FILM IDEA

1. “Don’t
count your
cards until
the
dealings
done.”

2. SUMMARY
Dead Man's Hand is the story of a heroin's revenge on
her partners in crime who once cheated her out on £66k
in a poker game.
The story unfolds when Sam, Neil and Si (The One-Eyed
Royals) conduct a bank heist, on the escape Sam slips
away with all the money leaving Neil and Si empty
handed.
This results in a chase for the money, where all ends in
blood and gore.

3. SYNOPSIS
Three criminals conduct a heist. Shortly after, two of the three criminals get to the meeting point and
their female accomplice doesn’t show up. They assume she’s been caught by the police so they
carry on. Sam is getting revenge on Si and Neil, because they cheated her out of £66k in a poker
game.
Ryan and Liam want their money back, but who can be trusted?
Characters:
Beth – Femme Fatale. She swindles the money of Ryan and Liam and eventually comes out on top
when they want it back.
Ryan and Liam – Two gangsters who lose their money. Not the brightest.
Twists:
One of our twists comes early on when Ryan and Liam realise that Beth has taken all the money,
but the main twist is when Ryan turns on Liam and we realise that they were working together all
along. We find out that Beth bribed Ryan to help her kill Liam, but Beth knows that Ryan helped
Liam cheat at the poker game.

4. 3 ACT TREATMENT- FILM
ACT 1
•
Post heist (influenced by
reservoir dogs) of a bank.
•
Clean get away- Neil and Si
run out front, Sam has gone
out back with money
•
ACT 3
ACT 2
•
Double cross- Sam runs off
with money leaving Si and
Neil at the meeting spot
empty handed. Sam wants
revenge- for past incident
(Neil cheated Sam £66,000
from the help of Si in a
poker game)
- Shown in trailer
•
Neil and Si on search for
Sam and the money, whilst
Sam is on the run
Twist: Si has been helping
Sam from the beginning,
and was involved in the first
double cross at the bank.
•
Although Sam knows Si
helped Neil cheat at the
poker game, she still bribed
Si pre-heist to help her by
killing off Neil so she could
get revenge on him.
•
Once the deed is done and
Neil is dead, Si regroups
with Sam to then be killed,
Sam knocks 2 birds out with
one stone and gets away
with £3,000,000

5. ALLOCATED POSITIONS
• JOE: cameraman, editing
• RYAN: actor
• LIAM: director, actor
• BETH: actor
LOCATIONS:
Barclay’s Bank- In town
Back alleys
NCP car park
High street
Joe’s House
Varndean College
Characters:
• Heroine/protagonist –
Sam A.K.A Smiley
• Antagonist/villain –
Neil A.K.A Dopey
• Antagonist/villain – Si
A.K.A Grouchy

6. DEAD MAN’S HAND
•
According to legend, Wild Bill Hickok was shot to
death in the middle of a poker game with 2 pairs: black
aces and black eight's. No one knows for sure what the
kicker was, but from then on black aces and eight's has
been called dead man's hand.
Definition:
• The film name wasn’t initially chosen due to the
definition but because it relates to the films main
conventions we thought that it was ideal i.e. because
the plot revolves around the heroine getting revenge on
the men that cheated her at poker (who are later killed)

7. MARKETING
• Because our film is low budget and independent it would be
marketed through social networking sites on web 2.0 like
Facebook, the films own website, and other publicity like
interviews with the actors and director on the internet and small
company magazines. The film could also be advertised on
gambling websites/games which would relate to the film.
• It would also be shown at small film festivals and award nights
before the main release.
• The cinemas our film would be viewed at would be independent
cinemas like the Duke Of York’s in Brighton.

8. USP
The USP (unique selling point) of our film is that we
have a strong female lead, which most films don’t
really do as they use males most of the time.
However we have used a female lead (Beth) because
of films such as kill bill. We feel that this doesn’t only
make our film stand out but it also gives it a
postmodern twist.

9. Slogan
What is a slogan?
:A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase
The slogan of a film is probably one of the main things that
the audience remembers and that’s why they have to be
short and simple.
The slogan that our group has chosen to use is:
She just got f**ked, now she's
the one doing the f**king.
The reason for this slogan is that the female lead in our
film got cheated out of 66,000 pounds in a poker game
and now she's back for revenge.

10. Target
population
The target population for our film
is mainly for people between 15
and 25. So a young audience but
we have also took into account
that probably people of a older
age will also enjoy our film, this is
a bonus for us as more people will
want to see it.

11. Classification
of our film
The classification of our film is a 15.
What does the 15 symbol mean?
No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the
cinema or buy/rent a ‘15’ rated DVD. 15 rated
works are not suitable for children under 15 years
of age.
.strong violence
.frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').
.portrayals of sexual activity
.strong verbal references to sex
.sexual nudity
.brief scenes of sexual violence or
verbal references to sexual violence
.drug taking
These are things which
make a film a 15.

12. INFLUENCES
• Kill Bill – Femme Fatale
• Reservoir Dogs – Post Heist
• Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels – Poker elements involved
• Jackie Brown – Femme Fatale + Money is the key prop in the film that is
used as the McGuffin

13. STORYBOARD

14. STORYBOARD