Jeff Torres: Assignment 2
Film Research
One of the opening scenes from the movie Casino shows the primary location taking place in the Tangier Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The bright lights of the Vegas strip have a mix of mainly red, gold, and white.
Another one of the opening scenes is the mob bosses gathered around a table. The main characters Ace and Nicky follow their orders. The scene brings a feeling of uncertainty and endangerment. The dark and dingy color scheme of mostly black and grey reciprocate that feeling.
This is where Ace becomes the profitable unlicensed owner of the Tangier Hotel & Casino. The color scheme from inside the casino shows red carpet with gold patterns. The green roulette tables with chips of various colors from red, pink, black, green, and white are also present.
This takes place as Ace showers Ginger with gifts of jewelry, a fur coat, and a new house. The scene brings upon colors of gold jewelry and the green dress shirt that Ace is wearing. I found this color scheme interesting because money is a main focus of the story line and that money is what brought Ace and Ginger together in the first place.
Ginger is handed the only keys to a safe box that she has only permission to open; not even Ace can open it even though he authorized this action. Within the safe box is millions of dollars that should be used in case Ace is in trouble.
When the color gold is shown, it usually is associated with Ginger, which can be seen from the dress she is wearing. In addition, she received gifts of gold jewelry from Ace and in one scene, admired the jewelry she had.
This is where the marriage between Ace and Ginger becomes strained for the first time as Ginger brings her ex-boyfriend money behind Ace's back. The setting here also doesn't resemble that of high class that Ace and Ginger are used to living.
Ginger begins to manipulate Nicky. While Nicky also starts to handle business on his own terms.
Artie Piscano, who is apart of the mob family, vents his frustrations about the business. Little did he know that he is actually being spied on at that moment revealing information that inevitably gets everyone in trouble.
Ace is brought to court for not having a proper license to control a casino, which doesn't get approved. This is due to the fact that Pat Webb, who's brother in law was fired by Ace, convinces the court to disapprove his license.
While still exuding a flashy style, both Ginger and Ace wear black to represent a turn for the worse as they are divorcing.
The still image shows Ace waiting in the desert for Nicky as confrontation awaits both of them for having different visions of making money and handling business. The scene seems calm with dry, yellow sand and blue skies. However, what is assumed to lie underneath the ground were the victims from mob killings.
By the end of the movie, the setting is no longer the Vegas strip which makes for a more neutral background. At the same time, this make Ace stick out more in his pink suit. This part comes when Ace is about to enter his car that explodes, but survives.
Since murder is a occurrence throughout the movie, the bright red blood of those who are beaten and killed stick out. This scene tells of the death of both Nicky and his brother who are buried alive.
Essay
Casino brought the tone of optimism from the very beginning as main characters Sam “Ace” Rothstein and friend/bodyguard Nicky Santoro had plans of scamming millions of dollars from the Tangier Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The tone continues to stay positive as optimism turns into enthusiasm as Ace and Nicky make a ton of profits when Ace becomes an unlicensed owner of the Tangier. Along with that, Ace meets and marries a casino hustler by the name of Ginger McKenna, who lives for the finer things in life. However, the tone of the movie turns cynical as Ace and Ginger’s marriage starts to fall apart. From Ginger getting caught bringing money to her ex-boyfriend Lester Diamond behind Ace’s back, to Ginger manipulating Nicky to get back at Ace, and Nicky trying to handle business recklessly for himself, problems amount to a point where friends have to kills former friends for the betterment of the business. Thus the film actually ends with an objective tone. Those who killed their former partners knew it was best for business and Ace, who survived a car explosion, continued on with his life and went back to gambling on sports.
For the most part, the color scheme shown through the film resembled the tone of the movie. The color scheme begins out on the Las Vegas strip to the inside of the Tangier Hotel & Casino. Vibrant and highly saturated colors such as red dice, pink poker chips, and green roulette tables surround the casino floor; while the floor itself is red and with gold patterns. This in a way represents the optimistic and enthusiastic tone that was mentioned previously. When the amount of problems add up, those bright lights of Vegas were rarely shown anymore until the destruction of the Tangier Casino took place. The colors that surrounded people like Ace were more neutral which made him stand out. Adding onto that, the people within a setting also had a unique color scheme as well. Ace for example wore various colored suits, but the brightly colored orange suit, and even a pink suit near the end of the film were eye openers since it didn’t resemble the clothes he used to wear. His wife, Ginger, also had multiple colored dresses, but the one that represents her the best was the gold dress she wore for an event. She also had plenty of gold jewelry that she liked to flaunt. On the other hand, mobsters like Nicky and the mob bosses back home continued to wear cool, dark colored suits and pants. This in a way represents their cold hearted approach to the mob business. It is interesting to note that money, specifically cash which is green, was the main focus from the beginning. By the end of the movie, the spilling of red blood was wanted due to the ordered killings.
Words to Idea + Thesis Statement
5 words: Money, Power, Greed, Deception, Murder
Thesis Statement: The film highlights a mob'sdesire for money and power that eventually drives them to their downfall because of people's greed and deception. This forces the powers that be to have those who were once close, murdered.
Visual Research (Inspiration Board/Collection)
Exploration/Formulation (Style Board/Examples/Studies)
Story Board
Camera: Still / Scene will fade in from black with the poker chips already in place. The poker chips will be taken out in pairs to reveal type.
Camera: Pan Right / The next scene will fade in from the last scene with a one hundred dollar bill in a close up view. Type will appear from under the hair.
Camera: Still / An overlay of both the previous scene and the next scene will occur over the current scene. Type will appear once cards are lifted up.
Camera: Pan to the lower right-hand corner / Type will be in a set position as it moves along with the image.
Camera: Pan to the lower right-hand corner / Scene will consist of poker chips falling in slow motion. At the same time, the type will appear as it unravels from top to bottom using the masking function.
Camera: Pan Up / Type will be in a set position and will move along with the image as it appears between the gaping space within the pyramid.
Camera: Still / Type appears as dice roll into the scene. The type will have a mask of a rolling square imitating the motion of the dice.
Camera: Pan Right / Type will appear behind the American flag.
Camera: Still / Scene begins with a deck of cards being spread out. One spot will be open where type will appear.
Camera: Pan Right / Type will weave through every other column.
Camera: Still / Scene will start from the poker chip rolling into a frame. A cut scene will occur to a close up view of the poker chip being picked up to reveal type.
Camera: Pan Right / Type will be in a set position in a horizontal fashion that is similar to the surrounding text on the twenty dollar bill itself.
Camera: Still / This scene will fade in from the previous scene without an overlay. It will start with a one hundred dollar bill being in the frame as the camera zooms out with money falling. The lights will then go out.
Camera: Still / The last scene will fade in from black since the lights went out. The money is now gone and only thing that will appear will be the type.