The opening of Essex Boys

By Holly Duffield and Maddy Parke

Lighting
In this screen shot of the character, the lighting is used particularly effectively. The lighting upon the characters face means that a dark shadow is cast over half of his face yet the remaining half is well lit. This creates a sense of a moral ambiguity leaving the audience to question whether the character is good or bad. This technique is commonly used throughout any films under the Film Noir genre, due to the themes of mystery and corruption. This is emphasised by the background lighting where half is light and quite calm whereas that falls into the other very dark night-time half. Since the night time connotes danger, a lack of lighting means that the audience has a lack of vision which can reinforce mystery which is necessary in thrillers.

Tone/themes
Below is a shot revealed very early on in the narrative and it is full of implications about the tone of the film. Firstly the lights of the underground create bar reflections on the car windscreen across the face of the character Billy. The audience automatically gain the impression that there will be a tone/theme of criminality and corruption throughout the film, as it creates the visual effect of Billy in prison.

On the other hand the bars create the impression that the character has been trapped and caged in, quite probably to the situation that he is got himself into therefore a likely theme could be power since it seems that Billy has been pressured by the character of Jason. Finally the lack of focus on the character of Jason, yet having Billy at the forefront of the shot, driving the car is an implication that it will be a very personal film based on the character of Billy, and he will be at the forefront of the narrative.

Landscape/setting
Landscape and setting is mainly focused upon in the shot of the marshland when Jason throws the unknown injured man into onto the marsh. Undesirable locations are almost always used in thrillers to mirror the undesirable protagonists, therefore the grey/dull colours used in these shots get across to the audience the dark aspects of thrillers. The fact that the sky merges into the sea (and therefore earth) is an implication that throughout this film there will be a close proximity between life and death (the sky linking to heaven and the afterlife).

The sea also represents cleansing, washing away possibly a past or cleansing a wound an implication that the character we were just introduced to (Jason)s actions here are possibly him getting revenge, it also suggests that the audience are being presented with the end of this story and are about to learn why Jason is so revengeful.

Costume
Jason is first presented to the audience in a black and bright gold shirt, which could be described as tasteless and quite tacky. An immediate hint to the audience that this is not a film in which criminality will be glamourized (such as Layer Cake) however its likely to be more gritty and possibly more violent. The gold particularly in this shot is so very similar to the lion on the top of the gate, therefore the eye of the audience is drawn to both Jason and the lion creating some sort of link. As we have just seen Jason acting very violently and mercilessly, it could be assumed that the link is the aggression and power behind the two. It could be more subtle however, the lion is alone looking outwards on the world rather than in the gate, inside a home therefore Jason is in a way represented just by the gold in his shirt as a lonely outsider, the audience feel sympathetic towards him in this clip.

Sound
The sound used in the opening title sequence is a harsh screeching nail on chalkboard sound which is an unpleasant sound for the audience to listen to. The idea of a nails on chalkboard connotes the idea of pain and suffering, therefore setting the ominous tone/ theme of torture and violence. By making the audience listen to such an unpleasant sound by the beginning of the film it implies the rest of the film is going to be hard hitting and uncomfortable to watch.

The use of Vanishing point

The use of vanishing point of the protagonist disappearing beyond our site and into the depths of a tunnel becomes a symbol for the unfortunate journey the characters are choosing to embark on. The car disappearing into the vanishing point also implies that we may not see the character again and that the future of the characters are uncertain. It also shows how the characters are disappearing away from the safety of the clearly shown shot and setting into the unknown and that we do not know the dangers in which they are going to face.

Characters
In Essex Boys, the film introduces strong character types early on so that the audience are aware of what to expect from the rest of the film. In this screen shot taken from the beginning of Essex Boys, we are shown a character who is in the process of inflicting violence on another person. This obviously shows the audience that this character is a threat to any other characters within the film, and also that it is likely that he is going to take the role as villain. The fact that the character is also beating somebody up in such a public setting infront of a crowd of people also suggests that he does not fear anybody and believes himself to be the only villainous character and therefore has a large ego which also suggests to the audience that this character is naive and that perhaps a further more streetwise villain may take their place. In addition, the beating somebody up in a public setting also makes the audience think that this character is irrational, careless, and tactless and will therefore be a foolish villain and resultantly a risk to himself.