Essex Boys Analysis

Fight Club, Chiaroscuro Lighting.

Essex Boys, is a British crime-thriller film directed by Terry Windsor, made in 2000. It was shown at 54 screens throughout the UK, so small independent cinemas. The film was made on a low budget, which often compliments the thriller genre, making it look more real and less like a mainstream film.

Immediately we know that it is a noir thriller, due to the Chiaroscuro lighting, beaming down from behind the character, Billy, this type of lighting implies corruption or threat, in Essex Boys it is foreshadowing future events. Another thriller film that features a lot of chiaroscuro lighting is Fight Club. Chiaroscuro lighting also implies mystery, suspicion, it also gives the audience a point to look at, also a sense of illusion. 

 

An obvious thriller convention is the location, which is very un-glamorous, it is also a confined, claustrophobic space, a garage, which can often be intimidating and hard to get out of. 



 Billy sits in the car, this is again another generic thriller convention. There is also a voice-over of the character Billy, which is non-diegetic. The first line in the film is "I'll try anything once." This is a cultural signifier as you can instantly recognize an Essex accent. This is stereotypically associated with rough geezer type of men, who will "try anything once." However Billy doesn't seem like the type of person to commit crime from what we have seen so far, but this is all from Billy's point of view, so we could be very wrong. 

Jason through the windscreen.

It cuts to an amazing medium close up shot of Jason Lock through the windscreen of Billy's car, he looks threatening because of his attire and his expression. He wears rich clothes, leather and what looks like a silk shirt. This is like Bill in Kill Bill when he goes to wipe the Bride's face, showing his expensive shoes, ring, and handkerchief with 'Bill' embroidered on it showing his intense vanity. Through this shot diegetic sound is occurring, this shows realism which means the audience can relate to it. Again the use of Chiaroscuro lighting is still effective giving the impression that Jason is dangerous and a 'bad guy'. 

It cuts to a close up of Jason's face, he is squinting through his eyes, maybe representing the evil he is to commit. 


Cutting to a point of view shot of the back of the car driving away from the camera and into a tunnel, again another confined space, taking the shape of a barrel of a gun and the car being the bullet and racing through it. Pathetic fallacy plays a large role here, the rain connotes that something dark, sorrowful and maybe a sin will occur, foreshadowing the future. The tunnel has ambient lighting, again making it very realistic to the audience and making it something that they can relate to. As they enter the tunnel there is a 'stop' sign, this could be subliminal messaging to the audience implying that they are embarking on a journey in which they should stop. The car disappears into the vanishing point of the shot. 


It cuts to a close up shot of Billy driving the car, however the bars of lights on the top of the tunnel are reflecting onto his windscreen, this implies that Billy will be imprisoned, that he will be entering the criminal world. Jason is sat behind him, just over his shoulder watching him all the time. This is much like in Animal Kingdom when Pope, J's uncle is constantly wanting to know where he is, what he is doing all the time, the restriction gives the young characters no freedom.


It cuts to point of view shot of Jason, preparing to meet his 'old friend'. he gets out of the car leaving Billy inside the car, a confinement of his freedom and values. They are in a factory so again it would be ambient lighting, which lets the audience connect to what is happening as it becomes more real to them.  You then see the fight through Billy's point of view, however they are divided yet again by the windscreen, signifying that maybe Jason cannot reach Billy yet. 


It cuts to a medium close up of Jason sat next to Billy once again in the car. This is where we can make another reference to Bill from Kill Bill, as Jason's vanity seems through again. He has just thrown a pot of acid on a mans face and he got a little on his shirt, he tries to rub it off. Jason is more worried about the condition of his shirt than the man's wounds in the back of his van. 
Jason and Billy take the man to the Essex Marshes, this is Jason's land, it has no boundaries, no constraints, no restrictions. It is featureless and bleak, through these characteristics we can link them back to Jason. Jason beats the man up once again and leaves him stranded on the marshes, as it cuts to a long shot of the white van exiting Jason's territory. 
This is a case of Human Moral Corruption.