Shutter Island

This is an example of a trailer for a psychological thriller. The trailer lasts 2 minutes 23 seconds, consisting of 141 camera shots. The genre can be easily identified by the audience. Dialogue such as, "All I know is it's a mental hospital" and "for the criminally insane", is the first thing revealed to the audience, presnting us with the psychological element of the film. The conventional scenes where characters jump at the unexpected and the conventional theme of mystery provided in the trailer, allow us to establish this movie as a thriller too.

   Between each camera shot, a fade to black is used. This is effective as it adds to the great sense of mystery. The fade to blacks creae suspense, as the audience are waiting to see what comes next. This is going to intrigue the audience, keeping there attention for the full length of the trailer. As the trailer progresses, the speed of this picks up pace, and by the end, fast jump cuts are used, where tension has reached it's climax.

   The trailer has no voiceover, leaving the plot to be revealed through dialogue and visuals only. The intertitles provide no hints either. The audience learn that two federal marshalls are investigating a case that has taken place in the mental hospital of Shutter Island. We are told that a woman has gone missing in the past twenty four hours, with no idea or understanding how she would have escaped her room, where the two investigating the case begin to interview the other patients at the hospital. The narrative tells us no more than this, but shows us that the the two are trying to find out what has happened, giving no clues at to what. This creates a great sense of enigma, leaving the audience eager to find out what happened to the woman, and what conflicts they come across while doing so.

   The two federal marshalls seem to have a strong working relationship, their body language in the medium long shot when approaching the island, suggests they are comfortable in each other's company. We learn more about the one than the other, the main focus being on the character in which Leonardo DiCaprio plays. At the start of the trailer, he seems to have a very professional nature, focused on the task he was assigned with. However, as the trailer progresses we see his character change. He appears much more determined and his character becomes alot more forward, an increase of anger. It suggests the need to find the answers of this case are getting the better of him. This can be seen in a number of shots, for example, we see the character grab a gun off the desk in rage, shouting "Don't move! Don't move!" This behaviour constrasts with that shown earlier on in the trailer. It is also clear thats there is something which has effected the man outside of this case, or this atleast suggested. There is a long shot of him, cradling a woman, who then deteriorates to ashes. This suggests he has possibly been affeced by the loss of someone whom he was incredibly close to. There are also many characters shown in the trailer in which nothing is hinted as to who they are, or there importance/ significance in the film. This adds to the great sense of mystery and intrigue for the audiemce.

   There is medium shot, where we see the two marshals and an officer stood over them. After this we hear the officer tell them " You are hereby required to surrender your fire arms". With the officer showing superior power to them, this particular camera shot shows they have lost the normal form of defence. This creates a sense of tension.  

   The intertitles, as stated before reveal no hints towards the plot of the film, focusing on the origin of the film and it's actos. The only actor mentioned is Leonardo DiCaprio, suggesting this to be the films unique selling point.

   The is a non - diegetic ghostly/ eeery sound throughout the trailer, creating a tense atmosphere, giving the audience the expectation that something bad is going to happen. The exaggerated sounds of screaming and gun shot emphasise this.

   Many expectations are provided for the audience through the dialogue. The diegetic dialogue of "Whatever it is here, it's bad" is one example. The Audience are know expecting something bad to happen in the film, and so will be intrigued to go and find out by going to watch the film. When DiCaprio says, "No one will talk, It's like they're scared of something", this creates a mysterious mood, giving a sense of unknown to the audience.