Casino Set - Construction: Sunday 6th November

One of the key aspects of the audience feedback regarding the casino scenes featured in the video was how realistic it looked: many students and the teachers commented that it would need to look more believable for the final cut of our video. However, after contacting the five casinos in our area in the hope of getting permission to film inside them, we discovered this would be impossible due to the fact that we are underage and therefore not allowed on the premises, and that the casinos are open 24 hours so we would be unable to film when they were closed. Having relocated our performance element to be filmed on Newcastle Quayside, we discussed and came to the conclusion regarding the casino that we would once again film in the black-box drama studio at school, however pay a lot more attention to the background and the dressing of the set to try and create as realistic a set as possible. Therefore we will include more coloured drapes in the background, as well as having several more extras to create a busy feel.

In addition to this, I took on the responsibility this weekend of creating a realistic poker table for our actors to use, to give the scenes a more authentic and glamourous feel. I did some online research about the style of poker tables generally used, before going out and purchasing two sheets of MDF plywood along with some thick green felt to act as playing surface.
     In the construction of the table I cut the wood into perfectly measured semicircular pieces using an electric jigsaw, and sanded them down so they could be painted. So that the table can be folded in half for transport, I attached more pieces of wood to the bottom using screws and a strong wood glue, before cutting out the green felt, sewing it together and attaching it to the tabletop using the same glue. For the outer rim of the table I used acrylic paint in three different colours to create a wooden effect, and waited for this to dry before varnishing it to give it a professional, glossy finish. Once this was dry I was able to piece the table together, again using strong wood glue and leaving it to dry over night. The finishing touches were a series of gold studs around the edge, following the images I had taken from my online research. The table will be ready to use in tomorrow's shoot and will hopefully add to the authenticity of the scenes.

Here are a selection of photographs following the construction of the poker table: