Matches provide a unique use of light in Shutter Island.
For my second screening post, I chose to watch Martin Scorsese’s psychological thriller, Shutter Island. The film was outright amazing, due to the combination of story, acting, and cinematic elements Scorsese utilized. One key element that was prominently noticeable was the film’s use of light. Basically, Shutter Island can be broken into scenes that rely on three types of lighting ranging from fully exposed shots to almost complete darkness. In order to illustrate my point, I will begin with the darkest examples first.
The first major source of light Shutter Island relies on is low-key lighting with no fill light. For example, in scenes where Teddy is lighting matches in order to see, light is shed primarily on his face and any nearby objects, leaving the rest of the scene shrouded in darkness. This creates the sense that Teddy is alone, but also establishes that there is something Teddy should be afraid of lurking in the dark. Very little or no fill light is used in these scenes. These scenes are the most intense, and are a perfect example of what effect lighting has on the horror/psychological thriller genre.
The second source of lighting that is utilized is key light with minimal fill light. For instance, in handfuls of scenes, the key light in a room is either a lamp or a window. This use of backlighting lights the entirety of the scene and gives the audience a sense of security, as they can see what is happening. Minimal fill light is used in order to properly light the actor’s face, but not enough to take away from the backlight that sets the scene. However, this use of light still leaves the room fairly shrouded in shadow and darkness. This use of lighting provides a break from the intense action of complete darkness and the abnormal excitement of occasional bursts of brighter light.
Finally, flashbacks, or Teddy’s thoughts, are fully exposed utilizing natural light. These shots are not necessarily high key, but provide more than enough light to establish themselves different from other scenes in the film. For instance, in Teddy’s final flashback, where he realizes what happened, the scene is lit by daylight and all characters and elements of the scene are fully exposed. This also holds true for a majority of sequences where Teddy sees his dead wife and child. The only exception here is when it is revealed that Teddy is not really Teddy, but Andrew Laeddis. In this shot, the lighting has been reduced to backlighting like other shots due to Andrew returning to reality.
In the end, all three uses of light complement each other greatly, and maximize the effect the film has on audiences. In essence, the eerie feeling of a psychological thriller is created not through what light is used, but what light is not used; this is paired evenly with what little light is used to establish a tone that relies on low-key lighting. In all, there is a plethora of cinematic elements that Shutter Island uses to make it an amazing psychological thriller, but lighting is noticeable right from the beginning.