'This film starts off as a young taxi driver is offered a job to help a small-time hardman get a little revenge. As the film progresses, he gets money and he thinks he is gaining respect from the other gang members. Then there comes a time where he is woken at night, only to find a Range Rover outside his house: his boss is expecting him to drive this to pick up the rest of the gang and take them to their awaiting fate...'
How Terry Winsor established and develops the thriller genre in the opening to Essex Boys:
The initial shot of the off-white car driving into tunel suggests a sense of isolation and intrapment, that is later re-established within the car boot. These features of isolation are generic with thrillers as they increase tension and heighten the characters, aswell as the audiences senses. Combined with the dark/ grey filter used to hint that 'all is not right' straight from the opening of the film, even more any obvious hint of violence. Similarly, the mud and water could be reflective of the characters dirty, gritty lives/ secrets or of the 'grittyness' of the film itself. The chiaroscuro lighting establishes the films as being an noir thirller, which is further reinforced the costume; as the men tend to be wearing swaurve suits. Chiaroscuro lighting is generiaclly used within plenty of thrillers; Jackie Brown too uses such in the begining of the film to refernce film noir and to establish its genre.
In the screen shot above, the cobwebs are critical to an almost gothic vibe that is being portrayed, despite the actual incident, aswell as the film, being set within modern day. This brings the thriller back to its predecessors, making it slightly surreal, despite the realism of the film. Moreover on the costume, Jason is wearing a bright, vibrant shirt, almost creating an irony to his actions. The shirt is synonomous with arrogance and firmly forces the audience to be wary of him from the begining. The contrasting costume distinguishes the characters. The initial medium close up shot of Jason from behind a dirty windscreen too establishes him as character be wary of, increasing the anticipation of his violence and psychotic behaviour from the beginning; he is not seen in clarity, thus the 'unknown' is frightening.
The rest of the scene is bleak industrialism, shown via the journey of the car, this increases a sense of realism. The birghtly lit tunnel the car travels through could symbolise an harsh reality in the mix of the bleak realism.
Props:
The use of the rusty white van is an affective prop as it blends into the background, but yet remains suspicious. The van could also be symbolic of a working class, stereotyped bleakness that is often used in 'gritty' films, such as This is England. Within This is England none of the props nor none of the scenes are in anyway glamorous. This lack of glamour makes the film sadder, in a sense, as there is no obvious 'silver linings' only the 'harsh realities' such as the bright tunnel lights.
Despite the film being based around a true stroy, the 'prop' of drugs as a centre piece of which the film to revolve is generic to thrillers. Previously, drugs were 'glamorous' and seen to only be for the rich and famous, however drugs stereotypically distory lives, thus it foreshaows the ending to an extent. The fact drugs are so prominant too promotes an sense of esacpism of the bleaknesses of reality.
You are able to identify and explain the way some generic conventions are used in the opening to "Essex Boys. I like the way you have focused on the gritty aspects of the film, particularly the contrast between the gothic aspects of the opening shot in the garage contrasted with the harsh realism in further scenes, in particularly, and as you have pointed out the bleak and unglamorous representation of Essex.
ReplyDeleteI also suggest you check this case study for careless typing and spelling mistakes which detract.
Next Step: To strengthen case studies either add another slide/s or another post titled “Inter-textual References in Essex Boys”
For example: reference thriller films or TV series (preferably with screen shots or uploaded footage) that use or develop or challenge similar generic conventions. For example in “Essex Boys” noir lighting with a chiaroscuro effect (the establishing shots of Billy in the garage) reinforces the generic roots of the film. Other examples you could reference, and don’t forget the films or TV crime dramas that we have viewed in class and that are watching independently, can be used as comparisons.
• “The Opening to Once Upon a Time in America” also uses noir lighting whilst the chiaroscuro effect is achieved when Eve switches on her bed side lamp.
• The iconic final sequence in “The Third Man” is another example where the director amplifies generic conventions with the use of chiaroscuro lighting, vanishing points and claustrophobic spaces when Harry Lime is trapped in the Viennese sewers.
• Tarantino also uses the same effect with Ordell murders Beaumont in the waste ground in “Jackie Brown”.
Thus the audience is transported into an isolated world where nightmares become reality.
Also think about comparing the generic locations, costume or character types with other thrillers.