Scenes to consider for analysis Opening and Closing Rachel’s room Dr.Cawley’s mansion the 2 nd flashback Teddy’s migraine nightmare Interviewing Mrs.Kearns The storm The mausoleum Teddy’s 2 nd nightmare sequence (nightmares within nightmares) Ward C The cliffs and the real Rachel A drive with the warden The lighthouse The truth

Exploring Rachel’s room

The scene opens with a very low camera angle, as if the camera is on the floor. The use of lighting by Scorsese in this scene is very expressionistic. The shadow that overwhelms the top part of the frame presses down on the room giving an oppressive feel. The extra bright lightbulb at the top centre of the frame casts a glow on the floor. Perhaps it is representative of a lighthouse shining out in the midst of the shadows.

The wardrobe is a dark sombre mass on the right of the screen and iron bed is white with grey blanket. The room is sparse and cold-a stereotypical cell-uninviting. The use of very strong lighting outside the window creates a mass of cage shadows on the right of frame. The music that accompanies the opening of this scene is suspenseful piano music. The running of the notes reminiscent of running water. The rain running down the window gives a surreal effect when it is in shadow form on the wall. The shadow of the water on the wall also is reminiscent of something ‘evaporating’. The line of dialogue that has preceded this shot is Dr.Cawley: “…it’s as if she evaporated- straight through the walls.” The use of preceding dialogue, mise en scene music and lighting create an eerie feel for the audience. Scorsese puts the audience in the room before the characters enter further creating tension for the audience.

The characters pace around the room in a circle-the movement of the actors highlights they are ‘lost’. The shadows of the caged windows cuts through them throughout the scene.

The mise en scene above puts Chuck and Teddy together similar to how they were in the beginning of the film. The shadow of their hats masks Teddy’s eyes. Throughout ‘Shutter Island’ Scorsese plays with the audience- In this sequence he creates a further uneasy feel for the audience through an interesting choice of cutting this scene. On this shot Teddy says: Teddy: “Seriously doctor how is it possible that the truth never gets through to her?” Scorsese cuts to

Cut in time visually forwards- Teddy continues and his voice is now a voiceover to this shot. His line begins and it is diegetic sound but then becomes non diegetic. “….I mean she’s in a mental institution…” And Scorsese cuts again:

Cut in time forwards. “….seems like something you’d notice from time to time. Chuck ( off screen): “How many….

(Cut in time forward) ….pairs of shoes do the patient’s have?”

CUT IN TIME BACKWARDS TO TEDDY’S FIRST QUESTION Dr. Cawley: “Sanity is not a choice marshall. You can’t just choose to get over it.” FACE NOT IN SHADOW THIS IS THE TRUTH TEDDY A BLURRED SHADOW LIKE HIS IDENTITY

CUT IN TIME FORWARD: Chuck: “So she left here barefoot?..” The piano music stops as he says this line. Diegesic sound only from this point.

SUSPENSEFUL PIANO MUSIC STARTS AGAIN Everything within the mise en scene is out of focus except for Teddy who is focused on the floor. The theme of dual personality is repeated here as his shadow seems to look over his shoulder.

Extreme close up brings the audience into the action- the finding of the note.

TEDDY: “I’m going to have to hold on to this”. The quick self-satisfied way Teddy puts it out of reach of the doctor is reminiscent of a slight childishness which is expressed through DiCaprio’s acting at various points in the film. THE SCENE ENDS AS IT BEGAN WITH THE CAMERA ON A LOW ANGLE LOOKING UP AT THE ACTION.

The brilliance of Thelma Schoonmaker’s editing Thelma Schoonmaker has been Scorsese’s editor since the early days of his career. Their collaboration creates some interesting editing magic. Rachel’s Room: For part of the scene voice and image are out of synch which is representative of how Teddy’s mind is out of synch with his surroundings. Through use of editing Scorsese subtly highlights this. The audience at this point are not aware that Teddy is the 67 th patient. Scorsese teases the audience with this editing. He had footage of Leonardo Di Caprio saying all of his lines but chooses to manipulate time visually by cutting forward to within the scene and seeing the men search Rachel’s room. Scorsese and Schoonmaker then cut back to Dr.Cawley answering the original question: “Sanity is not a choice marshall. You can’t just choose to get over it.” What’s interesting about this line is that he is symbolically speaking to Andrew through Teddy about his condition. A brilliant scene where mise en scene, music, lighting and editing come together to create a sense of something unusual for the audience. What is very interesting is that this type of editing is for a modern audience. Whilst cutting forwards and backwards and using a voiceover is a traditional part of film noir, this type of editing is certainly for the modern audience. 50 years ago this type of visual editing would have confused the audience.