Notes on Opening of Essex Boys

Essex Boys (2000)

Director - Terry Winsor

British thriller

5.9

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Ratings: 5.9/10 from 2,134 users 
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Plot

The film is based loosely around events in December 1995 that culminated in the murders of three drug dealers in Rettendon, Essex, UK. On 6th December Patrick Tate, Craig Rolfe and Tony Tucker, three drug dealers well known to the police, were lured to Workhouse Lane, Rettendon. There they were blasted to death with a shot gun while sitting in their Range Rover. They had been lured to their deaths on the pretext of a lucrative drugs deal. The three bodies were found the following morning, 7 December 1995. (IMDB)

Characters 

Criminals, Prison inmates, Characters with a dark past

Locations

Claustrophobic Garage

This is the opening of the film, it is a perfect way to start a thriller, because the lighting is dark and mystical, and you cannot see everything inside the garage, only the outline of a car and the person about to enter the garage. Also the fact that it is in a claustraphobic space, suggests that for the man who has just entered, there is no escape, once he has entered he cannot turn back.

 Fish Market

The fish market is another good location, because it is a very public place, this shows that Jason does not care whether he is in public or not, he will hurt someone, nothing can stop him.

Essex Marshes 

The Essex Marshes are another good place, because although they are in a massive space, it is also quite claustraphobic purely because once Jason leaves the man, he will have no where to go, he will be stuck at the marshes. Also the marshes represent Jason himself ; he is a man that has no moral boundaries, just like the sea, his life is bleak, isolated and dreary.

 Props

"The White van"

- What/ who is in the white van?

Gun

Costumes 

Jason likes to strand out, you can tell my his outfit that he is a loud, confident man and likes to draw attention to himself.

Lighting

Noir lighting, it is set in a classic 1960's thriller

Opening

 The opening credits set the scene as a thriller, firstly because they are in black and white (noir), the black shows the darkness that is about to come. Also the white scratches on the screen, could represent the cutting of a knife, which again gives the impression that this movie is a thriller. It also makes the white stand out to the audience; if there was more color there would be less focus on the title, the title and the scratches are piercing and drawing the audience in. 

Also the fact that Billy does the voice over, connects him with the audience and builds a relationship, before the film has started its first scene, it has already created a relationship with the audience, this is very effective, because they will want to see what happens to Billy. His voice over is not a proper introduction to the film, but more of his own thoughts, this is again much more effective, because the audience will sense that they will see a lot to Billy in this film, and none of his emotions can hide.

Camera Shots

This vanishing shot is very effective, because it represents him driving into a barrell of a gun; he is about to take a journey into darkness, once he has entered there is no way out. He is entering moral darkness.

This shot is very effective because, this is the first time you see Jason, through the dirt on the window screen, suggests that he is a shady bad guy. The glass is between Jason and the audience which suggests that he is secretive, closed off and detatched from other peoples emotions.

The bars of light on the window represent where Jason has been (prison), and where Billy could be heading if he sticks with Jason. This is shot very well because they must have tried lots of times to get the car in the right place for the lights to hit the window, representing prison bars.