Shutter Island Poster Analysis

Shutter Island

The poster for 'Shutter Island' reveals a lot about the way in which the poster may conform to the thriller genre's conventions and to what extent it does.

The first thing that draws the attention of the reader is the face of the man in the upper left corner of the poster (Leonardo Dicaprio). The man's facial expression is very stern, with an emphasis on his righ eye appearing a very light blue. This blue seems to pierce through the viewer in comparison to the rest of his face, which is a much darker shade. The effect of the light coming from the match bears great significance here as it causes the light to appear brighter on half of his face than the other, perhaps connoting a split personality. This would conform to the thriller genre as it proposes a perhaps unstable character, and this notion could be further enhanced by the expression on his face, which although stern, reveals very little about himself. The partial darkness could also imply that the character prefers to remain hidden and is comfortable surrounded by darkness. The prominence of shadows and darkness in the poster mean it strongly conforms to the thriller genre as this can be seen in many other thriller posters such as 'Watchmen' and 'The Dark Knight' and provides the potential theme. There also seems to be a lot of smoke surrounding the man and the island, connoting mystery, secrecy and concealment, which is very typical of thriller conventions. It enhances the shroud of darkness that covers this mans' identity further and builds on the idea that he is to remain hidden and unknown, strongly conforming to thriller conventions.

The name of the film itself has direct connotations with the thriller genre. The world 'island' would immediately be associated with isolation, a common theme amongst thriller films - we can further see this the poster, there appears to be some form of man-made structure serving as an island in the centre of the poster, and it is surrounded by water, and may be where the film is set - this location, linking with the first word of the film title, 'shutter' creates a sense of entrapment along with this isolation; anyone on this island would find it difficult to or would be unable to escape, they would be 'shut' in the island - perhaps this isolation is the reason for the lack of expression on the mans face. The island itself appears similarly to the famous prison in 'Alcatraz' which has many connotations, such as death, violence and retribution but most importantly fear. The island almost protrudes from the poster itself due to its positioning and, aided by the smoke, appears very menacing and unwelcoming.

Another key aspect of this poster is the light itself. Directly in the centre of the poster, suggesting importance, and contrasting the dark colour scheme that dominates the poster, the bright orange of the match stands out attracting the attention of the reader. The significance the light bears is that a light amongst darkness would have connotations of hope and saviours; that they could perhaps be saved from this isolation. This light also coincides with the caption on the right hand side that reads, 'Someone is missing' - when someone is lost, often a light is used to find them. The text is in the same colour as the light enhancing this idea that they are connected. It could also be noted that the text is in a very small font, perhaps suggesting that this hope of finding someone is very faint - a possible plot from the poster. Likewise, the film title's font is not particularly large as it is in most thriller film posters, it takes up a very small portion of the poster.

Overall, the film poster for 'Shutter Island' seems to contain many aspects that would be typical of a thriller film and its conventions through effective use of lighting to create mystery and uncertainty and effective use of location, colour and mise-en-scene too create an atmosphere of isolation, entrapment and even fear. The combination of the uneasy look on the man's face, the mysterious smoke, the contrasting light and the unwelcoming appearance of the island itself, the reader almost feels uneasy just looking at the poster, as very little is revealed. When something is 'creepy' it is often because it is de-associated with something that is familiar to us, such as a mask on a persons face - this same effect is created here as the eeriness of the smoke and surroundings and the mans' facial expression combined is almost unknown to us, creating this strong sense of ambiguity, confusion and fear. Fear is a prominent emotion amongst all thrillers and the effects that are a result of or combine to create fear, such as a mysterious villain, victims, danger, deception, and the unknown all conform to thriller conventions - therefore, to conclude, the film poster for 'Shutter Island' is very conventional of the  thriller genre for the above reasons detailed.