after another and they are uncontrollable. 

Slide 7

The main characters are represented throughout the whole film trailer as strong and respectable characters, as the psychiatric hospital’s staff rely on them to help them solve the mystery. The detectives also seem to have a strong relationship at the beginning of the trailer, and are shown to always be together, but then throughout the trailer they are shown to be investigating separately, or if they are together they aren’t close. Also, at one point in the trailer, it is evidential that they are having a heated discussion and are shouting at each other, showing that their relationship isn’t as trusting and strong as the audience may have thought in the beginning.

Slide 8

The trailer also uses titles to communicate with the audience. It uses a title to state Leonardo DiCaprio’s name, and then uses a medium close up that pans right to show him, which communicates with the audience to let them know of the actor’s name. There is also a title at 2:15 that says “SHUTTER ISLAND” that is in bold, capital letters so it communicates with the audience by sticking in their heads and attracting them to watch the film.