Casino Royale Production

At the Gordon Vallins Studio at Stratford-upon-Avon College on Friday 26th November 2010, we, the Creative and Media group, went to go and see the BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Performing Arts Year 2 and the Design and Technical students perform a very good variety performance called 'Casino Royale.' This had nothing to do with the James Bond film however it was a very unique show consisting of everything from two German lion tamers to a lot of beautiful looking ladies singing "Hey Big Spender!" 

 The acts were based around money, gambling and overall humour. A spin of the roulette wheel decided which act performed and all of them were completely different! The venue was set up in the style of a glamorous casino, lit and amplified all by the students of the college! 

I thoroughly enjoyed every act, but if I had to choose a specific sketch then it would have to be the lion tamers, Hanzel & Gretel. They had to put on  a very convincing German accent for the duration of their performance and succeeded with it 100%. They were a very humorous duet coming out with some very mischievous lines at times but the overall experience with them on stage was on a whole new level! The host was also very funny and good at acting! He managed to pull the whole show together to make it flow well and kept the audience entertained. 

To conclude, it was a very good performance which the whole group enjoyed and loved watching. I'd like to say thank you to all the cast who put on an outstanding performance and to the director for thinking of such an innovative idea! 

The making of "The Culture Show" // Sebb, Orla & Claire.

When I was making "The Culture Show" I found out many different techniques and many different ways of creating a unique video. For example, I had never used Final Cut Pro in my life so I had to learn the basics "on the job!"We were also filming on cameras called Sony A1E which are usually used on a professional basis. We all felt very privileged to have the opportunity to use this software and equipment!


When we were editing, we were asked to incorporate Motion and Soundtrack Pro. 

I really enjoyed using Motion. It allowed me to create beautiful looking titles with complete ease. We made a title with different lines which was simple yet effective and fit in perfectly with the topic, Culture. I look forward to using Motion a lot more in the near future as I feel it could be a great aspect of my college course and allow me to take videos to the next level.


Soundtrack however was great piece of software and suitable if you need to make a sound track for a film or song but it wasn't suitable for this short video. The interface seemed a bit too complicated for my liking but Im sure after a few tests I could work out the basics and create some simple soundtracks.


Editing was my favorite part as I worked out how to do simple transitions as well as some faint Colour Correction... It made our video stand out and looked much better quality. 


As I said, the camera that we used was called Sony A1E which stands for Sony Alpha.  
This camera allowed us to do the following:

• Use a range of focusing techniques such as Tele Macro
• Use the "Rule of Thirds" technique when shooting subject on the offset of the centre frame
• White balance and Exposure played a big part in our short film as this allowed us to shoot video in real life colours so that the frame didn't look either "washed out" or bland
• Zooming allowed me to take the Rule of Thirds technique to the next level allowing me to use close ups or mid shots in my composition. 
• Angles. I used these to just make the video less ordinary with high angles or slightly low. This wasn't to change the status of the subject in shot but to create a different mood and approach to filming. 

I really enjoyed our first project of creating a short film on "The Culture Show." I cant wait for  our next task as I am more familiar with the software we are now using :)

Below I have embedded the final render of "The Culture Show" to show you the overall piece I have talked about in this post.

Final Video: 

Stratford Tour Bus & Shakespeare's Birthplace Review

Last Friday, before the holidays, the CAM group and myself took a ride on the very unique "Stratford Tour Bus!" We all walked down from the college on a brisk friday morning to find the mop being errected in the centre of town. We walked to the Tour Bus depot and waited there for about ten minutes when it eventually arrived.

When we set off, straight away the commentator said that to our left there was a "Flat Top Tree" which had been there since around the year 1500. Also we were told straight away that the town was laid out as a medieval grid pattern which was quite a common thing to do in those days. Another interesting fact was that Stratford had wider streets then most other towns in order to prevent the spread and probability of fires. As fires were very common in those days, with no fire brigade service, people would do all they could to prevent fires.

When Shakespears birthplace went on sale, we got told that a person bought it for a mere £3,000. Which obviously was a lot back then but to think of that about of money these days it sounds tiny! 

Another interesting fact was that Shottery Road used to be called Burial Lane in the time of the black plague as this would be where the infected civilization would be buried and burnt. The locals didn't like living in "Burial Lane" so it was changed to what we know today as Shottery Road. 

When we had finished with Shottery road we got told that in the 1700 hundreds,when people had a cough, they would use frog saliva to act as a anti biotic. This is why people today say when you have a nasty cough; "Got a frog in your throat?"

As we came out of Straford town we were told about what people used to drink back in the day. The answer was that they just drank ale! Right from the age of 7 you would drink full ale and when you were an adult, they used to drink 8 pints and still work the next day. Another common saying would be "1 over the 8?"

Through Shottery we got told about the thatched houses and how they were built. This was very interesting as they said about the roofs being made of "wheat straw" and that when they slept they had to have a rug over their mouths as the roof would allow things to fall in your mouth when you slept.

We ended the excitable and informative tour and headed to Shakespeare's birthplace which was our next point of call.

CaM Group - Tour Bus 2010

So when we arrived at the birthplace we were greeted in and then watched a few television screens for about 20 minutes. This gave us a great introduction to the world of Shakespeare and how he grew up. We were told that infront of us was the "most important book" in Shakespear times as this was where he wrote all of his plays in. From Romeo & Juliet to A Midsummers Nights Dream, all the plays Shakespear had ever conducted were found in this very very special book! From there we were directed into the main house where we saw many different tour guides who would tell us about different aspects, such as gloves and beds. The man in the glove room was very interesting right from the start as he gave quite an amusing speech about how he would love to put an alarm in one of the gloves so that one day, when someone picks up that glove, he would get his own little kick out of watching them freak out. Wierd, I know!

The lady in the bedroom where Shakespear was born talked about the bed and the bed that was located underneath. It was a pull out bed which was held together with woven rope. She said that this is where you get the saying, "Good night, Sleep tight..." Because if the ropes in the bed were loose you would be pratically sleeping on the floor!

As we came to the end of the house tour, we entered the courtyard. This was like a beautiful garden where the flat top tree stood from the tour bus. Full of beautiful flowers and boosting with life, the courtyard was definetly the hightlight of the whole experience. When we were all just mooching around the courtyard, taking photos and writing notes, suddenly a random performance took place in the scene of a middle aged drunk man acting silly whilst being shouted at by what seemed like his wife. It was a very convincing and well set performance and added a little excitement to the trip. He must have had "1 over the 8!"
Overall I thought that the birtplace was intresting  but not as interesting as the tour bus, yet it was a good enough insight to what the medieval period was like. 

Here is a video of what happened in the court yard: