Weather issues

The car scene was the only scene that was actually shot outside. As such it was the only scene we had to worry about weather conditions for. We would prefer a typical cloudy and dry weather conditions. This is due to give the scene a mundane feel to further enchance our thriller. The bright sunny weather would indeed look 'nice' however it would not suit the tone of the project as we intend to make a dark undertone to suit the scene rather a sunny, happy feeling. We decided not to film during rain either - rain tends to be the most unpredictable factor of typical British weather and would potentially damage our equipment. Indeed it would suit the conventions of thriller if it rained by setting a 'mood' however the conditions for us to use that type of weather seemed to unreliable. We decided to film the car scene all in one day, in order to ensure we kept the right weather conditions. This meant we had to get what we needed without much reshooting.

Rain which we did not want. Rain came a week later from our shot.

Our ideal weather condition. Murky and dark, with small rays of diluted light.

- Sharmarke.

Production schedule

• Filming period - 1 week
• Editing period - 1.5-2 weeks

Actors and their roles, choices we made and the replacement of characters

The actors for our five characters were chosen. They comprised of the three of us and two other individuals from outside our group. These were:

• myself
• Sharmarke
• Aram
• Ali
• and Luke

Sharmarke.

Aram.

Luke (left) and Ali (right).

Our actor decision were based on a number of different factors. We considered availability, possible stereotypes and suitability of each actor. The reason for choosing ourselves to take part was the fact that we were always available to take part, along with the stereotypes associated with black people for Sharmarke. Our choice in choosing Luke was similarly because of the stereotypes associated with white people and how they are rich individuals. Aram was chosen to be the driver/mastermind of the plot due his ethnicity. A very extreme stereotype of an Arab is their ability to plot which is why we decided to fit this stereotype into our film opening in the form of Aram. This again enable the film opening to be carefully planned out with suitable characters playing each role.

Previously, we had two other characters replacing myself and Luke. These were Shadia and Charlie. We had replaced the two due to Charlie being permanently unavailable and Shadia not being able to help out anymore.

- Kausar.

Character Issues

We had encountered some issues with regards to who would be playing our main character in our project. As the three of us had undertaken other roles, we had to find someone else to fill in the role as the main character. We already had two characters for the remaining roles (the other poker player and the dealer), so all we needed was to find a main character. After a little searching, this was going to be played by a student called Charlie. However, we hadn't anticipated that he would be leaving our sixth form. As we were unable to get him back to help us, it meant we had to restart the filming process with a new main character, leading to the disappointing loss of twenty or so minutes of shooting. This set back had led to the loss of a lot of valuable time where we could have been filming. We found a reliable student called Luke, who would be available for us whenever we need to film. Now all we needed to do was fix some aspects of our previous footage and reintroduce it into our project during the new shoot.

- Sharmarke.

Shotlist

1. Card Scene

• Master shot of the poker room. Possibly an aerial shot.
• CU of the final hand being dealt by the dealer.
• MCU of the dealer glancing at the gambler. Cuts to a POV shot of what he's looking at (the dealer)
• OTS over the gambler at the dealer - dialogue - 'final bets'
• Reverse OTS shot over the dealer at the gambler.
• Cut to an ECU of his hands pushing the money to the centre.
• Cut back to a CU of his face - dialogue - 'I'm all in'.

2. Outside Scene

• WS of the driver waiting at the car. Driver pulls out his phone. 
• ECU of his phone to read the text he has received.
• Cut to a MCU of the driver. He looks up the street and down the street as he puts his phone away.
• Dissolve into a MS of gambler as he walks. Holds his pocket and smiles.
• WSs of the car as the driver walks around it to open the door for the gambler.
• LS of the car as the driver closes the door.
• MS of the driver as he walks around the car.
• CU as the driver enters the car. Cut to black on the sound of the door shutting.

3. 'Driving Scene' - Credits Scene

• No shot. Stays black for a few seconds. Can hear car engine starting up.

4. Gambler's Home Scene

• LS of the gambler walking into his building.
• WS him walking up the stairs.
• LS of the gambler walking down the corridor.
• POV shot as he approaches his door.
• OTS MCU shot over the killer at the gambler.
• TS of the killer pulling the gambler in the house. Door closes.

5. Final Scene - Corridor Scene

• MS of the killer walking out of the house. ECU of his hand holding the money.
• MS of the killer walking away from the door and throwing money to someone.
• Cuts to a MS of the driver catching it.
• ECU as he examines the money.
• CU of the killer as he removes the mask. His identity is revealed.
• CU of the drivers face. Dialogue - "time for number 13."
• Fade to black. "FILM TITLE".

- Sharmarke.

Props

Our first idea was to use a balacava mask for the criminal, however the mask seemed too generic, as its seen as a typical criminal mask in your typical film, and as such we decided to take inspiration of using a animal mask instead, as seen a video game called hotline miami http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HQshGnjpo0&safe=active

The horse mask seemed to comedic, particularly due to its wide bright eyes and gaping mouth, so we decided to not use this animal mask

The chicken mask was too childlike or fake, with its hard plastic beak and very plain colour scheme, and as such did not suite our thriller theme.

Our final decision was to use a pigs mask. The pig masks gives a strong sense of dread due to the blood like red and pink along with the the various mini spots, possibly representing as blood. the mask was also rubber, giving it a edgy texture and feel, suiting perfectly wit our thriller.

The poker mat with the deck of cards in the centre.

A lot of printed fake money to use in the poker match. Also the money is
what the killer then steals from the gambler.We had a total of £200 worth of real £20 notes, however we could not use that amount to make the poker game money seem  'big' as we could not produce stacks of money big enough to do so. As such we resorted to making fake money from printing it out. However the money was still fake and as such only printed to one side, so we had to use a combination of both real and fake money to make a stack o money look legit. we put 1 £20 note on top and on bottom of the stack of fake notes so the it will appear legit to the viewers.

- Kausar.

Locations

The first location for our film opening was inside our school. We chose to use the drama studio as it had the open space we needed for the poker game to be done, also an advantage to this room is that it gives option to control the lighting to a setting we could select.

The drama studio. All the curtains were pulled to enclose the area and the poker table was set up in the middle.

One of the many lights we could control.

The second location was the streets near our school, Buckingham Place and Catherine Place. We placed the car on Catherine Place and had the gambler walk down Buckingham Place towards the car, to which the driver would open the door. We chose this location as it was a convenient location for the car owner, who was my mother, and also it was a convenient location for us as the school was a short walk away meaning we could upload the footage as soon as we had finished.

The car was positioned in circle 2 and the gambler walked from 
circle 1 to circle 2.

The third location consisted of my home building. We chose this location as we needed somewhere for the gambler to live. In the building we used the corridors and the front door of my flat. This was used to show the killer forcefully taking the gambler inside for him to meet his doom. Also, the corridor would be where the killer reveals himself to be the poker player who had lost to our gambler and how he had set up the deal with the driver of the gambler. Below is the corridor where the killer and driver meet. The driver will be standing at the far end of the corridor whereas the killer will be coming from the near end towards the driver.

Although my hallway is dark and narrow, and fits well with the conventions of horror, it does not fit the ideals of the character played by Luke being rich, as the floor is cement, several cobwebs and badly painted rails, would not suit the character. 





The hallway of Aram's flat is clean with nice sources of light, and carpet, further improving the rich experience. Further more the narrowness of the hallwas make the character feel trapped as shown.

- Kausar.

Costume

Because this was a high end poker game where everything is kept professional, all characters had a costume consisting of a suit and tie. This meant that it would stick to the conventions of an underground poker game.

- Aram.

Characters

For our film opening we needed five characters. These are:

• a dealer
• two poker players.
• a killer (the third poker player).
• a driver for the winner of the poker game.

We now had to allocate the roles of each character. One of our main decisions in this process was incorporating the stereotype that black people are criminals, as portrayed in media. This would show the audience that we understand and have a knowledge of media representation and some stereotypes.

- Aram.

Inspirations From Games

Watch from point 00:00 - 1:20. This opening sequence from the game 'Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney', gave us the idea of bringing in murder to the world of gambling.

This trailer to the game 'Hotline Miami' is what inspired us to use a animal mask for the killer. In the trailer it can be seen that a man uses an animal mask is used to commit various killings. This is due to its terrifying effect of the mask and also how it brings anonymity and fear to those who oppose him.

- Kausar.