By Leanne, Lauren & and Mike.

Actors – Jamie Foxx (Max)  He looks wimpy, scared, not very powerful, in dark casual clothing.  Never fights back when things get risky. He is a peace keeper.

Why does Max Look Scared? When Max sees Vincent kill the two men that stole his wallet and Vincent's briefcase after Vincent handcuffs Max to his steering wheel to incapacitate him while he performs his second hit of the night, Max lowers his head in despair and says "fuck!". On first glance it appears that it upsets Max to see a man murder two others with such ruthless efficiency and disregard in front of him, even if they are the ones who stole his wallet at gunpoint. However, a second reason might be that Max was hoping that the muggers would kill Vincent so Max could be free, but when Vincent turns the table on the two muggers and kills them with ease, Max knows that he is in it for the long-haul. Though the most likely explanation is that Max, an average- Joe cab driver just saw two people murdered right in front of him, also because Max is the one that drew them to the car, he may have felt partially responsible for their deaths. Which is why when they are getting gas, Vincent says "If you draw attention to yourself, you're going to get people killed who don't need to be." Quote taken from IMDB

Tom Cruise (Vincent)  Tom Cruise – Very neat looking, in a light grey suit, looks important and powerful, he shows no emotions.  He Looks like he is trained by the way he shoots the guy last, he doesn’t even look at the guy, this gives off that this guy means nothing at all to him and its his everyday job. His gun is already loaded with a full clip. Which means he is expecting trouble.

Familiar Men with Guns in Suits Agent 47 (Hitman) Crockett and Tubbs (Miami Vice) Agent Smith (The Matrix Trilogy)

Guy that gets shot 1  Very Scruffy, rough, long greasy hair and a beard, doesn’t look after himself, can tell by what he is wearing, tries to act as a big man but its just an act. The type of guy you wouldn’t want to see in a dark alley.

 Bunch of guys – Give an impression that they are going to beat him up ETC but they walk away, maybe to just scare him. Look like a gang.

Lighting/Setting  Very dark, in a dark alley, with dim street lights; low key lighting. Set in LA, shows the audience what LA is actually like. People think LA is a glamorous, full of famous actors, models with beaches, palm trees, hot weather.  The dark lightings represent the emotions of Jamie Fox which makes this a crime thriller. It gives off a fearful atmosphere.

Props  Guns, this in an icon of a thriller, crime genre. There is always a guy in a suit in a crime thriller.  Any guy wearing a suit with a gun in his back pocket is usually trained.

In the Taxi  “The seating of the two leads was crucial to certain scenes. For their more intimate exchanges, Cruise would sit directly behind Foxx, out of his peripheral vision and therefore making him more vulnerable and uncertain of his opponent.” Quote Taken from IMDB

CAMP  There isn’t much movement to the camera as it is in an enclosed space. There are mainly medium shots throughout the scene. The camera angle stays at eye level most of the time, there is one shot where it is a low angle shot. This shows that Jamie fox’s character is weaker. There are two close-up shots of the guys face and Jamie fox’s hands, this shows the anger on his face and what he is looking at.

  The video above is an interview with Michael Mann about him working on “Collateral”.  He mainly wanted this film to be a “compressed” film. With huge impact scenes with short duration. This film lasts for just under two hours and a lot happens in those two hours, most of this is quite fast paced and hits with impact just like he wanted.  “With this film being set a night, it puts a “lid” on everything. It becomes less of a flat plane and more of a 3 dimensional machine.”  “The city is a 3 dimensional structure, not a layer on a flat ground”  Mann said that he likes to shoot in dark, enclosed and compressed spaces due to the films he makes taking a more of a “Get across the city” feel as oppose to just a normal movie shot in the daytime, using the same area of a city. This is making use of the 3 dimensional structure of the city at night.

The Way Collateral Was Shot  Collateral’s main exterior night shots were shot digitally to achieve depth and detail in the shots.  The interior shots were shot on film stock as they didn’t need the complete impact that the exterior night shots achieved in film.