1. Relationships that develop between characters and outcomes of these relationships
1.1. Relationship: Between Teddy Daniels and Chuck
1.1.1. How production techniques influence how the audience ‘views’ this relationship:
1.1.1.1. Production techniques use things like light lighting to first introduce chuck’s character, and they use quite a plain camera angle and shot, which makes you feel like he is a bit simplistic and a nicer character. the first time we are introduced to him as Teddy Daniels new partner he jokes around a bit and is kind and offers teddy things. you can see from the start that they have a certain bond, and the light lighting, normal shot and zoom, and the movement makes you feel comfortable between these two characters.
1.1.2. Outcome of this relationship:
1.1.2.1. Teddy thought he had a friend he could trust, so when chuck suggested they were going to keep him there and make him think he was mental, it started him thinking of all other possible things they could be doing in the institution, which then led onto him wanting to explore the island more.
1.2. Relationship: Between teddy Daniels and his ‘wife’ Doloris Chanal
1.2.1. Outcome of this relationship:
1.2.1.1. This relationship was the thing that drove ‘teddy’ insane in the first lace. After he killed his wife he thought because he didn’t get her help, he basically killed his children. all the thoughts piled up which made him want to forget it, thus making him create an alternative world where he was the hero.
1.2.2. How production techniques influence how the audience ‘views’ this relationship:
1.2.2.1. The first time we are introduced to Doloris she is in their old apartment, and she moves quite slowly and she has a quieter voice. the camera shots are at most times at a medium shot, and when she moves around they do a tracking shot so you feel like you are Teddy and watching her from his perspective. There is a lot of cuts from on thing she says into another which makes you a little bit scared of her, so the next times she shows up, they have the same mysterious and scary lighting, so you tend to associate fear with her character. you also see her from his perspective and also them together like you were a third wheeler, so you can see their love was intimate before she died.
1.3. Relationship: Between teddy Daniels and Rachael Laeddis (daughter)
1.3.1. Outcome of this relationship:
1.3.1.1. We see that he loved his daughter very much, hence why he was in all of her dreams - even though he didn’t know if was his daughter. he had her mentally stuck in his brain, so in his dream he would see her and see her wet, which is because she was drowned, and this helps him realize the truth at the end of the movie.
1.3.2. How production techniques influence how the audience ‘views’ this relationship:
1.3.2.1. They usually show Rachael in a medium shot so you see that she is a little girl. They usually yet again do a tracking shot so you are somewhat getting the view from Teddy’s perspective. At sometimes they have her in slow motion so you can see all of the expressions in her face to show she’s upset (because her mother killed her) and she usually shows us with Doloris, her mother, but teddy doesn’t understand the connection between them yet. They usually have the same lighting for Doloris and Rachael so you can tell that he is having a dream or its an illusion. But whilst saying that, Doloris and Rachael’s lighting differ a little bit because they want you to associate Doloris which fear, but Rachael with somewhat fear but sympathy as well.
1.4. Relationship: Between Teddy Daniels and George Noyce
1.4.1. Outcome of this relationship:
1.4.1.1. As George nonce is one of his fellow inmates, when he talks to him as teddy Daniels and George says that he was the reasons for the scars on his face, it help him realize that he was the dangerous patient that they had all been talking about. it ties some things together for him at the end when they are explaining the story to him.
1.4.2. How production techniques influence how the audience ‘views’ this relationship:
1.4.2.1. The scene that George and teddy are in together is very dimly lit, which with what has happened in the past for this movie, usually installs fear in you and makes you think something important or scary will happen. in this scene they show both Teddy and George in close up shots so you can look at the details in their faces and expressions. The scene usually just has only one of the actors on screen at one time so it feels like you are an outsider looking in and also a somewhat point of view shot. It makes you scared of the relationship between the two alongside with the dialogue they speak, so you understand that they do have some history, even thought Teddy isn’t aware of it.
1.5. Relationship: Between Teddy Daniels and dr. John Cawley
1.5.1. Outcome of this relationship:
1.5.1.1. As teddy knew he was a well respected doctor who knew what he was talking about, I feel like when he told him the truth it made it a bit easier for him to believe, but also whilst knowing he was a very smart man, it made him believe chuck that they were trying to keep him here and drive him insane.
1.5.2. How production techniques influence how the audience ‘views’ this relationship:
1.5.2.1. At the start of the movie he is usually not associated with many feelings besides that Teddy thinks he can trust him. Throughout the movie you start to assume he is a bad guy so each new time he is introduced he is in slightly more suspicious lighting and from different camera angles. By the end of the movie he is in a brighter light and you come to the realization he was a good guy because he is Teddy’s doctor and he has given him all these chances so they have him standing in a lighter almost white light to show good.
2. Key Events/Moments
2.1. Teddy heading and arriving at Shutter Island
2.1.1. When the film opens, “Teddy” is on a boat headed for Shutter Island. The room Teddy is in has manacles and shackles hanging in it – restraints for the prisoners being brought to the island, and likely where Teddy/Andrew was held before the role play experiment began. As for when Teddy “resets” his memory?
2.1.2. Still on the boat up on the deck ‘Teddy’ meets “Chuck,” his new partner on the case to which they’ve both been assigned. They are U.S. Marshals sent to the Shutter Island hospital to investigate the whereabouts of the missing Rachael Solondo, a psychopathic patient who murdered her own children.
2.1.3. When entering the institution there are armed guards that are watching them closely – Teddy even comments on all the firepower – and then admit you didn’t know what it all meant on the first viewing. Teddy is asked to surrender his weapon
2.2. Graveyard Scene
2.2.1. Teddy and Chuck leave the hospital grounds and explore the island, ending up at the cemetery. The wind and rain is picking up and they find sanctuary in a cemetery vault. Chuck asks Teddy to level with him; he suspects that the last patient told him something while he was getting her a water, and Teddy finally shows him the notebook, and it says “RUN.” Teddy finally explains that he was trying to get assigned to an investigation of the mental hospital for some time. He says that a man named Laeddis was a maintenance worker at the apartment they lived in and he was the arsonist who set the fire that killed his wife. He got off on a technicality, but later was caught when he killed some other people. He was sent to the mental hospital here. But when Teddy looked into it, there was no paperwork at all for Laeddis, and he suspects that there is some greater conspiracy going on. He mentions the Nazi experiments and wonders if his own government is involved in psychotropic drug research as well. He tells Chuck that he came across a prisoner by the name of George Noyce who was actually sent here some time before and he was the one who clued Teddy in that there was some crazy research going on here.
2.3. Doctor explaining that Teddy is insane
2.3.1. Dr. Cawley tells Teddy that he is a patient at the hospital, and has been for two years. Teddy doesn’t believe him, and says that he is a U.S. Marshal. The doctor says he was one, but after his breakdown two years ago he was sent here. He broke down when his kids were killed. Teddy says he doesn’t have any kids. Dr. Cawley says they have been trying to use the new drug therapy to help him and have been trying to do everything they could to treat him. Dr. Cawley tells him that he has been one of the most dangerous patients they have had and that there are some who want to lobotomize him to make him manageable. The whole last couple of days was an attempt to do a massive role-play to get him to finally realize the truth. He calls in Dr. Sheehan, the doctor from the beginning that went on vacation right after his patient Rachel disappeared. The door opens and it is ….Chuck! He is a psychiatrist who agreed to play along with Teddy’s fantasy and to keep tabs on him. Dr. Cawley tells Teddy that his real name is Laeddis, and he shows him on a chalkboard that his full name and Laeddis’s are an anagram; that is, all the letters in his name can be rearranged to spell Laeddis’ full name. The same thing with his wife’s name and Rachel’s. Teddy constructed the new name Teddy Daniels to create distance from his real name.
3. How characters develop and change (their decisions, motivations, what influences them)
3.1. Teddy Daniels (Andrew Laediss)
3.1.1. Teddy Daniels is the main subject of the film. Teddy portrays at the start of the girl that the island is the subject, yet not till the very end to views realize that the island isn’t the subject, it is Teddy. Teddy’s character becomes a lot more anxious throughout the film because he begins getting flash backs and dream sequences reminding him of his troubled past that he is so desperately trying to forget. Because of these mentally scarring events that have been a part of Teddies life, he starts to reflect his real personality and identity. Teddy begins t learn of the corruption on the island. He is curious of the experiments that are being carried out on the island. This develops a lot of motivation for his character and influenced him to stay on the island to find out the truth. He discovers the truth and ttys to leave the island. He becomes not only anxious but determined to get off the island as he believes that they are trapping him there. It started to prove that Teddy was coming insane. Not till the end of the film was is shown that he was always insane. He becomes recless as the doctors began explaining the truth about his identity and past. Not wanting to belief a bit of it, he pushes away his memories all together and focus’ on being the person he believes he is ‘Teddy Daniels’. It becomes aware to the audience that the headaches that Teddy suffers throughout the film are actually from his withdrawals from his medication which he suffers when he creates his alternate personality and gives everyone “roles to play” in his fantasy world. Teddy Daniels whose real name is Andrew Laediss is criminally insane and is permanently haunted by his past. So he creates personalities for everyone at the hospital and he goes about his life pretending he is someone else to escape the truth. At the end of the film, Dr. John Cawley and Chucks work to try and get Teddys memory back is received as not effective and it is not clear to the audience whether this is true or if Teddy purposely decided to pretend he had gone back into his fantasy world in order to get his memory wiped. His last line in the film was “which would be worse - to live as a monster? Or to die as a good man?”
3.2. Chuck Aule
3.2.1. Chuck appears to have a very similar personality right throughout the film. He is presented as a calm and caring guy who follows Teddy’s lead. Chuck is Andrews (Teddy’s) personal psychiatrist though in Teddys imaginary world he believes that Chuck is his partner, there to do the same job he is doing. His job in the film was to become friends with Teddy in Teddy’s fantasy world so that he could keep an eye on him. Chuck’s character changes slightly towards the end of the film when it becomes more obvious that he is trying to protect Teddy by being less lenient. He disappears towards the end of the film when doctors start trying to slowly convince Teddy that what he believes is his world is actually imaginary. This is when it is reviled to Teddy that Chuck is not intact his partner but his personal psychiatrist. Teddy tries to confront Chuck which ends in him trying to physically harm Chuck but they are able to calm Teddy down. His job motivates Chuck because he can see how ill Teddy is and he wants to help.
3.3. Dr. John Cawley
3.3.1. Dr. John Cawley is the person in charge of Shutter island. Throughout the whole start of the film he plays along with Teddy’s imaginary world. Dr. Cawley has tried previously to break Teddy of his imaginary world but has never been able to. The film is his last chance to break him otherwise further orders will have to take place as Teddy is becoming dangerous to other patients and to the doctors. Dr. Cawley played a really important roll in convincing the audience of Teddy’s fantasy world by playing along with the script until the end when he decides that its enough and convinces Teddy that he doesn’t have a partner and he never did. Also that he has been on this island for 2 years and he isn’t getting off it. This is when it comes clear to the audience. Dr. Cawley along with Chuck convince Teddy of his past and of his identity.
3.4. Rachel Solando
3.4.1. Rachel Solando is one of the fictional characters that Teddy imagines during his fantasy world. Her name is an anagram for Dolores Chanal who is Teddy’s wife. Teddy explains that Rachel Solando drowned her kids in the lake outside her house and pretends that she is one of the patients at the island though he uses her identity to cover up his wives. Rachel appears twice throughout the film, both as different characters. Firstly at the beginning of the film when they believe she has gone missing from the island and is found. He talks to her and she says “I’ve missed you, where have you been baby” sounding a lot like Teddy’s wife. In this scene it appears that Teddy plays along with it as if he truly missed her too yet to the viewer it is believed that they have never met. This is because he has imagined her to be like his wife but not to be connected to him in that way. The second him Rachel appears in the film she appears as a different actress and is in a cave by the side of the island. She tells him that he is never going to leaves the island and convinces him that she is not mental. She also tells him that the drugs and the food and the cigarettes that he had been eating/smoking were all actually medicated and that the doctors were trying to keep him on the island. This was all true yet the viewer didn’t know that they were doing it because Teddy belonged on the island. Rachel Solando played a big part in Teddy’s imaginary world and Dr Cawley had to convince Teddy at the end of the film that she was in fact a fictional character representing his wife in a different person.