Essex Boys

Essex Boys

Director: Terry Winsor
Released: 14th July 2000
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Plot: The film is based loosely around events in December 1995 that culminated in the murders of three drug dealers in Rettendon.
User ratings: 5.9/10 (reference: IMDB)

The opening scene to “Essex Boys” gives of the Genre of the film, showing thriller aspects. As the credits begin, we hear a scratchy chalkboard noise, giving of a fear factor. The use of Binary Opposition (black and white) gives of that thriller genre, so you can predict what genre the film is going to be and what to aspect.

The opening scene is establishing the shot of the driver Billy in a garage. The garage is lit by chiaroscuro lights which suggest they’re hiding something, communicating suspense to the audience. The garage being claustrophobic covered in cobwebs and the use of dingy lighting shows of a typical thriller genre. The dark lighting represents a dark side to the film giving of gothic aspects or maybe showing the dark side to Billy.

Billy’s Essex accent narrates throughout the film which helps to engage the audience, making them feel like part of the film. This technique also helps to understand what is going on inside Jason’s head and we get to know the character underneath the suit and can connect with him.

The second shot is of Jason entering the garage. The camera angle is a point of view shot where you can see Jason from Billy’s perspective. This technique shows what we can see through Billy’s eyes and also helps engage with the audience. This camera angle makes the audience feel uncomfortable and we can see that Jason is a man not to be messed with. This scene has a gothic/thriller image to it with the one light over Jason giving of a thriller effect. One side of Jason’s body is shadow maybe representing a gothic side to him and the other side is lit which may represent a good side to Jason.

This shot we see of Billy driving Jason to do some errands for him. The light reflecting on the car could represent jail bars showing that Billy is trapped and there is no escape. Or the light reflecting on the car could show piano keys showing that Billy is being played by Jason.

As Billy enters the tunnel towards exit we can see that there is no return, Billy can’t go back. The shot is a vanishing point, where you can’t see the end. This shot helps gives a gothic feel to the film. The tunnel being claustrophobic makes the scene feel cramped, squashed in, maybe representing no escape, no return the only thing Billy can do is keep going forward.

This shot here is Billy exiting the tunnel and entering Essex. As we can see from the shot we can see that Essex is an industrial unwelcoming town. The scene is wet and cold with grey clouds giving of a gothic factor perhaps showing Billy’s hopeless path towards crime.
Jason tells Billy he has some business to settle, they turn up to a fish factory in a white van. Jason then goes out the van and beats up his victim and throws acid on his face then shoves him in the back of the white van. In the shot below we can see Jason’s victim running out of the van trying to escape, this scene has a powerful gothic image to it. Jason then beats his victim once again and leaves him in the marshes whilst his victim tries washing is face. Billy then narrates the scene saying “Jason needed a new shirt the geezer needed a new face”. This scene here symbolises that you shouldn’t mess with Jason.
The final shot is of Essex marshes, this maybe showing that this is Jason’s playground, his territory. Or maybe showing that there is no escape for Jason, there is no where else for him to go. The film gives of different thriller aspects and gothic aspects the use of lighting and claustrophobic spaces helps to give that thriller feeling.