Rules and Different Shot Types

180 degrees rule:
A basic film editing guideline. It basically states that two characters in the same scene should have the same left/right relationship to each other. There's an "imaginary" line which can't be crossed, however if the camera does pass the line it is called "crossing the line." A new shot from the other side is called a Reverse Angle.

Shot reverse shot:
A film technique when one character is shown looking at another character, and then the other character is shown looking "back." Basically alternating shots.

Match-on-action: When action shown in the first shot is repeated in some fashion in the second shot.

Location Scouting

Eaton Park :


For the meeting between the two gangs in the deserted park, this will be filmed at night time. We chose Eaton park because we can film at nighttime and it has a circular building (shown on the photo) which can be used to create a claustrophobic atmosphere, and it's a spacious area. The tree's and columns surrounding the building will help create shadows and darkness which will create a sense of mystery and a convey a feeling of a thriller film. The scenery surrounding the building is also quite symmetrical, which helps give our film more style and authenticity.



Lucy's House (Living Room):


For the flash back scenes of Rex's wife talking to him on the phone. We chose this location because it is a good homely setting, perfect for a home call scene. Also, we do not need permission to film there, and it is easy to get to. The wall paper in the background also quite suits the theme of a thriller, as the colour of the deep red connotes mystery and love. The wall paper is also stylish, and the colours blend in together.




St. Benedict's Street:

For the chase scene between the two gangs at the end and beginning of thriller film. We chose this location because it is an urban setting, but not as busy as the city centre so you wont have people ruing the shots by walking into them. The buildings there such as the pub photograph appear seedy and therefore create a feeling of underbelly of the city. Also, there are alleyways leading off from the street, we can get shots using vanishing points, and we can use alleys in the chase scene to create claustrophobia.

Our Script for Thriller

For Park Scene:

Ricky: (To Charlie) What's gone wrong eh? We need to sort this out.
Charlie: I don't know, it's not my problem, I thought you were the one in charge of this.
Matt: Look, there's no use fighting, we just want the money.
Lil' Bob: Just let Rex sort this one out.
(Car pulls up, Rex arrives)
Rex: What the bleedin' hell have you done? (Rex uses violence) I'm going to make you all pay for this; you've blown the whole deal.
(Phone rings, Rex leaves)

Possible scene, phone call.

Kate: Where the hell are you Jimmy? You were meant to be gome hours ago, I thought you were at a business meeting.
Rex: Sorry babe, things look to have gone wrong.
Kate: Well, you'd better hurry up, I don't like waiting.
(Kate hangs up)

Shooting Schedule for Thriller

Every Wednesday Evening - To shoot the deserted park scene. Will take about 3 sessions to fully shoot for this scene. Will be shot at 7.00pm
Within these scenes we shall be filming the meeting between the two gangs and the phone conversation between Rex and his wife. It will most likely take us around an hour to shoot each session. We planned to shoot at this time to get the right night setting, as we want to film when it is darker to give of a sense of mystery.

Every Sunday Morning - To shoot chase scene, will again take about 3 sessions to shoot. Will be filmed at around 7.00am
Within these sessions we will shoot the chase between the two gangs, which will involve plenty of action and fast paced editing shots. We planned to film at this time to get the early light, therefore you will be able to see plenty of action happening.

Possibly Thursday Evenings if necessary, this will be in case we don't get all the filming done for the gang scene, and in the evening so we get the same tone of darkness.

Character Profiles

The male protagonist in our group’s thriller is more of an anti-hero, like in film noirs. He has a double identity; leading two lives- one as a regular business man for IBM with a wife and a good successful life ahead of him, the other with a slutty promiscuous girlfriend, and as a leader of a corrupt drug gang known as ‘Speed’. To his wife, he is Jimmy Brown, but in his other life he is known as Rex Reynolds. The actor playing this role will need to be able to act as two different characters easily, making an obvious contrast between the two. He will need to be dressed smartly in a suit and shirt.Kate Brown is Jimmy Brown’s wife. She is 25, has blonde curly hair, and suspects nothing of her husband’s 2nd identity. Although Kate appears to be fairly boring as she is just a housewife, she is quite glamorous, and the actress playing her should reflect this, whilst making sure the audience know that she has no idea of her husband’s two identities.Ricky and Bob (sometimes called ‘Lil Bob’) are Rex Reynolds’ sidekicks who stand by him no matter what. They also dress up smartly like Rex, and are just below Rex in the hierarchy of the ‘Speed Gang’. They need to appear tough and unafraid, as well as following what ever Rex tells them. They are between the ages of 18 and 25, and don’t seem to be particularly clever or intelligent.The Speed gang’s rivals are Ecstasy. The three key members of this gang are Charlie, who is 26, and Matt and Simon, who are both 22. The gang are meant to seem like the “bad guys” and are a lot less smart and well dressed as the Speed gang, and are also made to seem less clever, more into violence and even more corrupt, which the actors playing these characters will have to emphasise.
The reason why we have the main character Rex leading a double life, is because it enables us to create and induce mystery into the thriller, which will allow to explore the theme of lies and characters decieving eachother. Therefore, we gain even more ideas about what the thriller genre is about.

My Final Perfume Advertisement

The first thing you notice when looking at my perfume advert is the hands clasped in the middle. I did this as its a signifier of love and relationships, yet there faces aren't actually revealed so it connotes a feeling of mystery. The photo in the background is of a cathedral and a magnificent tree covering it, which overall gives of a very classy and beautiful look. Again, this links in my theme of love. I used a close-up shot of the hands, as I wanted them to be the main focus of the advertisement, and I used a low-angle shot for the photo of the building and tree so it looks overwhelming and powerful. I'm linking my perfume advert in with the film "The Notebook," because the theme of my perfume advert is traditional love, and "The Notebook," is revolved around this idea. The two hands joining are also a reference to the two main characters of "The Notebook," as there meant to be in love with each other.


Originally, this perfume advert was meant to turn out differently. For example, the typography “Simplicity” was meant to be of both different style and font colour. For instance, it was meant to be of the faintest colour blue transparent against the background, and then it was meant to be positioned on the top. Then the perfume bottle is meant to be on the right hand side. However, I couldn't change these factors as the layers on Photoshop didn’t save properly so I was unable to change this factor. But the angle of the bottle would be at the audiences eye level, so it's clear what to look out for when buying the perfume advert. It would also of been a close-up shot. The typography at the top would be at a low angle, to make it seem more powerful, but the style of the writing would also have a "melting" effect, to make it appear to be seeping into the background.

The demographic classification of this perfume advert is for B’s, and the social value group is probably "Strivers" as social climbing is probably important to these types of stereotypical women, yet at the same time holding onto traditional values is
important. The reason why this is clearly important for people who will be attracted to this type of perfume is that my advert is a reference to the traditional love within the film “The Notebook.” This is a reference to “The Notebook,” because the scene with the buildings and trees give a very traditional value to the bottle. The symbol of the trees and the colour of the leafs also give of a feeling of winter and autumn.

Props for our Thriller Production

· Blinds for the house scene when wife calls Rex up while he’s at the meeting because slattered blinds are a key thriller signifier. We are also hoping to use white slattered blinds, so its more likely to create shadows.
· Suits for the men to wear , such as dark colours like black to connote feeling of mystery and it fits in with the night scene at the park. Wearing suits is also typical of the thriller genre. We also want the dark colours to fit in with the night scene and blend in so the men don't stand out,
· Cigarettes to be used as a thriller signifier. (Mainly for Rex, for the panning shot when he is shown stubbing the cigarette on the ground. This is a known key thriller signifier, and it gives us the ability to use panning up shot along the male protagonist body.
· Guns (fake) to be used in the chase scene, as a gun is what is used to kill one of the members of the gang "Ecstasy." This will create a cliff hanger at the end of our introduction, and create a more tense atmosphere.
· Fan for in the house scene as it is also a known thriller signifier.
· Wife to be wearing stylish clothes. Red to connote danger and passion, and also to add to her sexuality. Wearing red clothes also connotes love, and the wife will also be wearing red lipstick to match, to add to the affect of her persona.
· Binoculars for the beginning shot, so it looks more mysterious and it uses special effects, making the scene looking more technical.
· Dark glasses to show authority and is again typical of a thriller film.

Synopsis of Thriller Film

Our overall synopsis of our beginning to a thriller production is that we are going to start of with a long shot of a street which looks as if you’re looking through binoculars. The shot won’t last very long, around 3 seconds. Then they’ll be jazzy music to start of with which at first will be quiet, then as it grows louder all of a sudden you see about five guys sprint across the screen as there being chased by guns. You will also hear sound effects of guns and will be shot in the early hours of the mornings. Finally, the scene will suddenly cut out and flash back in time to a gathering of men deserted in a park. However, the jazzy music will continue on.
The next shot will start of with a Pan, moving from a high angle to a low angle. As a thriller Signifier, you see a man stubbing out a cigarette at his feet as the camera zooms up and then out to view all the men in the “meeting,” which will be around 5 altogether. The music will continue on playing, but will be quietened down in parts so you can hear the dialogue. The whole scene in the park will include plenty of mystery being created. For instance, the storyline is that the men are discussing a drug deal which is illegal which is why there meeting in a park at nigh time. They’ll be plenty of conflict between the men as they get angry and frustrated at each other. For example, they’ll use threats and violence toward everyone. Different men will also be shown arriving and driving away at the scene in cars, which is another thriller signifier. Also, within the meeting, mystery will be created as one of the guys will receive a phone call from who we learn is his wife. His wife doesn’t know what he’s involved in and thinks he’s at work at a normal business meeting, so it’s clear that he’s lying. The wife also calls him a different name from what everyone else calls him. During this shot the music will stop, then re-start again. They’ll be flash back shots of the wife sitting alone at home. The scene will then suddenly flash back to the beginning shot of the same street and the audience get to witness the chase between the men which will be filmed in the city. Overall, the film will include plenty of action and create mystery as we’re left with a lot of un-answered questions.
The actual film synopsis is that there are actually two gangs with three men in each. One is called “Speed,” and one is called “Ecstasy.” (Purposely named after drugs.) The two gangs join together though to arrange a major drug deal involving heroine, but the gang “Speed” goes behind “Ecstasy’s” back and gets the drugs without them, which is why there’s a chase scene between the two gangs, in which one of members of “Speed,” gets shot. The main leader of Speed is called Rex and is the husband of the wife who calls him during the meeting in the park. However, she calls him a different name “Jimmy” because it turns out that Rex is leading a double life and told his wife a fake name and identity, so she can’t find out who he really is. The film also involves Rex having another girlfriend. So overall there are two different storylines going on. The film ends with Speed actually killing all the members of Ecstasy in order to keep the drugs for themselves so they can sell them for money, but the film also ends in a cliff hanger with Rex being shown at gunpoint by a person who isn’t identified. Perhaps it was his wife? Or a member of Ecstasy who they thought they killed, but actually turned out to be alive?

Meetings Schedule for Thriller Film

(For meetings in school to discuss out thriller and plan when we can all next shoot.)

Week 1 –
Monday – Period 2
Wednesday – Period 2
Thursday – Period 3
Friday – Period 3
Week 2 –
Monday – Period 5
Thursday – Period 3
Thursday - Period 5

We have planned these meeting schedules during school time so it is easy for me and Nena to get together and discuss where we are going to film our thriller, and what we are going to film. During these meetings we are planning to discuss details of our thriller such as what props we are going to use, who we shall gain for our cast, and most importantly our script.

Film Noir - The Blue Dahlia (1946)

I chose to watch "The Blue Dahlia," by Raymond Chandler because its actually a thriller film itself, therefore it relates to the work we have been doing in class. Raymond Chandler himself is very famous for creating thriller stories.
I overall found the film very interesting, and the plot basically revolves around the death of a woman named Helen. Before Helen's death she admits that alcoholism caused the death of hers and a guy named George's son.
Within the opening credits, the mise-en-scene is black, with simple white typography for the credits. This has an almost classic effect, and obviously relates to the Noir black and white colouring.
The shot used is a simple mid-shot of the writing. Within the opening scenes there's a great close-up shot of a sign saying "Hollywood," which is a reference to the Hollywood movie scene, and signifies richness and fame. We soon gather throughout the story that most of the characters are actually rich themselves, and we can tell this from the there dress code, which is mostly very formal and glamorous wear. Also, there are classic symbols such as both genders drinking and smoking which shows of how much money they have. There's also a scene which involves a dinner party, which again indicates the type of rich life style they have. Therefore, this gives the film a very classic effect. The men and women are also very stereotypical of there genders, as the men are always seen drinking, smoking and very masculine. The women are also perceived as sex symbols, and yet almost innocent at the same time. For instance, there always shown dressed in expensive dresses and speaking in a propper manor, yet there never shown as being in charge. It's a very true picture of how life was among the rich in the 1940's.
There are also plenty of thriller signifiers used, such as there are plenty of scenes shot in the rain, which is a well known thriller signifier, as it gives of a sense of mystery. The music played throughout is also quite jazzy, and probably was the type of music people liked to listen to in the 1940's. Also, there's one scene which involves a window being blown open by the wind at night time, which connotes mystery and intensity. The types of shots used mainly involve plenty of mid-shots, especially really effective ones of people being shot while driving cars, as you can see the background moving behind them. This also allows you to see there facial expressions clearly and whats happening within the scene. There's also a nice over the head shots of the city behind them, which gives the film style and poise.
Overall, a very well made film by Raymond Chandler, which keeps you engaged with the film throughout.