Film Poster Research

This is a poster for The Film Taxi Driver.

The poster shows a man walking alone, with rundown streets behind him. It is also printed in Black and White.

This poster is similar to what my film poster may look like; The young man (Alex) is troubled and surrounded by a bad society.

The poster for La Haine is similar to what my poster may look like. This is because both my film and La Haine are about the similar subject matter.

The La Haine poster shows a young man stairing straight into the Lens. It is also printed in majority black and white. The bottom images show conlict with riot police.

I plan for my film to only involve my main character. It will also be printed in black and white as my film will be shot in black and white.

The script explained

The opening scene is Alex with his gun in front of the mirror. He is impersonating Robert De Niro from Taxi Driver. This is to show his glorification of guns.

The interview with Alex is to show his view on the matter of gun crime. This is meant to conflict with the view of other member of society as he tries to shift the blame to society itself. He blames society for his bad actions instead and not the other way round.

The interviews with the general public are meant to show these conflicting views.

There will also be shots of rundown estates and parks. This is to show the rougher sides of London and its derelict state.

The soundtrack will be Clair De Lune by Claude Debussy.

The soundtrack implies a sense of beauty. This will contrast against my short film.

Script

Alex is in the bathroom washing his face.


Alex pulls out a gun and holds it up to the mirror.

Alex: (Impersonating Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver)
You talking to me? What’s Up? YOU TALKING TO ME?

Pretends to fire gun. Then looks at the camera, point’s the gun and then smiles.

_____________________________________________________________________

Interview room

A journalist is interviewing Alex in a room. He is messing around with his gun.

Journalist: (1st Question)
Why did you start carrying a gun?

Alex:
I don’t know. I didn’t choose to. It just happened. When I came to London, most of the boys on the estate had them. I grew up surrounded by them and to me there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a way of life…I don’t know any better.


Journalist: (2nd Question)
Don’t you realize that by carrying a gun, you are a menace to society?

Alex:
A menace to society?……. We are not a menace to society. It’s more the other way round ya’ know. We have been pushed aside and forgotten. No one cares about us. If we’ve been cast out all our lives, what are we meant to do? We are a product of society. Each and every one of us is something you’ve created…that’s the truth.

Journalist:
How long were you in prison for?

Alex:
About Two years now.


Journalist:
Are you not afraid that one day, you will get killed as a result of gun crime?


Alex:
No, I’m not afraid. There’s saying around here;
You live by the gun, you die by the gun.

_____________________________________________________________________

Various members of the public are being interviewed with the same following question.

Journalist:
What do you think of teenagers carrying guns?

_____________________________________________________________________

There are various points in the film where there is un-scripted talking. This is because I do not plan to use the sound in these scenes.


The film will be done in three layers.

1) Footage of Alex messing around with his friends and shooting a teenager
2) Interview with Alex after his release.
3) Interview with members of public.

Further Research

I have done some more research for my short film and have found various useful sources.

La Haine



La Haine is a french film directed by Mathieu Kassovitz.

My film draws parallels with this film, addressing similar issues.

The film follows three young men and their time spent in the French suburban "ghetto," over a span of twenty-four hours. Vinz, a Jew, Saïd, an Arab, and Hubert, a black boxer, have grown up in these French suburbs where high levels of diversity coupled with the racist and oppressive police force have raised tensions to a critical breaking point. During the riots that took place a night before, a police officer lost his handgun in the ensuing madness, only to leave it for Vinz to find. Now, with a new found means to gain the respect he deserves, Vinz vows to kill a cop if his friend Abdel dies in the hospital, due the beating he received while in police custody.

Alex is similar to Vinz. A confused young man who is a product of society. They both have a gun and are both affected by it.

The themes are similar. My film will be black and white, with some scenes similar to La Haine.
It is the main influence for my short film.

My film also has influence from Mean Streets, Boyz N The Hood and Taxi Driver.

Storyline edit

After much deliberation, I have decided to change the storyline slightly.

Instead of Alex dieing, i have decided for him to have just been released from prison after shooting another teenager.
The film involves a journalist interviewing him about the use of guns. There will also be footage of the moments just before Alex shoots a teenager on the street.
There will also be interviews with members of the public.

I am trying to get different opinions on the issue of crime from two points of view. A convicted teenager, who has been affected by gun crime and the general public's view on the matter.

There will be also footage of rundown areas of London. The whole film will be made black and white with a documentary style filming. This will hopefully make it as close to real life as possible.

Due to this, my flow scene is irrelevant to the film. This is Ok as the flower scene did not turn out as expected. It looked un natural due to in correct lighting and timing.