Essex Boys Analysis

Essex Boys (2000)

Director:
Terry Winsor

The film is based around the murders of three drug dealers in Essex in 1995. Three drug dealers were lured to a secluded lane in Rettendon, Essex where they were murdered whilst sitting in their Range Rover.





As the credits role up at the beginning we can already see that the mood of the film is very dark and edgy. It has classic thriller conventions within the first five minutes. An establishing shot using non-ambient lighting establishes that the location is in a garage, a young man isolated. As the young man (Billy) steps into the car we hear diagetic sound of a voice over, spoken by the boy, meaning he is talking in first person. Already as an audience we can connect with this character. 


As the man clears the window screen of the car we are introduced to the main character, Mr Jason Dean. His costume is very flamboyant which implies his confident nature, like in Jackie Brown, the character, Ordell also wears very exaggerated costumes- showing his power. 


The shot then cuts to a close up on Jason's face, showing no emotion. This shows his power.


The shot then changes to a point of view shot of someone driving behind a Mercedes. Because Jason has an expensive car and a chauffeur we can show his authority over people as well as his wealth and power, a classic thriller convention. 


The grey skies and modern motorway really establish that the location is Britain. 


As the car drives into the vanishing point (the tunnel) it represents the barrel of a gun as well as showing that a tunnel is a claustrophobic space. 

The shot then cuts to the reflection of the lights on the windscreen as the Billy drives through the tunnel. The bars of light reflect jail bars, implying that Jason has been in prison or possibly a sign of what is to come, maybe Billy is going to be imprisoned later on?




The shot changes to a side profile shot of Jason as he 'prepares' to meet his old friend- his facial expression is not happy, so we can tell that he is not happy with this 'friend'. Jason then steps out of the car, leaving Billy inside. As an audience we establish that they are now in a factory, very bleak, artificial lighting shows the strain of the scene and what is to come. 


After Jason has thrown acid onto the man's face we chucks him into the van. The white van creates an enigma as we do not know where it is from, what it is for or where it is going. Although Jason has just thrown acid onto a man's face he seems more interested in the fact that he has it on his shirt; this shows his vanity and selfishness. 


Jason and Billy then take the man to the Essex marshes. The marshes are very isolated, bleak, which bides well with Jason's personality, which is unpredictable. The primeval landscape is wild, there is no sign of culture suggesting that Jason is going to become a predator in this wasteland where there are no boundaries. 


Jason then begins to beat the man up again, and then leaves the man stranded there. It then cuts to a long shot of the white van as it drives away- it exits Jason's predatory land.

Location Ideas

The Third Man Analysis

The Third Man (1949)

Director: Carol Reed

The Third Man is a classic noir thriller. During the titles of this film the sound track plays:

Harry Lime Theme Tune

It begins with a voice over like the beguinning of Essex Boys. Close up of hands on the Black Market, this represents the time of working outside the law, selling watches.

An image of broken glass shows the fractured and defeated Vienna, then the body floating indicates the genre of the film and and that nobody cares. The sunken ship shows the distressed city.

The outfit is a classic thriller convention, the trilby hat links to Once Upon A Time In America. The whole outfit is black which symbolises darkness, which could symbolise what is to happen.

The man then walks under the ladder, which is known as an unlucky thing to do, a sign of what is to come.

The lighting is chiaroscuro, non-ambient.

It then cuts to a tilt, low angle shot which creates a sense of disorientation. As the German man begins to speak there are no subtitles on the screen which puts us as an audience in the same shoes as the main character, Holly. The high angle shows the vulnerability.

The shot then cuts to a girl, the introduction of Anna. Her is enigmatic, the audience find it hard to read which refers to the famous portrait of the, Mona Lisa.

We can see that the mysterious Harry Limes and Holly have a close friendship like Ordell and Louis in Jackie Brown. As an audience we start to paint a picture of Harry Limes' world, it is very upside down because of him being a criminal- Hell = Heaven and Heaven = Hell.

Later on we see that Anna is in fact an actress, she can put on masks and play roles which makes her even harder to read.

A tilt shot of Holly looking down a street shows the chiaroscuro and non-ambient lighting, as he stands on a wet and dark street, a classic thriller convention, like in Jackie Brown where we see Ordell drive off into the vanishing point.

Later on we see a man shouting in the street, there is panic which adds anxiety to the audience. A little boy shouts and points at Holly, then Anna pulls him away and they decide to walk off, but the child carries on following Anna and Holly, the child is almost like some sort of demon. The child of the night represents the hostility of Vienna to the allies (France, Germany, USA and England). As Holly begins to run, the city becomes a labyrinth, the buildings turn into on-lookers which refers back to earlier in the film.

Cat got your tongue scene:

A light goes on, chiaroscuro lighting, the light on Harry's face, his facial expression is very 'quizacle'. 

NEW Shot List For Thriller

1- Close up shot- A girl selling The Big Issue 

2- Low angle- Mans legs
  - Tracking shot up to mans chest

3- Over the shoulder shot of man

4- Close up shot of Girl and Dog

5- Over the shoulder shot of man walking towards the girl

6- Tilt shot, close up of girl recieving money off of man

7- Over the shoulder shot of man walking into distance

8- Establishing, Tilt shot of girl on bridge

9- Birds eye shot of girls watch

10- Over the shoulder shot of man watching girl

11- Extreme close up girls face

12- Close up, tracking shot of man's feet walking away

Story Boards- Thriller

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