Active Shooter (film)
Active Shooter is a 2018 American drama short film written and directed by Jacob Tanenbaum[1], part of an Indie film and music video production studio known as Action Potential Productions.[2] It stars Ron Kologie as Carl Ford, a former Marine and father. When a shooting occurs at his son's school, Carl fears that his son is responsible. The film won the Social Awareness Award[3] at the 2018 Silver State Film Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada and was screened at the 2018 Pasadena International Film Festival,[4] the 2018 Bucheon International Film Festival, and the 2018 Niagara Falls International Film Festival.
The film received positive reviews, and has over 11 million views on YouTube.[2] Some people believed that the movie was made in response to the Stoneman Douglas shooting; however, shooting began in 2017, before the shooting.
Plot[edit]
A news broadcast about a shooting at Lincoln High, tells of the shooter firing out of the windows at a reporter. A news ticker reveals that Lincoln High is one of the biggest schools in the region, and that police are fearing a lot of casualties. It then cuts to Carl Ford on the phone with police. He tells them he fears his son, Andrew Ford, is the shooter, and that he's trying to find the key to his gun cabinet. Carl reveals that Andrew has broken into his gun cabinet before, and that he hid the key. The operator tells him to hurry, and Carl hangs up the phone to look for the key. In the background, paramedics are heading towards the school, and several ambulances are in the background. An armed group of police officers enters the school through the gym, where the shots were first fired.
Carl enters Andrew's room, a dark bedroom with dimly-lit red lights and an American flag in the corner, and picks up a baseball bat with the word "Slugger" written on it, next to a glass display of baseballs. A flashback sequence shows an argument between Carl and Andrew, after Andrew unexpectedly quit his baseball team. Andrew is shown playing Hatred, a violent game about a mass murderer. As Carl searches under the bed, the news confirms there is one male shooter exchanging fire with the police, wounding an officer. Carl finds a beer bottle under Andrew's bed, as well as a piece of paper with the words "Dear Katie, I'm sorry for everything" written on it. Carl searches Andrew's closet, and finds a duffel bag on top containing combat boots and a tactical knife. In the background, a police helicopter flies over the school to try and locate the shooter.
Carl attempts to log into Andrew's computer, but it is password-protected. He tries a couple combinations, before searching Andrew's desk, finding a lighter, a bullet, and a wallet, but no idea of a password. The TV in the background says that police are being bombarded by calls from concerned parents. Carl finds Andrew's journal, and begins reading it, with Andrew questioning his sanity, and obsessing over a girl named Katie, who he apparently likes. One page is torn out, and Carl flips through trying to find it, seeing drawings of guns and action movie characters. He looks around his room trying to find a hint, but eventually figures out the password is "Slugger". The TV in the background mentions that students are on the roof trying to escape, firefighters are trying to rescue them, and police are unsure where the shooter is.
Carl logs in, and sees Hatred, which Andrew was playing earlier. He looks through Andrew's calendar, and sees an event labeled as "FINAL" for that current day. He goes to his Facebook page, and sees Andrew's last post from the day before, which is him saying "I think I really messed up." Carl looks through Andrew's DMs, and we learn more about Andrew: He talks with a friend about smoking cigarettes, and it's revealed that Andrew's mom is dead. Carl finds messages sent to a Katie Brown, a girl in his history class. Andrew tells her that he's been fighting with his dad, and that things were better when his dad was stationed overseas in Afghanistan. Katie and Andrew then get into an argument after the two of them hang out together, and Andrew tells his friends he went on a date with her, with Andrew sending a threatening message to her. In the background, the reporter is interviewing two girls who escaped. The girls mention that the shooter was a man, but he was wearing a mask, so they couldn't tell who it was.
Carl finds Katie's home phone number, and calls her mom. Mrs. Brown is at the school trying to find Katie, but the police are refusing to let her in. Carl tells her that her daughter was friends with Andrew, but they had a fight. While he is talking to her, the two girls being interviewed say that the shooter killed at least 3 students in the library, including Katie Brown. Carl apologizes to Mrs. Brown, and then hangs up as a SWAT team enters the building, and more gunfire is heard from the library. A few seconds later, the shooter is confirmed dead, although it is uncertain whether he was killed or committed suicide. Carl snaps, and begins tearing Andrew's posters off the wall, before breaking down and crying. A flashback shows Andrew leaving for school that day, not saying a word to his father. Carl grabs the bat and prepares to smash the gun closet, but then remembers the key is hidden on the back of a picture of him wearing his formal military attire. He grabs the key and opens the closet, and sees his shotgun, hunting rifle, and pistols are still there. Carl then gets a call from Andrew, revealing that not only is Andrew still alive, but he was not the shooter.
Cast[edit]
- Ron Kologie as Carl Ford
- Meredith Lindsey as Reporter
- Kimiko Ann as Survivor #1
- Lauren Bolloch as Survivor #2
- Mikandrew Perdaris as Andrew Ford
- Monti Washington as Police Dispatcher (voice)
- Karen Muller as Mrs. Brown (voice)
References[edit]
- ↑ Tanenbaum, Jacob J., Active Shooter (Short, Drama), Action Potential Productions, retrieved 2022-11-09
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Active Shooter | Award-Winning Short Film, retrieved 2022-11-07
- ↑ "Silver State Film Festival 2018 Awards". Mysite 1. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
- ↑ "PIFF 2018". PIFF. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
This article "Active Shooter (film)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Active Shooter (film). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
