Shutter Island - Psychological Horror

Shutter Island (2010) Psychological Horror.

Youtube Link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt-pgLx8bXg

Weather Foreshadowing. 

Dull, Stormy, Weather

Editing.

• Continuity Editing/ Invisible editing is used to demonstrate that reality is still passing throughout the scene, and that nothing unusual is happening at this point in time, everything is still normal. It also psychologically hints to the audience that due to the simplicity and easiness of the editing, something is not right in the near future.

Sound.

• There is very little non diegetic sound within this scene, but there is a lot of diegetic sound, including the sound of the waves, the sound of the boat moving through the water and the dialogue. The sound of the waves mixed with the sound of the boat creates almost a sound that does not change or differ, and stays the same, maybe linking in with the main protagonists psychological issues underneath the surface.

Mise En Scene.

• The dominant colour within this scene is grey, showing the dullness of the scene, almost showing the dullness of the mind set of the character's, indicating the blandness of the scene and the lives of the main characters. 
• The waves in the background emphasise the location, showing closely that the location is remote and no one can save them and they can not save themselves. 
• The use of the rails around the characters show that they can not escape theirselves, they can not escape their surroundings and their mind set. 
• The stormy weather indicates what is to happen later on during the film, it also shows the complexity of the minds of the main character, it is uneasy and not calm, indicating that there are underlying problems which are yet to be made clear to the audience. 
• The only clear piece of colouring that stands out against the grey is the red tie, which is connoting danger, and action to the audience. It also may show that he is in danger from the other main protagonist who has the severe psychological issues. 
• They are dressed for the time period, which is post war. They appear to be of quite a high status due to the tidiness of their clothing, the cigarettes that they smoke, and the way in which they are dressed with a large coat and a hat. 
• The characters are usually shot with a medium shot, showing their body movement and also including their facial gestures. 
• The character proxemics show that the two men are not too close, and are acquaintances, they do not yet know each other well, and this can be seen by the distance at which they are standing from each other.

Camera Angle/ Shot.

• A medium shot is used between both characters, because a full shot is not needed. The medium shot is used to show the audience the body language between the two characters, and the facial gestures. 
• We are at eye level with the characters, which conveys to the audience that we are seeing everything normally, and that there is nothing to hide, but we as an audience are anticipating something out of the ordinary to happen, we do not want normality. 

Typical Memories.

Editing

• These scene runs smoothly by using cutaways, which are parts of the male protagonists memories and flashbacks. This is used effectively as it breaks up the  smooth transition, showing that in the protagonists head not everything is as simple as it seems, as it is interrupted by past memories, moments and flashbacks. 
• Invisible editing is used between these transitions to smoothy show in chronological order what happened in these flashbacks and these memories that are being remembered. 

Sound

• The sound does not link to the atmosphere, it is a very mysterious non diegetic sound played over the actions, showing that there is something not right with the colour, it overpowers the emotions within the scene, and conveys to the audience that something bad is going to happen, as sort of a pre warning. The sound almost sounds like a warning alarm being amplified, and slowed down, suggesting to the audience that all is not what it seems with the couple, and something drastic is about to happen soon, not for the best. 

Mise En Scene

• Both of the characters in this scene are wearing bright colours. The male protagonist is wearing white, indicating purity, but due to this being a psychological film, this could indicate blankness, and the lack of sanity upheld by the character. 
• The emotion show by the characters looks real, it does not look forced, which is quite rare due to this being a psychological horror, and happy memories are not usually dominant within these types of films. 
• The spinning of the record may indicate that their lives are going round in circles, repeating the same things, the same daily routines, but maybe indicating that there is no way that they can get out of this situation, they are stuck going round in circles. 
• Artificial lighting is used, which juxtaposes the pure happy emotions, because the lighting is fake, maybe hinting at a hidden problem between the two characters. 
• The women does not directly look at her husband, even when he is looking at her, maybe hinting at a problem, she may be scared of him, scared of his authority or power over her. 
• The green on the tie is emphasised, and could show corruption of the mind, and corruption of the character himself, showing that he has been corrupted by his wife. 

Camera Angle/Shot

• The camera angles that are used are close ups, match on actions, and extreme close ups. These all complement each other, and show the emotions of the characters in depth, demonstrating to the audience the happiness that the couple shared, but this is not compliant with the male protagonists speech, not calling his wife by her name, and appearing cold when speaking about her. 

The Orphan

First point;

Camera angle/shot;

• This shot is a bird-eye shot, giving us a view of the whole scene. This type of camera angle helps to show how small the two people in this shot are.
• The two people in this shot are placed in the middle of the shot, giving neither of them a clear dominance or sense of power.
• Both women seem to be quite close to each other, showing a personal distance relationship. However, as the audience, we are set very far away from the characters. 

Sound;

• At this particular point in the opening of the film, there is little sound. The only sound we can hear is the diegetic sound of the woman in the wheelchair groaning in pain.
• The silence in the rest of the corridor helps to emphasis the woman's pain and helps to build tension

Mise En Scene

• The woman pushing the wheelchair is dressed all in white, connoting innocence. This could mean that she has nothing to do with the trail of blood and also cannot help with it.
• The trail of blood is bright red and shows that there may be huge amounts of danger in this situation. And because we know that the woman in the wheelchair is pregnant, tension builds as we fear for the unborn child's life.
• The fact that the woman is pregnant in this brief dream, shows her vulnerability as we know that she is not particularly strong and probably cannot even walk properly.
• Focusing on the rest of the shot, it is also all white and/or pale greys. This shows that the blood is probably by natural causes and not a murder of any sort.
• The empty chairs in the bottom left of the shot are both empty. This could emphasise the fact that the woman is lonely. We would, naturally, expect to see the woman's partner with her, but he is not there.
• The lighting in most of the shot is quite bright and evenly spread. But the way the woman in the wheelchair is going, looks rather dark. This connotes that something bad could happen when she gets to wherever it is she is being pushed.

Second point;

Camera angle/shot;

• This would be a medium shot because, even though we cannot see the heads of some people in this shot, we can see the whole of their torso. 
• The way that the heads of the doctors have been cut off by this shot shows a complete lack of emotional attachment to this woman. It cuts out their eyes, showing us nothing about how, and what, they are feeling.

Sound;

• There is a very quiet non-diegetic tune in the background at this point. It is a low and slow tune with very little to it. It sounds as if someone is blowing down a pipe. This sound creates tension whilst the woman is going through her surgery.
• We can also hear the diegetic sounds of the doctors, and of the woman. The doctors voice at one point, however, is disembodied. We do no see his face when he says 'it's too late for that.' This completely cuts him off from us and does not give us any indication of his emotions

Mise En Scene;

• Again, a lot of the clothing in this shot is white, connoting an innocent turn for the worse. 
• The lighting in this shot is, overall, quite dark. The lights are mainly on the woman on the chair but all around her is dark. The darkness shows that whatever is going on, the woman could be confused (as we link the fear of the dark with the fear of the unknown.)
• It is clear that the woman is the dominant in this shot.
• However, there is nothing in this shot to connote danger, contradicting with the first point. There is no red and no blood.
• In the right hand corner of this shot, we can see the light reflecting off of something metal. This draws our attention to the object and we start to wonder what it is. If the light is reflecting off of it, it is for a reason so this medical instrument must be important. 

Editing;

• This whole opening scene is continuity editing. It shows the course of events along a certain timeline.
• There are also some jump cuts in this opening, for example; when the woman wakes up from this dream.

Psychological Horror - Pros and Cons

Pros;

• It would be easy to find a location as there is no specific convention in terms of location for psychological horror.
• A film like this would be quite cheap to produce

                                            - No particular costumes

                                            - No CGI needed

• The sounds we hear in psychological horrors are basic, every-day sounds that would be easy to re-create.
• Hardly any gore so there would be no need to use a huge amount of fake blood etc.
• Shadows are used a lot and this would be easy to make as the only thing needed would be lights.
• Flashbacks are used a lot and look very effective. These would not be hard to edit into the film.

Cons;

• For psychological horror, it is very hard to think up an original idea that will make sense and grab the attention of the audience.
• It could be hard to find the right actors.
• Finding the right equipment could be difficult.
• Even though there are a vast number of different locations that could be used, it would probably be hard to find one that is completely original.