Shutter: context and navigation.

Shutter / 2008 / Masayuki Ochiai / Regency Enterprises, New Regency Pictures, Vertigo Entertainment, Ozla Pictures /85 min (USA:90 min / unrated version).

Also see: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482599/.

Due to the length of the film and and the instances not only of Polaroid use but its mention within the dialogue, I have decided to split the posts, starting with a brief context concerning the film and a look at the navigational interface (or paratext) of the DVD release. if you have any comments on the film - and Polaroid use pertaining to the film - please feel free to leave a comment.

Shutter is remake of a Thai movie directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom (2004), staring Joshua Jackson (Benjamin Shaw), Rachael Taylor(Jane Shaw), Bruno David Denman (Bruno), John Hensley (Adam), Maya Hazen (Seiko Nakamura), and Megumi Okina (Megumi Tanaka).

While the film is not excellent - especially compared to other films of the genre and which contain Polaroids (see: The Doll Master, Tell Me Something, Ring, Ring 2) -  it is interesting for its use and contextualisation of Polaroid photography (and, indeed, photography in general) in relation to Japanese spirit photography. Indeed, such photography constitutes a specific genre (for more on this see my previous posts: Tom Gunning. Phantom Images and Modern Manifestations. and Photography & Culture. Volume 1, Issue 1.).

The use of photographic images within film DVD packaging is quite common, both within the design packaging itself and the navigational interface (see the paratext section for more examples). Indeed, as the use of programs such as instantizer testify (also see my previous post Andrew Armano. Instant Karma.) the employment of fabricated Polaroid borders is increasingly common , and not only in film.

The major difference presented within the navigational interface for Shutter is between the 'main menu'  and the 'scene selection' presentations. While the 'main menu' 'Polaroids' are splattered with blood, which confers a certain degree of physicality to the presented images, all those presented within the 'scene selection' pages are without - they are a monotone white. There is no drop-shadow to indicate a degree of physicality on either type. Further, it should be noted that none of these borders show evidence of the mottled border that is characteristic of the Polaroid. Indeed, beyond the the positioning of the blood on the 'main menu' images, the main comparison to draw with the integral Polaroid - Image System / Spectra more so than 600 / SX70 - are the border around each image and image dimension itself.

Also worth noting is the fact that a number of cameras are shown in the images: a digital camera in the image for 6, a Polaroid camera in the image for 12, and  a digital SLR for 15.