Analyis of sound in Inception and Shutter Island

Inception is a 2010 British-American action thriller by Christian Nolan. I will be analysing the first 2 minutes of the opening sequence. The opening sequence begins with sound fading in at 3 seconds whilst "legendary pictures" label appears. The sound begins mysteriously and deep but then gradually builds up pace for the climax that consists of waves hitting into each other.The music remains cut whilst the camera focuses of the ambient sound of crashing waves. The camera then frames a character arising from the sea. The dark and gloomy contrapuntal music begins again when the character lifts his head to see his surroundings. The music is contrapuntal as the view of the sunny beach and children playing contrasts with the spooky and mysterious music. Ambient sound of children laughter and playing begins whilst the audience see the point of view of the character laying in the sea. When the camera cuts to the scene of characters deliberating, in a low-key lighting dining room their is music playing continuously in the background. The slow pace music is parallel as the props such as guns and bullets correspond with the suspicious background music. The slight noise of the non-diagetic music maintains the continuity and keeps the viewers on edge. The dialogue is spoken over the music but at the music is sustained to a lower level in order to maintain clarity for the audience.

Shutter Island is a psychological thriller, released February 2010. The film is rated 15 as it contains strong language, bloody injury and disturbing images. Music from the Motion Picture was released on February 2, 2010, day before the movie was initially released, this was produced by Rhino Records. The film has no original score. Instead, Scorsese's longtime collaborator Robbie Robertson created an ensemble of previously recorded material to use in the film. Two final discs of music was featured throughout the final film.

I will be analysing the different sounds used within the opening thriller of Shutter Island. At 20 seconds sound begins to fade in, a mysterious and dark sound, at this point the title appears and the music is just suttle. By keeping the sound suttle, it builds up suspense to whats going to happen next, making the audience ask enigmas at the beginning of the sequence. After a minute passes we hear ambient sound of splashing water, we don't see anything as the screen is foggy, a ship then fades in making the sound of the waves stronger setting the scene more. Diolgue is used within the two minutes of the opening sequence, the main character (Leonardo Dicaprio) is shown throwing up, this is diegetic sound we also hear him speak to himself, as well as non-diegetic sound in the background, the sound is slow and quiet, we hear a fade in and fade out sound as if the sound is the horn of the ship. Hearing these noises sets the scene and creates realism to the opening sequence, the horn and the sound of the waves help this.

Both action and psychological thriller use the micro area of sound very differently to express their plot and portray emotions for the audience. Although the films have used different techniques, Inception and Shutter Island restrict their sound at the start to slowly build up pace and keep the audience focused on the narrative. The sound begins very early in Inception and remains their throughout the two minutes. On the other hand, the sound in Shutter island takes longer to settle in, making the anticipation for the audience longer.