Script (final draft)
- 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 – hence why all the characters have cockney accents. 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. Throughout, the scene cuts in and out of a black screen showing cast credits. The audio plays throughout. 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 a man who has just been shot. At the same time NICK and GARY are heard arguing. The shot fades into NICK and GARY arguing,1
- 3. 3 ignoring the injured man and pointing in his direction though he is not in the shot. He (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, (the man who has been shot), 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 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 of the pair arguing is shown. 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 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
- 4. 4 fuckin’ idiot ‘n’ all. He ain’t 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 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! 14 15 16 17 18 19
- 5. 5 GARY She - 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 knob-head, 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 on NICK’s shoe. NICK then bashes him in the face with the end of the pistol, knocking him unconscious in the process. CHARLES falls back in his chair. GARY So, you were gonna call Alex? 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
- 6. 6 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. 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 for the rest of the film. 30 31 32 33
- 7. 7 GARY …Anyway why do they call him ‘Alex the Axe’? NICK Why do you think, because he plays guitar? 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, Nick is about to tell Gary some old bollocks about a contract that turned bloody a few years ago. The story goes that after firin’ several rounds at this poor bloke, he was still alive. Rumour has it that numerous attempts were made on this guy’s life but apparently you just can’t kill the bastard. Remarkably so, Alex then proceeded to ‘ack this cunt to death with the nearest weapon he could find – an ‘atchet. Now, supposedly he cut the body up into several large pieces as to make his disposal easier; hence the nickname ‘Alex the Axe’. Truth is, that story is a load of bollocks – I made it up myself. 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 Fuck me… Remind me to stay the fuck away from that mad cunt in future. 34 35 36 37
- 8. 8 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 ALEX. CHARLES is still unconscious, while NICK and GARY are stood around eagerly waiting. NICK Fuck sake. How much longer is he gonna be? The sound of the garage door being opened is heard. NICK snaps his hand to the pistol grip of his weapon. ALEX appears. NICK pulls his hand away from his pistol, realising it is ALEX. ALEX then turns to shut the garage door behind him. He turns back around to face NICK and GARY. GARY Alex! GARY extends his arms out as if to give ALEX a friendly hug – ALEX clearly looks angry and as GARY steps forward he begins shouting. ALEX You stupid bastards! What the fuck’s the idea of running about shootin’ people in broad daylight! The shot freeze-frames for ALEX as he points his finger and shouts at NICK and GARY. NARRATOR In case you haven’t realised yet, I am Alex. I do the dirty work for the Boss and help maintain the organisation on a day- to-day basis. In other words, I spend my time cleaning up after these daft twats. You see the issue is that this bloke Charles pulled some cheeky shit; he tried to fuck the Boss over with the money he 38 39 40 41
- 9. 9 was lent on the understanding of a fast repayment – Charles decided to boycott the payment. Hence, he put a contract out on his kidnapping because he wants to ‘old him ransom. The Boss gave explicit instructions not kill the bastard... so now you can see the situation I’m presented with. The scene resumes from Alex’s line before his narration. GARY (LOOKS PUZZLED) What? ALEX (IN DISBELIEF) The Boss dropped the fucking contract! Confused, GARY and NICK look at each other. NICK How the fuck were we supposed to know? ALEX Well that’s not my fucking problem, is it? The fact is you ought to have known, right! Some new information has come to light. GARY (IN A DISRESPECTFUL, RUDE TONE) …and what is this ‘new information’? ALEX You better watch your tone before you end up like your mate Gav after his accident! Understood boy? Intimidated, GARY’S tone immediately changes. Now the Boss knew that Charles was connected to Mr Matthews. What he didn’t know is that he’s the son of a senior police figure currently on the take of Matthews himself. This has obviously created some undue complications and for 42 43 44 45 46 47
- 10. 10 that you have to pay a price. The Boss is a man you pay if you owe, and you fucking owe him. NICK (AS IF HE’S BEEN THE VICTIM OF A JOKE, LAUGHING) Are you pulling my pisser? ALEX Do I look like I’m fucking laughing Nicholas? GARY What the fuck do we do now then? ALEX (IN A COLD VOICE) You’ll pay what you owe. ALEX looks calm and unemotional. Without hesitation, ALEX takes his pistol and fires two rounds at GARY. GARY drops to floor, dead. NICK What the fuck! NICK draws his pistol and aims at ALEX. ALEX is also pointing his pistol at NICK. NICK You don’t have to do this! ALEX Why’s that boy? NICK …because we didn’t know! ALEX Well that’s not my fuckin’ problem! The Boss feels that you and Gary are a liability to his organisation. With that said, he sends his regards. 48 49 50 51 52 53 51 (again)
- 11. 11 NICK (CONCERNED) Well look, ‘ang on a sec. The bloke ain’t even dead. ALEX nods his head, signaling NICK to look behind. With his weapon still aimed at ALEX, he turns his head to see a dead CHARLES. NICK Fuck. ALEX Fuck indeed. 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. ALEX glares at NICK, aggressively. ALEX Put the gun down son, that thing weighs more than you. Still pointed at ALEX, NICK cocks the pistol. NICK What? You wanna see if I’ve got the bollocks? ALEX I know you don’t have the bollocks. NICK then fires seven rounds at ALEX, emptying the magazine. You can see the working parts are fully to the rear. ALEX looks around noticing he hasn’t been hit. NICK’S face shows cause for concern as he realizes he’s about to be killed; he is in disbelief that all his shots missed. ALEX (FURIOUS) You cheeky bastard! ALEX then fires two rounds at NICK, killing him. Swiftly, he hides his gun in his jacket pocket and he moves towards the garage door. He opens it and exits, shutting the door 54 55 58 59 57 56
- 12. 12 behind him. The screen fades to black and the credits begin with the introduction to ‘Fool’s Gold’ by Stone Roses. FADE OUT: THE END