Shutter Island Opening Credit Sequence Analysis

Shutter Island Opening Credit Sequence Analysis

The credit sequence starts with a slow fade in from black to a darkly lit abandoned corridor. This coupled with the suspenseful and sharp non-diegetic music and the bold red, gothic writing create tension both visually and acoustically. The gothic red writing is, in itself a stereotypical convention of horror movies and immediately conveys the genre through that the unsettling font style gives. Due to the dark lighting in the corridor, the text is the first thing you see as it is placed in 'dead space' and the red colouring directly contrasts the black background, causing the audience to be drawn to that first.

Then there is a quick fade to a 360 degree pan of a spiral staircase, the pan is at a fast speed. This adds an element of illusion and confusion for the audience, whilst also disorientating them as they almost feel as they are being hypnotised. There is also, again the use of small lighting which adds to the enigma of the movie, not allowing much to be revealed to the audience. 

A quick fade is used again and fades to a close up shot of a hand 

struggling to move a tile. The identity of the person remains hidden, and the tension that the hand has to the tile alludes some sort of a physical struggle, allowing for a sense of desperation to be created. It is also interesting to note that the credit in this shot, is white rather than red. This may be because they are trying to convey the motifs of "good vs. bad" which is used throughout the film. This is due to the contrast between the connotations of red (danger, violence, passion and blood) and white which has connotations of purity and innocence. It is also placed more centrally on the screen, suggesting it has more importance than the other credits. It also cuts to the next shot, just at the tile is moved to uncover what is underneath intriguing the audience further. 

The final shot is the title shown in big, bold red letters, it is animated to seem as it is veering toward the audience which adds to the visual tension. The fact that the title zooms to take up the majority of the screen, reinforces the importance of the title and places it's importance above all of the other credits. It is also a convention of most film title sequences for the title to take up the whole/majority of the screen. The use of the colouring of black and red foreshadows the possible violence to come as the connotations of red, mixed with the connotations of the colour black (death and darkness). 

(Written by Naomi Lee)