Set Up: How is it used in this film? - Shutter Island

1. What does the set up reveal to the audience about setting? Where is this place? What gives you information?
The setting is a mental institution on a faraway island. They show you a boat journey which suggests that this is the only transport to and from the island. The mist shows there is no turning back and the real world is hidden

2. What does the set up reveal to the audience about characters? Choose one character and explain HOW the set up reveals this information?
The characters in the mental institution are shown to be the most incurable of all. They represent this by showing a particularly unstable women with a cut around her neck, which shows the audience just how estranged the location really is.

3. What does the set up reveal to the audience about interrelationship between characters? About their goals? Are there any things you learn here that become important later on?
Everything included in the beginning of the scene starts to make sense as the end commences. The majority of the scenes are surrounded by water. This highlights Teddy's uneasiness towards the concept which is later revealed in the plot.

4. What is this 'world' like? Safe? Happy? Dangerous? How do you know?
There are dangerous people in a falsely safe enviroment. Every safe element highlights how dangerous the institution really is. For example, there is a strict policy of no firearms past a particular point, the buildings are separated and the fence is electrical .

5.What possible conflicts or strains are there that will become part of the story later on?
Again, Teddy's reason for fearing water becomes apparent later on in the story, and Chuck's struggle with the firearm shows he isn't used to using a gun. Also, the patients at the mental instituion immediately show recognition towards Teddy, and later on you understand why.

6. How does this film opening fit with the codes amd conventions of Thriller films?
There is an endless display of clues that are later revealed in the big twist at the end of the film. The music is suspensful and the colouring is dull to represent the unknown secrets of the island. Teddy has flashbacks of a happy past with his wife which tyes into the aspect of a thriller. It makes you wonder why it is no longer bright and happy in his life.

Thriller Movie Questionnaire

1. What age do you think is most suitable to watch thriller movies?
     8-10                   11-20              21+

2. What is your favourite all time thriller?
  
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3. Who is your favourite thriller actor/actress?

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4. Which thriller genre do your prefer the most?

Action     Crime    Political   Psychological


5. What excites you most about a Thriller film?

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6. Where would you most expect a Thriller to be set?

Woods       House      Graveyard     Nearby river


7. Who do you prefer the victem to be ?

Man     Women    Child

8. Do you like thriller films?

Yes      No

If No, Why ?

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Who do you prefer the 'bad guy' to be?

Man     Women    Child


When would you prefer the Era to be set in?

1800's      1900's    2000's