tgj

1. “A FOOL’S GOLD”
By
William Hallowell
Ringwood School, Parsonage Barn Lane
BH24 1SE
01425475000
hallowellw.student@ringwood.hants.sch.uk

2. 2
SCENE 1: TITLE SCREEN
We see a black screen through the introduction with no
prompt as to what is going on but audio. Fast moving
footsteps are heard running on concrete from multiple
people. The film is set in London – NICK is a cockney.
However, GARY is a Mancunian and ALEXEYEV (‘ALEX THE AXE’)
is Russian.
NICK
Hurry up you lazy bastard!
The running footsteps continue. The sound of a person
panting is also heard (implying there is a chase).
GARY
He went that way…
NICK
Well get a fucking move on then!
The sounds footsteps and panting are continued.
GARY
Fuck this.
We then hear the sound of a pistol being cocked and two
shots are fired one after the other. There is a short echo
of the final shot, then all audio stops. This scene lasts
for around 30 seconds.
‘A FOOL’S GOLD’ appears on the blank screen in big capital,
bold letters. The first few seconds of ‘Fool’s Gold’ by the
Stone Roses begin to play as the writing appears. After 5
seconds, the title fades out and ‘1.20pm’ fades in for 3
seconds.
SCENE 2: INT. CAR GARAGE – AFTERNOON
FADE IN
The black screen continues. The song ‘Fool’s Gold’
continues and screams of agony are heard. Things like
“Fuck” and “Jesus Christ” are heard by CHARLES, who has
just been shot. At the same time NICK and GARY are heard
arguing. The shot fades into NICK and GARY arguing,
ignoring the injured man and pointing in his direction
1

3. 3
though he is not in the shot. CHARLES is screaming in agony
throughout the scene.
What they are saying is inaudible as they are shouting over
the top of each other. There is then a freeze-frame shot of
CHARLES, tied up in a chair. He has been kidnapped. It is
clear he has been shot around the collar bone – blood oozes
from his white t-shirt. ‘CHARLES’ appears on the screen.
The audio cuts except from the music.
NARRATOR
This… is Charles. He owes the boss a lot
of money. You see, he nicked a few monkey
under the pretentions of ‘borrowing’ it,
but never paid it back. It’s not a lot
money, granted, but it’s the principle.
Now, the boss wants to collect his debt -
y’know, ‘old him ransom to make an
example. Hence why these two fuckin’
idiots ‘ave got him hostage. The Boss put
a contract out on his head to collect his
outstanding debt.
The audio resumes. The freeze-frame stops but the same shot
is continued, CHARLES is clearly in discomfort, screaming
in agony. The shot goes back to NICK and GARY, still
arguing. We then see a freeze-frame shot of just Gary. The
audio cuts again, with the music still playing. ‘GARY’
appears in writing on the shot.
Now this is Gary, or as many of us like to
call him, ‘Glitters’ on account of the
fact that – well… to put it plainly he
looks like a nonce dun he? The problem is
that he’s a fuckin’ Manc with fewer brains
cells than bollocks, hence why he supports
Liverpool; oh and the fact he just shot a
bloke in broad fuckin’ daylight.
The freeze-frame ends and the audio resumes. The same shot
as before is shown of the pair arguing. A freeze-frame shot
of Nick is then shown. The audio cuts again, except the
song. ‘NICK’ appears in writing in the shot.
Finally, Nick. He represents the more
sensible side of the pair, though he’s a
fuckin’ idiot ‘n’ all. He ain’t
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

4. 4
particularly clever, but he don’t lack
common sense if you know what I mean?
They’ve been mates for a few years, but
they don’t half prove otherwise.
The scene resumes and suddenly the music cuts.
NICK
…Right will you shut the up for a second!
Why the fuck did you shoot him!
GARY
I was trynna slow him down! He were
getting away!
NICK
Don’t be daft, you were well behind me!
GARY
That’s why I shot ‘im you stupid bastard!
There is a brief pause as Nick takes a moment to calm down
and deal with the situation at hand.
NICK
We were specifically told to take him
alive so what good is it if he dies? We
ain’t gonna be paid mate!
GARY (JUSTIFYING HIS ACTIONS)
Oh he’s still breathing!
NICK
Yes but the little girl ain’t is she?
GARY (WAVING HIS HANDS ABOUT)
She saw me shoot ‘im. She was a witness!
NICK
She was a child. An innocent fuckin’ kid!
GARY
She -
14
15
16
17
18
19

5. 5
NICK interrupts him, still trying to calm down.
NICK
Right, here’s what we do. I’ll call Alex
as planned but I ain’t gonna tell him
about the girl. Neither of us are. We
can’t hide the fact we shot our friend
here so we’ll deal with that when he gets
here.
CHARLES screams in pain whilst NICK and GARY have been
neglecting him throughout the scene.
NICK
Give me the fucking gun.
NICK attempts the silence CHARLES by intimidating him.
Charles continues to scream in pain. Gary passes him the
pistol.
NICK
(To GARY) He’s starting to wind me up now.
NICK turns to CHARLES and walks up to him within point-
blank range. He points the pistol aiming straight at
CHARLES’ head.
NICK (AS HE WAVES THE PISTOL
ABOUT)
Right, shut the fuck up before I ram this
here pistol so far down your throat you’ll
be shittin’ metal for a month. Now, will
you allow me to continue?
CHARLES spits. NICK then bashes him in the face with the
end of the pistol, knocking him unconscious in the process.
GARY
So, you were gonna call Alex?
NICK
That’s right, ‘Alex the Axe’.
NICK pulls out a 00s mobile phone and proceeds to call a
number. The sound of a number being dialed is heard.
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29

6. 6
NICK
Hello…? Yeah, yeah it’s me. Look we’ve got
your man. What do you want us to do with
him?
There is a brief moment of silence as NICK waits for
ALEXEYEV’s reply on the other end of the phone call.
NICK
Alright. You know where we are.
NICK ends the phone call and places his phone back in his
pocket.
GARY
So…?
NICK
So what?
GARY
So what do we do?
NICK
He said ‘old tight, he’ll be ‘ere soon.
The scene fades to a black screen. ‘1.45pm’ appears on the
screen for 3 seconds. The next scene fades in.
SCENE 3: INT. CAR GARAGE – AFTERNOON
FADE IN
The dialogue starts as if we have just joined the
conversation mid way through. Both NICK and GARY are
looking bored. NICK is leaning against the wall and GARY is
sat on the floor. CHARLES remains unconscious.
GARY
…Anyway why do they call him ‘Alex the
Axe’?
NICK
Why do you think, because he plays guitar?
30
31
32
33

7. 7
GARY
Fuckin’ hell I was just asking.
NICK (SIGHING)
They call him ‘Alex the Axe’ because –
The shot pauses into a freeze-frame.
NARRATOR
Now you’re probably wondering why they
call him ‘Alex the Axe’. Nick is about to
tell Gary some old bollocks about a
contract on this bloke, who coincidently,
also tried to fuck the boss. The story
goes that after slashin’ ‘im to death with
his preferred weapon of choice, his
‘atchet, Alex then proceeded to ‘ack off
the limbs of the body as to make his
disposal easier. Hence, the nickname ‘Alex
the Axe’. Truth is, this story is a load
of shit. Alex invented the nickname to
build a hard reputation, causing all this
myth and speculation. I mean… he’s ‘ard
but ain’t a nutter.
The scene resumes as if NICK has just told GARY.
NICK
…And that is why they call him ‘Alex the
Axe’. As I said, he’s a fuckin’ mentalist.
GARY
Fuckin’ hell. Remind me to stay the fuck
away from that mad Cossack.
The screen fades to black.’2.01pm’ appears in the corner of
the screen for 3 seconds then fades away.
SCENE 4:INT. CAR GARAGE – AFTERNOON
FADE IN
It’s almost been an hour since CHARLES was shot. NICK and
GARY are still awaiting the arrival of ALEXEYEV (‘Alex the
Axe’). CHARLES is still unconscious, while NICK and GARY
are stood around eagerly waiting.
34
35
36
37
38

8. 8
NICK
Fuck sake. How much longer is he gonna be?
The sound of the garage door being opened is heard. NICK
quickly raises his hand to the pistol grip of his weapon.
ALEXEYEV appears.
NICK pulls his hand away from his pistol, realizing it is
ALEXEYEV.
Freeze-frame shot. ‘ALEX THE AXE’ appears on the screen and
the introduction to the classical piece ‘Russian Winter’ is
heard.
NARRATOR
Now… you know who this geezer is. All you
need to know is that Alex here is the
right-hand man of the boss, and that they
have each other’s backs. Alex normally
does the dirty work that the boss needs
done, so as to keep his own ‘ands clean.
Other than that, no explanation needed.
The shot resumes and the writing disappears. In a friend-
like manner, GARY approaches ALEXEYEV.
GARY
Alex! Good to see ya!
ALEXEYEV
You fucking idiots!
GARY (LOOKS PUZZLED)
What?
ALEXEYEV (IN DISBELIEF)
You were specifically told not to kill
him, and what do you do? You fools shoot
him.
Confused, GARY looks to NICK.
NICK
How did you –
39
40
41
42

9. 9
ALEXEYEV interrupts NICK.
ALEXEYEV
Did you think I wouldn’t know? Did you not
know the contract was lifted?
NICK (UTTERLY SURPRISED)
What the fuck are you on about?
GARY
Yeah, we carried out the contract as you
told us to.
ALEXEYEV
It was lifted.
NICK (AS IF HE’S BEEN THE VICTIM
OF A JOKE, LAUGHING)
Are you pulling my pisser?
ALEXEYEV
Do I look like I’m fucking laughing?
GARY
What do you mean the contract has been
lifted?
ALEXEYEV
Do you mean to tell me you didn’t know?
NICK
No?
ALEXEYEV looks calm and unemotional.
ALEXEYEV
Well, now I have I’m going to have to kill
you.
Without hesitation, ALEXEYEV produces a pistol and fires
two rounds at GARY. GARY drops to floor. There is then a
slow motion shot of two empty casings dropping to the
floor. Slow motion audio of the pinging of the rounds
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52

10. 10
touching the floor is heard. The shot plays until the
casings hit the floor.
NICK
What the fuck!
NICK draws his pistol and aims at ALEXEYEV. ALEXEYEV is
also pointing his pistol at NICK.
NICK
Why the fuck you do that!
With his pistol still aimed at NICK, ALEXEYEV shrugs his
shoulders, showing no emotion.
ALEXEYEV
The contract was lifted.
NICK
You fu-
ALEXEYEV interrupts NICK.
ALEXEYEV
What you didn’t know, what we didn’t know…
is that this piece of shit is the son of a
man on Scotland Yard. This man is on the
take of a certain… Mister Matthews.
NICK (SHOCKED, IN DISBELIEF)
Matthews? Fuck me…
ALEXEYEV
Yes, Matthews. The same Matthews that we
are currently at war with… We cannot be
seen to have a connection to you – because
of this… there is no possible way I can
allow you to walk free…
NICK
Well look, ‘ang on a sec.
53
54
55
56
57
58

11. 11
ALEXEYEV (WITH ANGER, HIS VOICE IS
NOW RAISES)
You shot a man in a broad daylight; you
shot an innocent girl too. You fucking
killed the man you tried to bring to me.
This is… unacceptable.
NICK
Nah he ain’t dead…
ALEXEYEV nods his head, signaling NICK to look behind. With
his weapon still aimed at ALEXEYEV, he turns his head to
see a dead CHARLES.
NICK
Fuck.
ALEXEYEV
Yes… fuck.
There is a brief moment of silence as the pair are in a
standoff, pointing their pistols at each other. Neither of
them look as if they will back down.
ALEXEYEV glares at NICK, aggressively. He looks almost like
a psychopath.
NICK (UPSET)
You bastard!
NICK yells in fury.
NICK
AHHHHH!
NICK fires a round, simultaneously followed by ALEXEYEV
returning one.
We then see a freeze-frame of the pair in a standoff, NICK
is yelling. Both NICK and ALEXEYEV’s weapons are being
fired. A series of gunshots are heard, indicating that both
pistols are being fired. After 5-6 seconds, the freeze-
frame fades to black. The introduction of ‘Fools Gold’ by
the Stone Roses begins and the credits start to appear. The
freeze-frames of each character are shown again with
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

12. 12
segments of 3-5 seconds being played before the freeze-
frames with the names appear.
FADE OUT:
THE END