My film begins from the perspective of the detectives life with a destructive past named John. John has not been the same since the night which changed his life forever which is made unclear to the audience about what that actually is. Because of this, John is let go from the detective agency, we are made known by this as he reveals it to us when he opens the letter he is holding.
Later that night John receives a call from an unknown number, he picks up and realizes it's from an old work colleague of his named Sam. Sam disappeared a few years ago from the agency and John had no idea why. Sam offers John a job and mentions to him how he knows that he does not have many other options otherwise he will lose his apartment. John reluctantly complies as he doesn't have any other options. The jobs involve assaulting and intimidating government officials who owe Sam's generous benefactors favors who they have apparently refused to uphold. John's detective instinct kicks in once he meets the character Sarah, someone else working for Sam who longs for a way out of this life. John and Sarah begin to investigate together and they soon discover that the 'benefactors' who they're working for seem to be using people like himself and Sarah not to scare officials in to upholding their favors, but instead to manipulate them to get Sam's benefactors in to power by supporting them. The films ends with a confrontation between Sam and John, ending with Sarah killing Sam as Sam is about to shoot John. The film ends without giving the audience any idea of John or Sarah's fate. (Similar to Se7en's ending).
Treatment
My film will focus is influenced by neo-noir films and during my key frames a script I will be attempting to create characters which represent or are similar to characters from other neo-noir films who are too complex to simply be placed into a character archetype. The character John has been influenced by the character John Hartigan from Sin City who is also a detective. The character of Sam has been influenced by Bob from Sin City that betrays Hartigan in the story The Yellow Bastard. The character of Sarah was also influenced by the femme fetale's of Sin City. e.g. Miho, Gail and Wendy.
My film begins with a medium close up shot featuring John in his car. After driving for a bit he parks his care in a dingy car park. We see John open a letter in his hand that states 'Letter of Resignation. I will use a POV shot focusing on the letter, this is similar to the opening sequence of Se7en, featuring John Doe preparing to begin his 'masterpiece'. John steps out of the car and lights a cigarette, which features a cut shot of John's hands and part of his face as he lights it. He inhales and exhales the smoke. This features a medium close up shot from slightly the side using the technique of cinema veritay to give a observers view as we do not know much of the character as of yet which is similar to Sin City during the first story the customer is always right. The final shot of this sequence features an over the shoulder shot of John with the letter torn apart as he burns it with his lighter This is similar to Fincher's use of camera shots in Zodiac, focusing on the watch during the investigation.
The film then cuts to a scene late at night with John looking at a picture of himself, and his wife, with a shot from behind him to show his distress due to the loss of his job, trying to find comfort by reminiscing old memories. Which is a technique in neo-noir films to show either flashbacks or scenes hinting towards information that is key to learning about the character, or their past. This is like how in The Dark Knight a flashback is used to show Bruce Wayne's relationship with Commissioner Gordon. The next shot zooms out and John moves to photo out of sight as he picks up a beer to show how ashamed he is of turning to alcoholism to resolve his problems. The next shot focuses on John's phone as it lights up and he gets a call from a private number. The next shot is a close up on John's face to show how he is feeling, reluctantly choosing to work for Sam who is offering him a job. This is similar to Fight Club in terms of the close up shot on the Narrator on the phone will be similar to my shot. The scene ends with this shot.The next few scenes shows John working for Sam, violently assaulting a government official who hasn't returned his favors to the people who put them in power. This shot shows three different characters who John intimidates to 'return his favors'. I will use an observation shot, using cinema veritay again. This is similar to the interrogation scene in the Dark Knight between Batman and the Joker, as well as when Marv is tortured by Wendy in Sin City.
The film then cuts to a short scene. This scene introduces Sarah, the femme fetale of my film who I would like to see as a mixture between Miho and Wendy from Sin City. The first shot is a point of view shot from John, looking at Sarah through the Male Gaze, similar to how women are portrayed in Sin City. During this scene they get very close and the scene becomes quite intimate to each other during their conversation where they both question what Sam's 'benefactors' real agenda is. The next shot shows John and Sarah raiding Sam's office, looking for any information on the people Sam is working for. Again, I will be using an observing shot, focusing on the door of Sam's office, to present the risks with this matter because someone could walk in to his office at any moment and if they are caught, they are dead. The last shot of this scene shows that some of the people who John had assaulted had files here, in their younger years they used to work for Sam's benefactors and they put them got them into power. When the people put in the power would no longer support the benefactors they hired people to threaten them into compliance.
As the two make this realisation and are about to leave, because they both know they cannot work for Sam anymore as it is against their morals. The next shot is an observation shot which shows another conversation between John and Sarah as they become very intimate again and both decide to go on the run and disappear. Sam then arrives, this is revealed through a POV shot, focusing on Sam smirking as he aims his gun at Sarah who is aiming the gun at Sarah, the next shot shows John shooting Sarah in her hip. A fight between John and Sam ensues which features a shot aimed towards Sam knocking John to the floor by smacking him with his gun, followed by a shot of John looking up at Sam as Sam aims his gun at John. The next shot shows Sarah shooting Sam in the neck as she lays on the floor. The final shot of the film features John with the injured and unconscious Sarah in his arms. This is similar to the shot of Hartigan and Nancy in Sin City near the end of the story The Yellow Bastard where he has killed The Yellow Bastard. It is also similar to the scene where Marv realizes that Goldie is dead.
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