Mise en scene shutter island

Mise-en Scene: Shutter Island is a psychological thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese in 2010. The film is based on a novel from 2003 of the same name by Dennis Lehane. Production started in March 2008. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels, who is investigating a psychiatric facility on Shutter Island after a patient goes missing. Mise-en-scene is a critical factor in the film’s success where it grossed over £128 million on its theatre release, because of the time period its set in and how key lighting is for the fear factor, mise-en-scene had to be researched correctly.

Location: Locations in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Nova Scotia were scouted but in the end they settled for locations in Massachusetts.  Filming of the World War II flashback scenes for DiCaprio's character, a former soldier, took place in Taunton, Massachusetts. Scorsese filmed the scenes in old industrial buildings in Taunton's Whittenton Mills Complex to replicate the Dachau concentration camp, which was seen in flashbacks. Some scenes for the actual island filmed at the old Medfield State Hospital in Medfield, Massachusetts. Scenes in Cawley's office were shot on the second floor of the chapel during the late evening; lights were shone on the windows to make it look like it was daytime. The surrounding brick walls in the outside hospital scenes were actually painted plywood which were used as scenery and blocked the set from view of a local road so were quite useful in the long run. Originally, scenes were going to be shot at the old Worcester State Hospital, but the filming would have gone on during the demolition of the surrounding buildings, which was impractical. Borderland State Park in Sharon, Massachusetts was used for the cabin scene. Peddocks Island was used as a setting for the story's island and East Point, in Nahant, Massachusetts for the lighthouse scenes.

I think that the use of location for the film was very effective. Instead of finding an island with the sufficient buildings and settings, which would be difficult in itself but also the cost of transporting props and providing for the cast and crew would’ve been enormous; they managed to use a variety locations, which the majority were in Massachusetts, which had similar style buildings and scenery so that they could create this fictional island. I think the cost of production was significantly reduced by using this choice of location.  Also the islands weather is used to great effect where its always overcast which matches the narrative and rain is used to also used like this in specific scenes. Also the forests  are successful in creating a deteriorating atmosphere on the island. This all helps the audience believe that the island is real and what the character is going through is real.

 

 

Costume: Costume is very important for Shutter Island as it’s a period film set in the 1950’s. Sandy Powell, a British costume designer who has created costumes for films such as The Wolf of Wall Street and The Young Victoria, was hired to create 1940’s-1950’s costumes for the film. In the movie there are a lot of uniforms based on 1950’s psychiatric facilities and hospitals, security firms and police departments, and also American WW2 uniforms.

I think the film’s costumes are effective as they do convey the right period because as soon as you see the protagonist in the first scene you instantly know this is a 1940’s/50’s set film which is important as the time period does not need to be explained to the audience so there is continuity as the scene flows whilst the location and time period are explained naturally. Also the contrast between the war scenes and the Shutter island scenes when it comes to costume is big enough that you can recognise that time difference and it also helps with making the flash backs and flash forwards clearer, again creating a sense of continuity.

Actor: the choice of actor was also important as they chose actors who matched physically and personality wise their characters persona. For example they used Leonardo Dicaprio for the protagonist, which was a good, effective choice as he's a good looking young man who has a star persona of a hero and protagonist, which is exactly what our character was supposed to be. 

 

Props: props were also key within the film such as for lighting, dramatic effect and showing the time period.  Guns were important in the film in and out of the war scenes so they had to use WW2 and Post-WW2 weapons in order to show time as well and for more drama, the action within scenes, as the action sequences  aren't often its almost a shock when there is a gun drawn. Also the lack of weapons in the movie is important too, where the protagonist is forced to hand over his weapon at the start connotes to the audience how vulnerable he is on the island and that he has already lost control of the situation. Also the vehicles they use are important too, where they are from the right period and when they are used to show who’s in power on the island because only the most important figures have cars and such, connoting their sense of authority and power which also emphasises the corrupt atmosphere. Matches were also used in order to show the lack of light, which created suspense because they would burn out and such, creating a tense atmosphere during some scenes.

Lighting: lighting was also used effectively as they used the lighting and lack of lighting to show important things and create a suspenseful atmosphere. For example the lack of light in scenes meant that we empathised with the character with not really being able to see what's happening and not knowing if any dangerous prisoners could be nearby, which built up dramatic tension and is useful for the build up towards action scenes. Another example is when they used bright flashing lights to show the character pain when he has a migraine and again helps us empathise with him, as the flashing bright lights connoting the flashes of pain. 

The Mise-en-scene conventions used in Shutter Island are similar to many other thriller movies because most of the conventions are directly related to the thriller genre. Also most thriller films go into particular detail with planning their miss-en-scene as it's important for creating a tense and suspenseful atmosphere.