Audience feed back

I got a few people who were in the target audience range to to look at my film opening to see what they thought.

8 out of 10 people liked it.

one person said it  was "phenomenally good" they liked the shots and thought they explained what was going on well.

one of the people who didn't like it said it was because the music at the start which was 'Hey Joe' by Jimmy Hedrix wasn't fitting for the scenario and thought it didn't go with the atmosphere i was trying to achieve.

the other person who didn't like thought that the angel and devil were too confusing and they weren't very clear on what was happening. they also say they i could have improved it by making it simpler but i thought that then it would be too boring and because it was a film opening and if we made the rest of the film we would have explained what was going on. i belive the whole point of a film opening is to make questions the audience wants answering and to draw them in.

another person who did like it though that the cuts were put in good places and that it was well put together. 

another person thought the shots were the best ones for the actions going on in frame.

Poker's Advocate Evaluation (click images to make bigger)

Roles

in the films we all had different roles Sonia was costume and set designer
Jemma was the script writer I was the director and Matt was Editor but we all helped with each others roles so we all had a go at each role to gain experience.

Editing

we uploaded the footage onto the iMacs and then we spent some time naming every clip so it wouldnt spend much time looking for the clips that we wanted. we then started by puting in the clips that followed our basic storyboard we then added clips to flesh out the films and added a bit more to the characters. we then watched it and started to perfect it. we then added music to the film. We used Hey joe by Jimi Hendrix at the start and we looped the begining for a bit and then after the opening diologue and then let the song play through. when the devil comes in we played the Sin City Theme and Wariors Dance at the same time which worked well together to create something quite sinister. And over the credits we used Paranoid as it was very upbeat and we thought it would flow well if we continued the rest of the film as it would go back in time where Dave ( the main character ) is much happier. we then put in effects such as ghost trails in the devil and angel scene as it added a supernatural feeling to them. we also made the shots at the end black and white. where we credited the actors we paused the shot and put in a caption by using the titles tool. in the first shot it is very juddery this is because in filming we slowed the shutter speed i think this added a very stylish effect.

i think editing was on the whole was easy but the hardest part was making every cut perfect and trying to perfect the smalles details.

Production

we filmed for a few hours after school in the drama studio for about 3 days. we set up a poker table with chips and cards and tried to arrange them excatly the same each time we filmed in this room. we also had to set up the lighting for every shot to get the lighting the best we could with good shadows. we used Redhead lights to set up a key light and backlight and sometimes and fill light we also sometimes used an LED light which is usually used for interviews to add a small sparkle in the actors eye if needed. we had to set up the camera on the tripod making sure that the white balance, focus, gain and shutter speed were correct each time. we also then got the microphone and put it onto the boom pole and connected it to the camera. after doing all of this the actors needed for the shot could get into costume and then take their places. when the actors were ready we could set up the shot ready for filming.

there werent many problems but at one point in a crucial shot one of the redheads stoped working and we couldn't replace the bulb so we had the rest of the shots with only 2 redheads. other than this there werent any major problems.

Final story board

Schedule

Date
Time
What doing?
Where?
Monday 18th
P1
-Costume Make-up and finalising Planning
- Media
Tuesday 19th
After school
-All Birds eye view shots and establishing shots (with whole cast)
-DR1
Thursday 21st
P2
After School
-Card Tricks
-All game-play before everyone folds
- Black Background
-DR1
Friday 22nd
P2
-Editing and Uploading
-Media
Monday 25th
P1
P3
P4
-Editing and Uploading
-Close ups of Group
-Angel and Devil
-Media
-BB
-DR1
Tuesday 26th
P5
P6
After School
-Dave and Gary Dialogue
-Editing and Uploading
-CATCH UP
-DR1
-Media
-DR1
Thursday 28th
P1
P2
- Narration
-Editing and Uploading

-Media
-Media

Friday 29th
P3
P4
P5
-Whole cast close ups
-Editing and Uploading
-Editing and Uploading
-DR1
-Media
-Media
Monday 1st
P1
- Editing and Uploading
-Media
Thursday 4th
P2
-Any reshoots/Editing
-BB/Media
Friday 5th
P2
-Any Reshoots/editing
-BB/Media
Monday 8th
P1
P3
P4
-Audience Feedback
-Editing and Uploading
- Any wide shot reshoots
-Media
-Media
-DR1
Tuesday 9th
P5
P6
-any DR1 reshoots
-Editing
-DR1
-Media
Thursday 11th
P1
P2
-Editing
-Editing
-Media
-Media
Friday 12th
P5
P6
-Editing
-Editing
-Media
-Media

Music

I have been put in charge of the music for our film opening. Music is important as it can help create a varity of diffrent moods and atmosphere then the director wants to portray. for our film opening we wanted something that and a slow pace with lots of bass to cause some tension and make the audience feel like something bad may happen.
i have listened to losts of music and so far i have come up with a big list of possible songs.
they are:

• Theme from Sin City
• Cat People
• After dark
• Nothing else matters
• Planet Caravan
• If 6 was 9
• Voodoo child
• Sympathy for the Devil
• Sun King
• Blew
• Love buzz
• Dive
• Hairspray Queen
• Big Long Now
• The Little things Fraternit Suite
• The scheme
• Revenge
• Fox's desision
• Blind
• WraithMarsh

'21' (2008): stylised filming of Blackjack that creates a pacey and more tense atmosphere to the film. Extreme and tight close shots are relevant and inspiring.

'Rounders' (1998) - style is slower, close ups on expressions

DVD extras ideas

• interviews with cast and crew
• alternate endings or openings
• deleted and alternate scenes
• making of documentary
• costume and character design documentary
• inspiration for film documentary

Title of Project: Poker’s AdvocateNames of Students Involved and Roles Allocated:Jack Blinman – Director, Cameraman, DEALER.Matt Laverack – Editor, Cameraman, DAVE.Jemma Rowlston – Writer, Cameraman, ANGEL.Sonia Wan – Props & Costume, Cameraman, DEVIL.(Editorial tasks are also shared out)Estimated Time Allocated to Production: 1 week 3 daysDates of Production: N/AEstimated Time Allocated to Post Production: 2 weeks 2 daysDates of Post Production: N/ABrief Synopsis of Project:(Dave has a brain tumour. The audience is not told this, but it is represented in the throbbing pain in his head, shown via acting and sound effects as well as the hallucinations in form of an Angel and Devil.)We find Dave playing a high stakes underground poker game with an array of players. The opening begins with a black screen, then sound bridges poker chips and background music into several extreme close ups of Dave and the poker players. The scene is set at the end of the movie, and acts as a prequel. Here Dave is about to lose the game with his life in the pot. You see his hallucinations briefly before he loses. After this the titles come in with sliding card tricks and simple fade in title fonts.Equipment Required and Dates required.(Dates N/A at the moment)CameraTripodLightingMicrophoneEditing MACLocations: Drama 1 room (and all the lighting equipment in it.)Costume and Props: Poker SetPoker TableCowboy HatChairsDrinking GlassesCharacter Costume – jewellery, black tank top, casual clothing (refer to character brief).Angel and Devil make up set – Eye shadows, red lipstick, glittery black, red, silver, baby blue eye pencil.Casting (including extras)Dave – Matt LaverackDealer – Jack BlinmanAngel – Jemma RowlstonDevil – Sonia WanLuke – Luke GoodliffeHolly – Kathryn Thomas or Jodie Glassenbury or Sarah Owen UNDECIDEDGary – Alex Greenwood (unconfirmed)Leo – Alex Gray (uncomfirmed)Further comments:Extra lighting may be needed, however unconfirmed. There will also need to be decisions made on how the spotlighting will be directed.

We want are opening to be set in an underground, high-stakes poker game. We wanted a black room with a table in the middle lit with overhead spotlights. We immediately thought of the old drama room as it is almost completely black. but this room might not be available to us so we will also have to think of other locations. I personally think that wherever we shoot it we should have an establishing shot over a garage or someplace where you might find an underground poker game, this will make it look like a real film but i also think the opening shot should be an extreme close up shot of the main characters eyes because the eyes are an important part of poker but if we put an establishing of a building it will detract from the power and the shock of two eye as an opening shot. i think it may be better to leave the establishing shot. The group have agreed we want a birds eye view shot when the people who have folded leave the table i think this will add a great effect to this film.

Planning

The people in my group are jemma, sonia, and matt at the moment we are planning our project which is currently called 'Pokers Advocate'. we have been talking about what our characters should be like and how they should be represented . We have also been talking about what kind of shots we want to use. We have started making a draft storyboard but nothing ready for our proposal form. We need to fill out our proposal form soon to start filming. at the moment in our story we have an angel and a devil come in and start to decide our main characters fate. We have been talking about how we want our angel and devil to look, sonia and me thought that to us the devil always seemed like a businessman and a bit of a grifter so we wanted to the devil to be in a smart suit, but jemma wanted the devil to be more twisted and sexy and make the devil envelope our main character.We will need to discuss this more it may come to a point where we get rid of the devil and angel completely.

Planning

for the main room where the poker game will be set i think we should try and make it look like it is either in someone's garage or basement or for a more dramatic and sinister effect it could be in a room that is completly black and no windows but with lights focusing on the players. i think some bright harsh lighting should be used as it seems a bit more unfriendly and makes everything seem brighter and out of contrast and this will add to the confusion.

in Casio Royale i also noticed that when the players reveale their hands it seems very dramatic as the player does it slowly and there is music in the background that is very dramatic as it has long notes in it which causes the tension. and you also dont see the players hand much before they show the other players this is so you dont know and it makes you feel a bit like a player as you are guess at whether they are bluffing or not.

research

i looked a the poker game in Casino Royale. Poker is a hard game to show in a film as it has alot of stratagy. Also one of the major skills a good poker player needs is to not give away his hand through their reactions. so to show the audience how the player is feeling when the players isnt trying to give away how they are feeling is very hard.

What Casino Royal does to portray the players reactions is use lots of close up shots of the player's eyes. the eyes are a very big part of acting is done through the eyes. another thing i noticed was that there was minimum diolgue dureing the scene this also increases the difficulty of portraying who the character feels. to get around this we will use voice overs to show what the character is thinking.