Nick and Gary are small-time criminals who have kidnapped their target, Charles, but accidentally shot him in the process, going against their instructions to keep him alive. They call their Russian contact, Alex, to claim their reward. However, Alex kills both Charles and Gary upon learning that the contract on Charles has been lifted. A shootout ensues between Alex and Nick, ending in an ambiguous freeze frame that suggests they may both be dead. The film is targeted towards teenager audiences who enjoy crime dramas.

1. IDEA ONE: TREATMENT
TITLE
Fool’s Gold (introduction song and the name fits the story, being that it is about to wannabe
gangsters claiming a bounty).
LENGHTH
10-15 minutes
TAGLINE
A Cockney, Mancunian and a Russian walk into a garage…
KEY CHARACTERS
Nick
Nick is the main protagonist and narrator of the film, seen from his point of view. He has a
stereotypical cockney accent and is meant to represent the lower class. It is obvious he
doesn’t take much pride in his appearance and he presents himself as scruffy and
unprofessional. His best friend and colleague is Gary.
Gary
Gary is a Mancunian who lacks common sense in terms of the fact he doesn’t take in to
account the consequences of his actions, which will be evident in the film. Although being of
a similar level to Nick, he is almost the sidekick and the not so unwise Nick looks after him
like a brother. He like Nick, presents himself in a scruffy manner although makes his
statement with always wearing his Manchester United shirt, which he wears proudly.
Alexeyev (‘Alex the Axe’)
Alex is the Russian ex-soldier, but also the right-hand man of ‘The Boss’ who is only ever
brought up in mention during the film. He is trusted but the man who runs the organised
crime group and has been contacted by the henchmen as they have kidnapped the man with
a contract placed on his head by the Boss. However, what they forgot to tell him is that
although still alive, has been shot in his capture. Alex has a reputation for being a hardened
psychopath and for the brutal ways in which he murders his victims; hence his nickname,
‘Alex the Axe’). He often presents himself in a professional manner, wearing expensive suits
and keeping his hair tidy and slicked.
Charles (Hostage)
Charles is meant to be a middle to upper class man who did business with ‘The Boss,
however for some unexplained reason, double-crossed him. Therefore he is seeking
revenge by placing a contract on his head. He has an insignificant role in the film however
he facilitates the story as the main reason the event occurs is because of his kidnapping.
The story focuses mainly on Nick and Gary. Charles he been shot in the leg in his capture,
despite being wanted alive.
SYNOPSIS
Act 1
It begins with a chase, however it is only implied as the film begins with a completely blank
screen with only the audio to imply what is going on. After about 30 seconds of the implied
chase (lots of panting and running footsteps), a gunshot is heard and it descends into
silence.
Following approximately 3-4 seconds of silence, with a continued blank screen, the sounds
of a man screaming is heard, as well as two unknown men arguing. The screen fades into a
shot of two men (Gary and Nick) arguing in a garage. It is unclear as to what they are
shouting about as they are both shouting over each other. During the argument, Nick

2. demands he keeps hold of the gun because Gary clearly isn’t responsible enough to use it,
hence why Nick has it at the end of film, when he shoots Alexeyev.
During the introduction and opening credits, Nick has a narration explaining the situation, in
which he explains his relationship with Gary – this being that they give each other a hard
time and act like they hate each other, when really they are best mates. He also briefly
mentions (foreshadowing) what is to come. This will be done with a line at the end of his
narration, such as: “What we didn’t know, is that we’d be dead within the next hour…”
It is revealed through dialogue that the two men, each looking scruffy, with messy hair and
shaggy clothes, that they have shot a man and kidnapped a man. They were arguing as one
is shouting at the other for revealing and firing the gun in broad daylight, especially when the
contract specified he is taken alive. He was shot in the thigh.
The pair call the Russian, Alexeyev who right-hand man of their boss, so they can claim their
reward in exchange for the hostage. The issue is a gun was fired in the street, which
someone was bound to have heard, and now they have a casualty bleeding out, despite
them being instructed to take the man alive, because he double-crossed their boss. What
they don’t realise is that they are going to be eliminated as ‘The Boss’ can’t be seen to have
any connection with the shooting.
Act 2
Nick explains to Gary who ‘Alex the Axe’ (Alexeyev) is and through Nick’s monologue, the
film cuts between the current time, in the garage and the story of Alex being explained to
Gary. The story explains his violent tendencies and the way he brutally murders his victims,
hence ‘Alex the Axe’. Nick tells the story because Gary asks why the Russian earned his
nickname.
After his narration, there are a few more minutes of dialogue between the two, before Alex
finally arrives. Upon Alex’s arrival, the two prepare to claim the money. However, Alex is
curious to know why they shot Charles, when he was specifically wanted alive. Panicking,
the two explain what happened in a flashback, relaying the introduction scene, this time with
the visuals too. This clarifies what actually happened for the audience’s sake. This entails
the two henchmen chasing the hostage on foot, whilst eventually resorting to Gary shooting
him to prevent his escape. This follows the two being berated by the Russian for their lack of
sensibility in capturing the hunted man.
Despite the need for the hostage to be kept alive, Alex shoots and kills him, much to the Nick
and Gary’s disgust, having specifically been told to keep him alive. Alex then proceeds to
explain why he killed the hostage.
This was because the contract on the hostage’s kidnapping was lifted, having found out the
man’s father is a senior police official on the take from a rival criminal organisation. The
contract had initially been placed on Charles after he double-crossed and stole ‘The Boss’’
money. Therefore, the police officer could have exposed the organised criminals should his
son be taken and dealt with secretly. This means that Alexeyev was more discontent with
the manner in which they dealt with the situation, rather than the fact they kidnapped
Charles, not knowing the contract had been lifted. However, their boss had instead decided
to put a contract on the father, now leaving the hostage expendable. Furthermore, ‘The
Boss’ needed to distance himself from the duo as they have just shot a man in broad
daylight, leaving them expendable too. This meant that Alex had to kill them both for their
unprofessionalism.

3. Act 3
Following this, Alex shoots Gary dead. Immediately, Nick draws his gun but is too slow and
get knocked to the ground by two rounds. Alex, still pointing his gun at a bleeding Nick,
approaches him. Now in slow motion, Nick reaches for his pistol and there is camera shot of
the pair aiming at each other. The shot pauses into a freeze-frame and the sound effect of
multiple gunshots are heard, all out of time with each other to suggest two guns being fired
at once. Are they both dead? Freeze frames fades to black. Credits.
TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audience of my short film will be teenagers who enjoy crime-based drama, or the
drama genre in general. It will appeal to them because it is full of action and occasional
humour. There is also a certain amount of uncertainty of the purpose and where the plot is
going, as their point of the film is not revealed and the twist at the end. This is that the film is
being written by a media student changes the whole dynamic of the story, which I believe will
draw the audience in. The film will most likely be popular among fans of classic crime films
such as ‘Pulp Fiction’, ‘Reservoir Dogs’, ‘Snatch’ and ‘Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’.
In relation to the 4Cs scale, the target audience for this film will most likely be the Aspirer as
it targets teenagers, mostly college age and university students. Therefore their decision to
carry on in higher and further education would place them in the ‘Aspirer’ category of the
4Cs scale. Thus, this would suggest the same people would be graded a ‘B’ referring to the
NRS scale, being that the majority are going to be from a middle class background.
FORM AND STYLE
The majority of the film will be set in the garage on one location and there is no need for a
special camera such a drone. However, in the editing process I may decide to use special
effects to show the setting and genre, such as a filter over the top to make the camera work
look older, as it is set in the early 2000s. The genre I am attempting to imitate is a crime
drama, upon which I will base all my inspiration on my favourite films of this genre (These
include Reservoir Dogs and Snatch).
MARKETPLACE
I think there is a potential to create a series of films that link in with this one, however not a
sequel as all but one character has is killed. However, I believe there is a market for a spin-
off film, such as how Gary and Nick met or what Alex was doing in Russia, prior to his
emigration to London. Moreover, I also think the film has the potential to do well at festivals
as it is different by nature, in terms of the fact it is not set in the present but 15-20 years ago.