2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The social groups represented in Poker’s Advocate include Gamblers (in particular underground) and Rich people. Gender and Class/Status is also represented.

Gamblers are represented in different ways. As our film does not centre on posh Casino gambling, there are no men in suits or tuxedos. Each character has its own personality and background reflected in their clothing and positioning.

The way each player walks into set at different times but arrive at the table at the same time shows that they a essentially different, but once they are gambling they are all the same. This represents underground gamblers are very different to those in Casino Royale type of play grounds – class and status does not matter to these people.


(Refer to Gary - Left, and Dave - Right) This Establishing shot appears after Holly and Luke fold - making it clear who is left in the game.

There is always an experienced gambler. In Poker’s Advocate this is Gary. His leather jacket reflects his smooth and almost criminal personality and the cowboy hat shows his slight sense of humour.

The protagonist does not dress classy or fashionably and even his casual is below average casual. He wears an olive-green-brown coloured fleece jacket, t-shirt, and short cropped hair. (I would have liked Dave to have a beard or stubble to give him a rougher look, and to represent age but this wasn’t realistic in our time scale) This represents the downtrodden and almost weak gamblers in the society portrayed in this film. Dave is part of the group of people who don’t gamble for fun or leisure, but for the cold, hard, cash. Be it to fuel their drug or drinking habits, or to pay a debt. It could be argued that he is the stereotypical underground gambler. The audience is expected to either pity this character or be in awe at his stupidity.

Rich people are presented differently in PA. It would be assumed that they don’t take part in underground gambling, but the character Holly is rich. This is shown through her dress, glittery scarf, combed hair, and pearl necklace. She is a neutral character, and does not seem to have a large part in the film. However her high class status implies that even those higher up are not clean. They are aware and involved in what goes beneath their society and might even control it with the correct power.

The representation of age is a problem as our actors/extras were not the actual age they were meant to be in the script. The age range of PA is late 20s to late 40s. This was something that could not be changed unless we got older actors.
All of the characters are Caucasian. This was unintended and if made into a real film PA might have different ethnicities to expand on the representation of underground gamblers.

Overall the main social group is underground gamblers and the diversity within them. The representation of them could be argued as both negative and positive, as it shows the darker and unbeneficial side to gambling but also creates a sense of freedom and edgy lifestyle.

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

‘Poker’s Advocate’ (PA) conforms to the conventions of a pre-title sequence where in the credits come in after 2 minutes of film rather than at the start. The beginning two minutes usually shows the audience a scene from the half way point of the film. To refrain this pre-title sequence becoming trailer like, use of fades in between cuts were not used often, and only for the Angel and Devil scene to show distortion.

Quick cuts are used here to build up tension. There is little dialogue so the audience would be less informed at the start of the film. If crucial lines that reveal the plot twists are revealed, it would make the opening too much like a trailer. Plot details are unimportant in film openings.



















Fade is used here as it conforms to the transition techniques used to represent a flashback or memory used in films. Here, it represents the unstable mind of the protagonist and hints that the Angel and Devil are merely hallucinations.

Pre-title sequences still show the production logos before the film begins, and PA does that. The idea of ripping a production logo (e.g. Universal or Paramount) was proposed, however that would take time and copyright issues may arise. Making our own logos would show creativity and show how conventions are followed in our original production logo. Three logos were drafted and rather than choosing between them, all were refined and put in. This continues to follow conventions as associate or supporting companies are usually involved therefore films can have more than one production logo.


















Conforming to Production Logos in general, Bullseye Productions gives an image and animation for the audience to focus on.



















The first image settles, and a second which is more important appears. This is an opportunity for sound effects or sound bridges. In Poker’s Advocate the effect from iMovie called [insert here] suits the swish movement of the letters; another convention that occurs in Production logos.



















After all the effects and animation, there is a pause that allows the audience to ‘absorb’ and take in the logo. This in film time is only a few seconds so that it does not drag and become boring. These are all conventions followed.


Shot reverse shots and close ups follow conventions in that they shows a character’s reaction to dialogue. The shot reverse shot is taken from over the shoulder at times, and close ups take in details such as chair shuffling and important eye movements.



















Holly’s gesture of tucking hair behind her ear can show nervousness of her character, a contrast to the confident concept of her character. It gives realism to her, as it is a very normal gesture that girls do.





















































This CU shows Luke glancing at his cards. This creates mystery and tension, as well as showing the audience that this is a real and serious poker game.

Other Conventional camera angles include:


Establishing shots: This sets the scene. Here, by the props and lighting the audience can tell it is a mysterious, and possibly dangerous area, and the main entertainment/focus is poker.














































Extreme CUs: This shows the character's key expressions. Here Dave gives a strong look to Gary, showing thought.

Tracking shots: Can act as a POV shot as well as following movement and giving a variety to camera angles. Here the camera follows the Devil's hand, putting importance in her movement and showing the character's control over Dave.

POST Production Log

(Click to enlarge)

Film Production Log

(Click to enlarge)

Amended Schedule

Due to prior engagements etc the schedule was changed. This is the one that was actually followed. (Click to enlarge)

Potential Poker’s Advocate soundtracks – chosen by Jack

In class we have listened to each of song and gave comments. At this point it is still unclear which one to use as we have not placed all the wanted clips onto the timeline yet.

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
Fraternity Suite
The scheme
Revenge
Fox's decision
Blind
Wraith Marsh
Warrior's Dance

Making of Production Logos

I searched the Internet for a free flash animation software, and found Swish Max3. Using the trial period I created 2 Production logos for Poker's Advocate. Sound effects will be added on once imported (or soundbridge with main music).

(As it was a trial period, not many screen shots were taken)

Bullseye Productions

Draft 1

Name: "Bullseye Productions" was inspired from the feelings of wanting the film opening to be spot-on/perfect, and that it matched the image found beforehand. It didn't matter what the production studio was called or for what purpose as in reality, production logos did not necessarily have to match the film.

Image: (Taken from Google)

The idea of a dartboard came to mind as I was thinking of "Stereotypical Men's Games" as the film was about Poker and gambling. The image has a bold colour scheme of Black, White, Green and Red. This would give a wide selection of shades for font colour. There were also loads of animation ideas to put onto the dartboard to suit it. Such as the "twirl in from left" or "bullet" animation. As the image is round, it looks more professional and neat.

Font: "BIONDI"

This reminded me of the font used outside a Salon in cowboy movies and somehow it seemed to fit the dartboard image. Coloured and sized on WordArt from Microsoft Word, it was made a image on Paint then put into Swish Max3. The first and last letters were put in capitals so that it frames the logo and stays symmetrical.

Animation: Choosing text animation templates for this logo didn't take long - not many chosen fit well and I had to be cautious it wouldn't look tacky or over-done. The template "Swirl in" was chosen. I played around with the degrees of it and made the letters swirl in from the right side, as if sticking onto the dartboard. Once the text was animated, it left a print on the BIONDI font - giving the effect of paint dripping. This was not intended but as it did not look too different I decided to leave it.

The problem with this first draft logo is that it only takes up 5 seconds. The speed was decreased later on to allow a sufficient amount of time for sound effects.

The image below is a screen shot of the first draft logo being published. If I could do this project again I would take screen shots at each edit I make, and before the trial period ends.

Draft 2

Not much was changed on this version in terms of animation, size, text. The speed of the animation was decreased.

Final Logo

After getting feedback, I found out that more animation could be put on to the logo to make it more interesting. I did some quick research on other Production Logos and found there was usually more than one animation/movement.

The dartboard was given the same animation template as the text but slowed down. I made sure it got to the background quicker than the text and had a longer pause. This is so that the audience has something to focus on before the text arrives. It was also lengthened so that the audience could really take in the production logo and give time for the fade effects that would be added on whilst editing the opening.

Spark Studios

Draft 1

Name: The name "Spark" came from the font of Bullseye Productions. The BIONDI font reminded me of cowboys, which lead to guns, which lead to gun powder and sparks. Matched with "Studios" it flowed and had a snappy ring to it.

Image: (Taken from google)

The above is an GIF animation of a single firework. The theme to start a Production studio logo was "Celebration" and as it happened to be close to Chinese New Year, the idea of fireworks came to mind. It also suited one of the production studio name ideas that was noted down. The problem with this animation is that it repeats itself and only lasts 1.5 seconds roughly. It had to be slowed down or cut off near the end to leave a black background. The GIF Image was copy and pasted several time and made into different sizes. Placed across the screen, each one was timed so that it would start at different intervals, but finish, fade out and pause long enough for the font to appear with a plain black background.

Font:

BIONDI, WordArt, and Paint was also used here. However I decided it looked too pixelated and unprofessional. Once animated tit looked even more pixelated and tacky.

Instead, I used the text box and templates on the software Swish Max3. It was clearer and templates/layers could be put over it as well as multiple animations. The text is CASTELLAR. I chose this as it was simple yet had its subtle flicks off each letter giving it style. The word "studios" was smaller and placed underneath "Spark" as it was of less importance and gave the logo a boxed shape - different to Bullseye Productions where the text was on one straight line.

Animation: Not much animation was done here. There was a simple fade in and out on the still shot of the GIF image and text. The text appeared first, allowing a 2 second gap before the still image faded in. A pause was made at the end of the animation to allow the audience time to take in the logo and read it.

Draft 2

One of the comments from the feedback was that the orange text on the orange still shot of the firework made it harder to read, and more emphasis should be put on the work "Spark". Therefore, I added in another template over the text, making white fade over the orange text. It becomes more defined and noticeable.

Final Logo

Another comment was to add more animations so there was "more to see". Therefore the template layers of the orange and white "Spark Studios" text was switched over. This made the white text appear before the orange. The orange text was animated with the template movement "Explode from centre". The fade in of the still shot firework was delayed but the fade was sped up.

After importing onto the iMovie project of Poker's Advocate, this production logo may need to be cut shorter to delete the first GIF 'explosions', if necessary.

B Productions

This logo's original idea and animation was made by Jemma. However due to technical difficulties, the main images and text was sent to me to put onto Swish Max3.

I found that this software wrecked the original logo. It seemed the main image was photoshopped before - by whoever the image actually belonged to - therefore leaving pixel-ish marks. The animation left marks as well; at the start of the logo, a faint outline of the letter B can be seen. Due to time limitations this could not be changed.

Notes

For some reason my computer only allowed the logos on Swish Max3 to be saved as GIF files. (There were other options, such as AVI files) So, once imported on the Mac computers at school, they had to be converted seperately into MPEG4 files - other wise they would not play on iMovie.