The Island

The Island is a thriller that follows its protagonist, Lincoln Six Echo. Who is just like
everyone else hes waiting to go to the Island, the only place left in the world to actually
live a life. Thousands of people stay at a facility waiting to go to the Island. It all sounds
like paradise, but Lincoln Six Echo soon discovers that theres actually a sinister purpose
going on at that facility and that he must escape but not before stopping the sinister
plan.
Within the opening two and half minutes, mise-en-scene is carefully chosen to align the
audience with its characters by deceiving them into thinking that the setting is Utopian.
The director, Michael Bay, makes use of high key lighting and natural colours to provoke
a paradisal illusion for the audience from 0.00 till 1.24. However, at 1.24 there is a heavy
contrast in lighting as it is significantly dimmed with blue undertones. The colour blue is
often associated with depth and stability. It symbolises trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence,
intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Therefore, despite the dramatic juxtaposition, the
facade of a Utopia is still present. Howbeit so, the dim lighting overpowers the mans face
which is proleptic to his antagonistic characteristics and introduces the sense of mystery
adhering the traditional thriller conventions.
The focus on dim lighting follows until 2.08. At twenty-three seconds into the feature, a
cloth is placed in front of Scarlett Johanssons face and subtly obscures her face as she
fades away from the camera. The overexposure of artificial bright lighting which
reinforces the theme of mystery. The frame of the camera following 1.45 to 2.08 reinforces
the theme of mystery by resisting to reveal the antagonists identity. The distortion of his
face is reflective of his corruption throughout the film and suggests his status as a threat to
the protagonist.
Another shift in colour is encompassed throughout the Mise-en-scene from 2.24 to 2.33 to
the colour white. The colour white is an inherently positive colour, associated with purity,
virginity, innocence, light, goodness, heaven, safety, brilliance, illumination,
understanding, cleanliness, faith, beginnings, sterility, spirituality, possibility, humility,
sincerity, protection, softness, and perfection. All these qualities reflect the man centre to
the frame is the protagonist. Furthermore, the colour white is denotative of a clinical
atmosphere. Therefore, elicits the clinics control of reality as the shift in tone happens
within the protagonists dream sequence. Moreover, the chaos in, the interval of the dream
and waking up initiates the feeling of suspense which adheres to Alfred Hitchcocks
thriller conventions.
Michael Bay incorporates the use of a fisheye lens from 0.06 to 0.12 in order to evoke an
atmosphere of a dream sequence to foreground the absence of reality. In addition, the
imitation of heaven further emphasises this sense of unrealism. This can also be
interpreted as proleptic imagery for the hypothesis that reality is being hidden under the
facade of utopia. The cinematic zoom shoots from 0.12 to 1.03 reenact those used within
documentaries in order to reveal to the audience the idyllic natural scenery which lures the
audience into a false sense of security. A focus of an angelic looking woman dressed in
white with blonde hair is brought to the foreground from 0.34 to 1.19 with the use of
medium close-ups.
The constant shift from medium close-ups to close-ups elicits a sense of mystery which
adheres to Alfred Hitchcocks thriller conventions. Bay incorporates an aerial shot of a
speed boat central to the frame in order to depict the isolation of the characters which is in
indicative of their vulnerability. In accordance to the rocking of the boat, Bay encompasses
a shaky cam in order to align the audience with the characters on board the boat and evoke
suspense.
The shot-reverse-shot generates the effect of the point of view, which in turn makes the
shots personal. The camera then expands from the aerial shot to a pan shot of the boat
which accentuates the sense of tranquillity and vulnerability. Despite the peaceful and
idyllic atmosphere in 1.17, another shift incorporates with an extreme close up of eyes in
order to provoke suspense and tension as the eyes are ridden with fear.
Bay incorporates sound within his opening scene from 0.00 to 1.24 with a tranquil non-
diegetic composition, with a holy choir singing to evoke an atmosphere of a divine idyllic
Utopian setting. However, a shift of tone appears as a synchronous diegetic sound of
Scarlett Johansson struggling which simultaneously is decelerated in order to accentuate
the sense of trepidation. From 1.45 to 2.08 another shift is encompassed as the intense and
booming voice of the antagonist is revealed to the audience in order to highlight his pre-
eminence. The absence of sound from 2.24 to 2.33 foregrounds the potency of distress in
reality which contrasts heavily with that of the tumultuous dream world.