The beginning of Essex Boys is primarily about showing the audience where it is set. It also gives an indication as to what the main characters are like and who they should associate themselves with. This character alignment is achieved by a short voiceover by the main character, Billy (Charlie Creed-Miles). This allows the audience to connect with him and see this world through his eyes. This character is shown to be relatively innocent and naïve, at least in contrast to other characters in the film. The second character introduced in shown to be completely by debuting him through a dirty car window. This connotes the bad guy image of Jason (Sean Bean) which if further highlighted by his attire, slightly extravagant, and his actions, kidnapping a man, beating him up, and ditching him in the middle of nowhere. This location also serves as a window into the life of Jason, morally vacant and desolate.
The general location of the film, Essex , is established by several cultural signifiers, i.e. roads and signs. The accents of the characters are also used to show where the film is set. The white van adds to the mysterious quality of Jason as it implies that anything could happen in the back and no one would know. This compliments Bean’s character’s unpredictable nature. The dreariness of the locations and implied behaviour of the characters shows that the film is a crime thriller in just the opening scenes.
Description far outweighs analysis. You need to take detailed notes in class in order to gain confidence in interpreting film language.
ReplyDeleteCase Studies of independently view thrillers, to include research into how the films were made and critical reception would be a start.