Shooting maps for our thriller film.

I made these shooting maps to help us know where to position the camera, people and props in our filming. It took a long while to make but ended up being very useful as we used it when we filmed our thriller.

Poster Analysis: Double Indemnity

Below is a poster for a film-noir called ‘Double Indemnity’ (1944) which I have analysed to get an idea of what thriller signifiers old film-noir films included.



This poster is different to modern thriller film posters. This is due to the fact of it being all in bright colours. However, the poster still includes thriller signifiers that are present in modern thriller posters. The poster being in bright colours helps attract the audiences’ attention.

The man in the poster is wearing a suit, which can be a thriller signifier due to the fact in most film-noirs, suits are worn. This gives the character the connotation of being professional. Also, the suit being dark (black) may indicate that the character is evil.

The anchor on the poster that says “from the moment they met it was murder” indicates that the film includes murder but also that there is lying and deceit in the couple’s relationship (the couple on the poster). This helps add mystery and intrigue to the film as it makes the audience think about it. Mystery is a thriller signifier that is common in most thriller genre films.

The man holding on to the woman they way he is in the poster suggests he is in control. This indicates that he is the dominant character which means the film is likely to have a male protagonist; male protagonists are a significant thriller signifier.

The man in the poster is holding a gun which suggests there is use of weapons and violence in the film. This could be argued to be a thriller signifier as many thrillers include these characteristics. The man is holding the gun behind the woman’s back which implies that she could be unaware of what he is using it for. This helps add mystery to the poster and gets the audience thinking.

The film does well in attracting the audiences’ attention and then showing them that the film is about murder, deceit and crime; this may then appeal to some of the audience, particularly males due to the use of guns.

What makes a Successful Thriller film

A thriller film needs to incorporate into it:

Readable Narrative: with twists and turns, such as a cliff hanger. It also has to keep the audience of the edge of their seat engaged in the film. It needs to involve mystery and thriller signifiers.

Variety of shot types: For example, extreme close-ups are often used in thriller films to create mystery and to not give away who the person is.

Interesting lighting: Such as chiaroscuro lighting, or black and white, or clinical bright lit settings for a modern thriller.

Mise-en-scene: The surroundings and settings should fit the style and theme of the thriller film.

Originality withing the thriller: Should challenge the conventions of other thrillers, or a 'typical' thriller.

Filming: Should follow match on action technique, shot reverse shot technique and the 180 degree rule.

Editing: Needs to fit the theme of the film, maybe black and white if it is a film noir.

Characters: The main hero in a thriller normally has a flaw, and they have to be dressed to fit the mise-en-scene and the theme/style of the thriller.

Final Soundtrack Choice

We had many discussions about which song to use, because we had problems to begin with because our original song was copyright. We finally found a piece that fit in with our film because it is dark, industrial and matches our style very well. It is called Cells by The Servant. We found this piece by searching unsigned band websites and looking for work by people who are listed under the Creative Commons License Agreement, which the instrumental song we found, was.

When we knew that we could use this soundtrack we downloaded the instrumental version from the website below:

http://www.airmp3.net/search/the_servant/cells/mp3/a

Poster Analysis: The Godfather

Below is a poster for the film ’The Godfather’ (1972) which I have analysed to help get an idea of successful thriller signifiers for the type of thriller I intend to produce; my media group and I are making a film-noir styled classic-thriller.

This poster for the film ‘The Godfather’ displays classic thriller signifiers. The poster gives the audience an impression of how the film will be before they watch it. From the thriller signifiers shown in the poster, the audience can predict whether they will like the film or not.

The poster is mostly black and white. The use of contrast between light and dark is a common and important thriller signifier. Light and dark can symbolise good and evil (light being good and dark being evil). This is especially true in film-noirs. The use of this lighting can help give the film a sinister and threatening atmosphere. Also, the colours symbolising good and evil can show to the audience that the film will involve a battle between good and evil.

The only colour in the poster is a rose that is red. This rose stands out from the rest of the poster due to its colour. The colour red can mean different things to different people; red can symbolise anger, rage, violence, blood and revenge, which gives the film the connotation of having these characteristics; the rose tells the audience that the film involves violence. The rose standing out in the poster also helps add to the sinister feel of the poster due to it giving the connotation of violence.

The man in the poster is wearing a tuxedo/suit which could be argued to be a classic thriller signifier (mainly film-noirs); it is common for characters in film-noirs to wear suits. The suit also gives the connotation of sophistication, professionalism and class to the character in the poster.
The fact that the character is male is also a thriller signifier; most old thrillers (including film-noirs) have male protagonists. There being a man in the poster suggests he may be the main character of the film. This means that the poster, and also film, may appeal more to a male audience.

The man’s face in the poster appears to be emotionless; the man’s eyes are ‘blacked-out’ and he is neither smiling nor frowning. Not being able to see his eyes and him having an emotionless face gives a cold, sinister feel to the poster which indicates the film is also ‘cold-hearted’ and sinister. This also helps add a dramatic effect to the poster and can leave the audience intrigued.

There is a quote from the film at the bottom of the poster (an anchor) which also contributes to the sinister atmosphere of the poster, and implies there is something mysterious going on in the film. Mystery in the plot of a film is a significant thriller signifier. The quote also makes the audience wonder about what the “offer” may be and why “he can’t refuse”. This can help get the film into the audiences’ head so that they then go and see it.
The poster does well in giving the audience an idea of what the film may be like and include. It is also effective in capturing attention.

Character Profiles for our thriller film

I initially made a template for each character profile (a list of information about the character that was relevant. E.g. Age, Name, Personality traits etc). After this, I wrote each character profile, and then went through them with my group. Anything else we wanted to add or delete to/from each character I then did with them.

Name: Patrick Callaghan
Role in the opening sequence: The man sitting at a desk in the building
Age in film: 55
Race/nationality: Irish, though has lived most of his life in England. White.
Accent: Irish/ English
Style of dress: Suits, dark
Educational background: Self-educated
Personality traits/ current situation: Head of the Callaghan organized-crime family (a leader), loyal to his own family, hates the "opposing" families, in particular the Glover’s. He will do anything to keep his family and reputation above the others, whatever the consequences.
Other information: Godfather and uncle of Juliet. He moved to England at a young age with his Nan and his younger brother in search of a better life. His parents are dead; his parents were already dead when he moved to England. His parents died during the conflicts in Ireland after the Second World War. His Nan moved out to England with him for safety. His brother was the father of Juliet, however he died through working for his family, and maybe he was at fault.
Additional Detail: (Although a completely different character) he may be presented in a similar way to Sydney Greenstreet's character Kasper Gutman in The Maltese Falcon (1941) directed by John Huston, regarding the consisten use of very low- angled shots of him in order to emphasize both his power and the fact that he is overweight.

Name: Aidan Quinlan
Role in the opening sequence: He is one of the three in the car; he was the driver and is the one that lights up a cigarette.
Age in film: 28
Race/nationality: Irish – brought-up in England. White.
Accent: Irish
Style of dress: Smart with overcoats
Educational background: Average
Personality traits/ current situation: Works for the Callaghan family. He is a trusted, loyal worker for the family. He watches over the people below him and does much of the dirty work for the boss.
Other Information: His dad moved out with him to England after death of his mother. His dad was a good friend of the boss; this is why he is now one of the main men in the family.

Name: Sean McLennan.
Role in the opening sequence: Is one of the two carrying the dead body.
Age in film: 24
Race/nationality: English, with Irish roots. White.
Accent: Unspecified, a touch of Irish.
Style of dress: Smart with overcoats.
Educational background: Below Average.
Personality traits/ current situation: Works for Callaghan family. He is a loyal worker, below Quinlan. Does all dirty work first hand and most of the time supervised by Quinlan. He is not a key figure in the film and is "muscle" of the family.
Other Information: His grandparents moved to England, so he and his parents were born and brought-up in England. However he is still in touch with his Irish roots.

Name: Connor Malone
Role in the opening sequence: Is the other man carrying the dead body
Age in film: 24
Race/nationality: English, with Irish roots. White.
Accent: Unspecified, perhaps a slight Irish accent
Style of dress: Smart with overcoats
Educational background: Below Average
Personality traits: Works for Callaghan family. He is a loyal worker, below Quinlan. Does all dirty work first hand and supervised by Quinlan. He is fairly new to the family. He is not a key figure in the story and is also "muscle" of the family.
Other information/ current situation: His parents moved to England from Ireland, and he was born in England.

Name: Susie Callaghan
Age in film: 25
Race/nationality: Half Irish, half English. White.
Accent: Unspecified
Style of dress: Classy, yet obvious.
Educational background: Above average initially, but finished education after it became optional.
Personality traits: She is aware of her sexual prowess. Slightly flirty and unforgiving.
Other information: Her mother is English, but died during childbirth. Her father died young so she was brought up by her uncle and godfather. However she blames him for her father’s death. This is why she has a lover in another family, and attempts to murder her uncle (see synopsis).
Additional Detail: She is perhaps a similar character to Barbara Stanwyck's Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity (1944) directed by Billy Wilder.

Name: David Glover
Age in film: 26
Race/nationality: English. White
Accent: Unspecified
Style of dress: Smart
Educational background: High level of education and specialises in Law.
Personality traits: He is generally smart, although he sometimes acts on impulse rather than thinking things through and allows business matters to become personal.
Other information: He wasn’t planning on becoming the head of the family but rather hoping to finish his studies of Law and become a lawyer/ judge and help the family in that way. However, he was convinced after the murder of his father.


Name: Colin Glover
Age in film: 67
Race/nationality: English. White
Accent: Unspecified
Style of dress: Smart
Educational background: High level of education
Personality traits: He is well-educated and smart, but also street-smart and doesn’t allow himself to be careless.
Other information: He has always hated the Callaghan’s, partly because they’re Irish and also partly because they have always been a threat to his family.

Preliminary Task: Evaluation

Whilst planning to film our preliminary task. We used match on action technique, shot reverse shot technique and 180 degree rule. It was important we used these in our film so it was readable to our audience. We also tried to incorporate a variety of shot types into our film to make it more interesting and different. We used shot types such as birds-eye, close-up, long-shot and over the shoulder shots. We also used the computer to make accurate and neat shooting maps for our preliminary task.

When we were filming our preliminary task, it was the first time we had used digital cameras and the shot type techniques, so some of our shots are a little shaky, and we had to learn how to pan, and zoom keeping the camera steady. Examples of especially shaky shots in our preliminary task is the zoom out and pan away from the clock at the beginning of our film, and the birds-eye shot above the table, was also unsteady.

Whilst trying to edit our preliminary task we discovered new technologies, and new techniques that we could use in our film, such as non-linear editing software. None of us had used this before, therefore our skills on the software was slightly limited. This effected our transitions, as they could have been smoother.

I think what we could have improved was our steadiness of the camera and our shot transitions in our editing should have been smoother. And when we asked other members of our class what they thought, they generally agreed.
Despite this, I think our film went well and our class mates said that it was very readable and met the brief we were given.