Development of Ideas and Structure in Moving Image 02/11/10

Story Development:

‘Story Development: Three-Act Structure.’

TASK:

‘Identify 3 Act Structure in a recent film.’

“Every movie needs to have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order” (Jean-Luc Godard). Films have a 3 Act Structure, which can be played around with. In more complex films the structure can be non linear e.g. Pulp Fiction. Shutter Island is a psychological thriller intended for the older (15+) audience. The film is a mystery that unravels as it goes on, leaving the ending ambiguous for your own interpretation. The meaning expresses what mental illnesses are truly like. Even though we can’t be sure that Teddy is in fact ‘insane’ he experiences the feelings of someone with a mental illness. The message is understood through the other characters, such as the real ‘Rachel.’ She states, when declared as insane, anything you say against it just proves their statement. It is a very lonely state of mind. Act I: U.S Marshall Edward ‘Teddy’ Daniels travels with his new partner, Chuck, to Shutter Island, a Mental Institution for the Criminally Insane, to find a missing patient. The truth is hard to come by and Teddy is told by a patient to ‘RUN,’ but he aims to find Andrew Laeddis, a man who caused a fire that killed his Wife. He suspects they are conducting experiments on the patients’ minds. Teddy dreams about a mysterious girl and his Wife who tells him Laeddis is on the Island. The missing patient is found and returned back to the institute. As the opportunity arises Teddy and Chuck enter Ward C to uncover Shutter Island’s secrets. Act II: Teddy finds George Noyce, who reveals the experiments that go on. Noyce blames Teddy for everything and tells him he can trust no one. Teddy tries to get to the lighthouse but looses Chuck. He then finds the real missing patient hiding in a cave in the cliff. She reveals that they experiment on patients to create ‘ghosts,’ men with no feelings, and now Teddy is trapped here. When Teddy asks the Doctor about his partner he says he came alone. Act III: Teddy makes his way to the lighthouse, his hallucinations getting worse. When inside he only finds the Doctor sitting at a desk. The doctor tells Teddy that he is Laeddis, he killed his wife because she drowned his children and he invented this persona because he couldn’t live with the truth. Chuck is his primary psychiatrist, he has been a patient for 24 months; they let him play out this life in hope he would admit reality, otherwise permanent measures will be taken. Finally Teddy accepts their ‘truth.’ He then talks to Chuck about uncovering the secrets of Shutter Island. Chuck signals to the doctor that he has relapsed. And he is lead to the lighthouse just after saying, “which is worse, to live as a monster or die as a good man?”

Pre Production: Character Design

TASK:

‘Select a Character from TV or Film and produce an illustrated guide, including the 3 Key Areas.’

Edward ‘Teddy’ Daniels is the Protagonist character of the film “Shutter Island” (2010). Martin Scorsese directed the film, aimed at age 15+ audiences, containing violence and is a psychological thriller. A Protagonist is the main character in a story and is the one to experience the conflict. There are three important aspects of a character that build up the character’s profile, appearance, action and interaction. In contrast, the protagonist does not have to be “good.” Using special effects to create the notion of hallucinations, flashbacks and dreams reveals a lot of, at first, confusing information but continues so to better understand the film. Daniels experiences all aspects of the film; the message is expressed through him. He illustrates the point of view the mentally ill. However, we don’t know if Teddy is actually ill. But even if he isn’t, the people around him all cause him to feel how one would who suffers a mental disorder. He feels isolated, confused, irritable, and unsure whom to trust. We experience everything through his eyes, receive conflicting information and relate to how he is feeling, as we are tricked ourselves. The film is set in 1954, a time where mental illnesses weren’t widely understood and some thought that ‘fiddling’ with the brain could cure it. All aspects of the film builds up an understanding of what it could possibly be like living in this time with a mental disorder. I produced a stop motion animation as an illustrative guide, but the video has been distorted and blurred during conversion, so I also uploaded screen shots of the important photographs from the animation.