Essex Boys (2000): Opening Scene

Essex Boys (2000): Opening Scene

Info:

Title of Film: Essex Boys

Released: 14th July 2000 (UK)

Director: Terry Winsor

Genre: Crime, Thriller

Essex Boys was a low budget production. Low budget productions are often thriller films as they show realism unlike many mainstream films. The film was only shown in small independent cinemas (54 screens) throughout the UK. Small screening are common with low budget productions.

The opening to Essex Boys has many generic locations and characters which can be found in the thriller genre. These include:

Generic Characters:

• Criminals
• Innocent Victims
• Characters with dark pasts
• Twisted relationships/friendships
• Characters on the run

Generic Locations:

• Interior of cars/vans
• Urban streets
• Wide open spaces
• Streets

Opening Scene:

"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." - INDb

When the film begins, we see these titles (on left) in the center of the screen/mice-en-scene. These titles give the audience an insight about the film. The key feature of the titles which establishes Essex Boys as being a thriller film is that the plot/story is inspired by a single true event, because of this the whole film becomes far more darker and more serious.

The title shots show the names of the film's cast. Sean Bean is one of the main actors in Essex Boys. The actor, Sean Bean is well-known for casting Boromir from The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. In Essex Boys he casts the role of Jason Locke.

These titles also establishes the film. The white drops which are scatted across the screen could represent blood dripping, or even blood splatted against a wall. This tells the audience that the film will include harsh graphical violence. The soundtrack starts to begin when the titles are shown.

The soundtrack is non-diegetic sound which adds suspense. The soundtrack has been edited to fit with the dropping "white blood" - a sharp, scratchy sound is in sync with the dropping white lines. This strange sound is very creepy and makes the audience feel insecure and fearful.

After the title sequence, the camera shows a medium establishing shot of the first scene within a garage. In this shot, we can see that the director has used an intertextual reference to the classic Noir-thrillers. This is shown by using chiaroscuro lighting. Chiaroscuro lighting is the arrangement of light and dark elements. This intertextual reference to the classic Noir-thrillers can represent the dim, dark and mysterious journey throughout the film for the characters.

The hanging light which creates this gives off a triangle beam. The "leading lines" on the either side of the beam makes the audience focus on the light itself inside the garage. The triangle beam of light is almost like a vanishing point in the distance of the scene - it almost leads our eyes into a different dimension. This can represent illusion and mystery throughout the film.

The second shot in this scene is when the main character, "Billy Reynolds" (actor Charlie Creed-Miles) is sitting inside of a batted, worn out car. The confined space inside of the car is an aspect of the generic thriller conversions. The confined space represents that the character is trapped  in an insecure, claustrophobic space and will feel this for the rest of the film.

During this scene, the character Billy Reynolds starts to talk to the audience by a voice-over, which is a non-diegetic sound. The voice-over is used to make the audience relate to the character. The dialog is from Billy's point of view - he's talking to you, which will make you emphasize with the character.

The camera then cuts to a marvelous point of view shot from the film. This shot is from the point of view of Billy Reynolds who is looking towards Jason Locke through the car's front window screen. This shot is introducing the character Jason Locke. Not only is the shot introducing the character Jason, but it is also describing his personalty and lifestyle. The way in-which the shot is describing his personalty and lifestyle is by using the car's muddy windscreen as a kind of metaphor. It tells us that Jason Locke is very rough, gritty, and plays dirty if you mess with him. The window wipers represent the fact that if you know this guy, it's best to wipe him off your shoulders before it's too late.

The camera then cuts to a close up of Jason's face. His eyes are the main focus of the shot. He is looking towards the camera - towards Billy Reynolds with a squinting/evil look. This can represent the relationship between the two characters and the evil events to come later on in the film.

After the events taken place in the garage, the camera cuts to the second scene. In this scene the camera is tracking the car in fount but from a point of view from the car behind which Jason Locke and Billy Reynolds are in. The tunnel which the car is entering is very important. The tunnel can be seen as a barrel of a gun which the duo are entering as the car represents the bullet. The tunnel is also a symbol of generic locations in thriller films such as confined spaces with no escape - once you've entered, you either come out alive or not. The car then vanishes into the vanishing point - which is the tunnel.

The next shot shows Jason Locke sitting back and relaxing. This tells the audience nearly everything there is to know about Jason. He is sitting back and relaxing because he knows, whatever he tells Billy Reynolds to do, he'll do it. It is as if Jason is "King" around Essex. However, this scene could also represent the fact that Jason Locke could of had a dark past with cops/police. When police arrest you, they would normally say: "put your hands behind your back" or even "put your hands behind your head". The hands being behind Jason's face could symbolize this.

Afterwards, the camera cuts to an outside close up of Billy Reynolds who is driving the car. We can see Jason relaxing in the backseat. This also implies that Jason is "king" as Billy Reynolds is being his personal private driver. On top of this, the lighting supports that Jason might of had dark pasts with cops. The lighting which is coming from the top of the tunnel is ambient that adds realism to the film. The lights which are reflecting onto the windscreen symbolize jail bars with Jason Locke and Billy Reynolds behind them. This could represent future events as the two might be put into jail, or be hunted by police.