Plot outline

In today's blog, I will define the final plot using the three-act structure which will allow me and Ava start storyboarding and working on the production aspect.

The three-act structure is a storytelling classic within films, being used in movies  Raiders of the Lost Ark and Die Hard. It is an incredibly common tried and tested storytelling technique. This is why I think it is the best option for plotting out my plot  

Act 1

The beginning inciting incident will be his gambling ways, the film will start right at the peak of it with him playing blackjack in a casino playing blackjack. Which will lead to him winning but there is a time skip to him being in debt. Then he gambles further and just managed to gain enough to pay back the debt. 

Act 2

We then him successfully paying it off and having a clear chance to leave which he ignores seemingly for no reason indulges further. We then see a look into his past seeing him slowly fall in love with a woman. This then goes back to further gambling. 

Act 3 

He gains a great amount of debt that will now anger the mafia that runs the casino now threatening his life. He gambles further now not even playing engaging games just slot machines interlocked with flashbacks further developing that story. He gains enough money to pay back the debt but bets it on a horse he wins it but dies right after due to having angered the mafia.

Ironing out details

There are some parts of the movie development process we still haven't quite ironed out. Which is the purpose of today's blog. 

First a bit about the main character and his name. His name is Ian Miller and he is in his 20s wearing a suit of a black blazer and cream-colored pants. His appearance gives off a failed attempt to fit in with the wealthy casino people. 

The film will be called Spin to Win, of course satirizing the perspective of a gambler who wants to gain as much money as possible. The look of typography will also attempt to look retro due to the setting.

The setting of the film will be the Las Vegas strip during the late 1970s. That way the casinos will have the presence of the mafia majorly which will make for interesting conflict. Also, we deal more with gambling that's more interesting to show like Blackjack instead of slot machines or sports betting.

With all of this established we can start wor.

Inspirations

 The idea for this project did not just come out thin air. What resonated with it me about the idea of doing a project about a man with a gambling addiction in a Casino came directly inspired of two films for greatly different aspects. These two are Uncut Gems (2019) and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Firstly Uncut Gems which follows a character portrayed by Adam Sandler as he dwells deeper into his money problems with sports gambling. The entire movie functions off more and more pressure coming onto himself as he gets into more and more gambling debt. This is where a lot of the themes of stress that we want to incorporate for our opening originante from. 

Then there is Fear and Loathing is Las Vegas, a less straightforward film directed by comedic genius Terry Gilliam. It follows an eccentric writer and his Samoan attorney through a psychedelic fueled trip through Las Vegas. In the surface there is a lack of connections with what I want my film to be and this film however, what I want to take away from is its Post modernist approach to storytelling as in the surface you just see characters spiral as the main plot. Which is an idea I want my film to adapt. 

Overall both movies serve as great inspiration to my project.

Filming locations

 Most of the film opening would be recorded in one room (for now) which would be the casino floor. However I want this set to be as lively as a regular casino floor in a hotel. For that we will need ample space for the room which is why I chose to turn my living room into the filming location 

 Within the living room we will move most of the furniture out set up tables with card sets and poker chips and put up led signs. Towards the back we will make a sitting area with the provided furniture just to add more depth to the set as a whole. 

This transformation will require also a good amount of people in costumes as different casino staff members. For this simple button ups and vest that I can ask people if they have or easily get for cheap at goodwill will suffice. However one thing I need a better lead for is getting tables as right now that have the exact look I want further research is needed on that.

Overall building the set might seem difficult but I’m an in advantageous position and only need to get very few things to start.

Final Plot

 This is perhaps one of the most anticipated blog entries... Yes! today I will finally detail what our plot is going to be about. That is Casinos! 

Basically we want our story to revolve around a guy who find himself in a spot in his life where he lacks any sort of excitement or enjoyment. The rush of gambling and the idea of him being able to make money are the things that keep our character going and motivated. 

We chose this as a character who’s entire situation is once characterized by his addiction to trying to make money through a method that simply won’t ever work in an incredibly interesting idea. Through it we can develop themes such as growing pressures from his gambling debts and his need to want to do more. This can be developed and translated to a great deal of techniques which we will plant out more in storyboards and shot list.

The movie will show him cycling through winning big to loosing it all his growing money troubles will be the main driving force of the action within the movie. 

Planning out my upcoming week

 This week might be the most important for our project. As the last 3 weeks have been spent researching for this covering a great amount of genres techniques and ideas. Exploring all the possibilities of what our film opening is about. Which is why today I will be detailing an outline for the next weeks of this project

The first step is to narrow down the story which we will do this week. This is the most daunting part of the process. It's important to think about the neuter story as hole not just the plot of the opening. This will follow up with us starting to storyboard and make a shotlist to have the entire opening organized.

Once we our have a story in mind, the next step is to write the  Script. Which we will Screenwriting software Celtx that will be incredibly useful for laying everything out helping us to familiarize ourselves with memorizing lines. Dialogue writing will be incredibly difficult, as creating natural and well written dialogue is greatly challenging which is why we will try to favor representing our story visually not through dialogue.

Which covers the most important planning period before filming. This outline is key to our entire film opening project which is why we will elaborate on more future planning on further blogs.

Genre Research: Quintin Tarnatino films

For my project, we will need to have a solid approach to genre and how it will affect our story. One of the Directors with the most unique approach to this is Quentin Tarantino. This is why in this blog I will study his approach to filmmaking focusing specifically on his use of genre. 

The first characteristic of Quintin Tarantino's approach to genre is the homages. For example, in his film Pulp Fiction, which is one of Taratino's earlier works. The film pays homage to movies like  Bonnie and Clyde, however with his own twist on it. Doing so, he creates a film that is both familiar and new, appealing to fans of classic cinema while also introducing something new to the table.

Another way in which Tarantino uses genre is by blending multiple genres into a single film. In his film Kill Bill, Tarantino blends elements of martial arts films, westerns, and revenge movies to create a unique film that stands out from others. By combining these different genres, Tarantino creates a film that is both thrilling and different.

In conclusion, Quentin Tarantino's use of genre is one of the defining features of his style. Whether he is paying homage to classic films or creating mash-ups of multiple genres. His unique approach to the genre could be applied to our opening's plot in order to make it stand and captivate our audience the same way Tarantino achieved it.