Shutter Island is a Psychological thriller about a police detective, who investigates the suspicious happenings in a mysterious island, and then the story takes a huge twist and we uncover that this police detective was mentally disturbed and had imagined the whole investigation in his mind. I would like my film opening to take certain aspects of this, and then change it to something that will be well suited and relatable to my 15-30 male target audience.
In the opening of Shutter Island the audience firstly sees an interesting visual image of a large boat coming forward through a thick fog. The creepy boat like music enhances the suspense and tension in the opening. This is followed by the audience seeing a character which is assumed to be the protagonist of the film in a ship’s toilet throwing up. The eerie, misty atmosphere from the low key lighting creates a sense of mystery for the audience. As the scene continues there are various long establishing shots of the ship and the island that the ship is travelling to, to show the audience the surroundings and inform them more details of the storyline, but still protecting the enigma in the story. Later in the scene there is a brief flashback which is shown with a quick cut into a contrasting lighting with an unknown female character.
All these aspects will be very interesting to use in my own film opening, such as the first interesting scenary/establishing shot, flashbacks, creepy music and the use of various lighting.
The screenshot above is a flashback and the screenshot above this is present time. The difference in lighting is very important as it helps the audience to distinguish between the two time periods. This can also show the different emotional atmosphere. The present time is quite dark which connotes a dark mood, where as the flashbacks suggest it is a happier time in the flashback because the lighting is brighter.
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