Essex Boys

Essex Boys

Terry winsor

The first shot is a medium establishing shot. It is of a garage which is dimly light by a non-ambient light to help set a noir feel to the shot.  This then cuts to a close up a man entering the car, the windows are extremely dirty and this helps show confinement and claustrophobia which are both genetic conventions of thriller films.

The next shot is a point of view from the man inside the car as he cleans the window. There is then a voice over of the man in the car explaining his situation, this was done to help the audience engage with the character. Still in point of view a man comes into shot, he is wearing a very flamboyant shirt which instantly tells the audience he is a confident character. It then cuts to a follow shot of a car driving into a tunnel. Yet again director Terry Winsor made sure that there were many genetic thriller signifiers show, for example the cold, bleak and wet British roads. As the car drives into the tunnel it creates a feeling of isolation from society and also going into the barrel of a gun. The soundtrack beautifully and adds chemistry creating tenseness and anxiety within the scene. Where are they driving? Where are they? Who are they? These are all questions running through the audiences mind. Cutting to a close up on Jason lounging in the car, which builds on the audiences first assumptions of him being a cocky, confident and powerful figure. Ten cutting to a a close up on the driver with Jason casually sitting in the back. The use of non-ambient lighting is extremely powerful. The lights create neon bars on the windscreen of the car which look like prison bars, which helps create a character profile of Jason for the audience. The next shot is a medium point of view following the car out of the tunnel, if the lights on the car were meant to represent prison then this shot surely represents leaving prison and entering society again, also the harshness of the light shows the harshness of reality.

A close up point of view on Jason’s face grasps the anger and power he has brilliantly.  It then cuts to a medium close up on Jason walking through the fish mongers, the sounds of the people talking and working creates an element of realism and also makes the action seem natural, this tells the audience that this is everyday life for Jason. Cutting to a medium close up of a frustrated man in a suit walking. The way the camera jumps from Jason to the man in the suit was proficiently used to create an action response to the scene. The camera shots then jump from close up, extreme close up and medium close up as Jason beats the man in the suit. All of the workers surround the two men adding to the naturalism in the mise-en-scene. A wonderful point of view shot from the man in the van helps show his resentment and fear of what he is seeing. The point of view shot then looks into the mirror and shows the reflection of an angry Jason throwing acid into the man’s face. This whole scene creates an enigma around the man in the suit; the audience begin to make assumptions on what he did to Jason. An enigma is also a very common concept used it thriller films.

A close up shot reverse shot on Jason and the man driving the white van shows both of their reactions to the diegetic sounds of the man screaming in the back of the van. Jason Then looks down at his shirt and realises a blood stain and bluntly says “shit.” This helps show the audience that he isn’t phased by the violent crime he just committed, suggesting that this is everyday life to him. The next shot is medium establishing shot of the driver opening the vans boot, the pale white of the van doors helps show the innocents of the driver caught up in such a dark situation. The next shot is a medium establishing shot of Jason kicking the suited man, there is a great vanishing point with the Essex marshes which shows not only isolation but strangely method behind Jason’s madness. It suggests Jason has already been there and dump other victim’s bodies.

I think Terry Winsor chose that environment to express Jason with nature. The vanishing point communicates no boundaries, which is just like Jason where he has no moral boundaries in life. The bleak colourless scenery shows Jason’s isolation within society, the marsh land to Jason are like black trees and bats to Dracula, it is his domain.