How Terry Winsor establishes the thriller genre in the title sequence.

By Nature Wesby

ESSEX BOYS (2000)

• The opening credits immediately intrigue the audience because it has a chilling factor that most thrillers have. It doesn’t waste any time getting audiences’ on the edge of their seats. The scratching noises

make most people cringe, and the soundtrack reminds me of a weird fantasy film.

• This first clip sets the stage perfectly for a thriller simply because of the lack things the audience can see due to the chiaroscuro lighting. The lighting

automatically makes the setting mysterious, especially with very a limited couple of props in view. The cage builds on the predatory idea of capturing

someone or something. The car and the cage are both claustrophobic objects, and them being next to each other is very intimidating.

• The conditions of this location are very generic because garages are usually dirty, old, and scarcely attended to, which makes the mood

uncomfortable. It’s an isolated place that brings an undeniable tension to the scene. Even though the light is turned on, it’s dim so

the audience is still not able to become fully at ease with the surroundings. The man’s costume is dark and uninviting, and the

way he’s standing causes suspicion.

• The man here is revealed in a very threatening way because there is nothing in sight except him, and his proximity is quite intense. His

leather jacket has him appearing tough, but the patterned shirt softens his cold look. The lack of light in this clip makes it suspenseful to

have the audience wondering what is beyond him. There is an anxious mood set with the character being unpredictable. The filthy windshield could symbolize that he is a dirty, ruthless, untrustworthy,

sordid man that no one wants to deal with unless they have to.

• This clip has an amazing vanishing point in a decaying tunnel that takes the audience into another world as if you were driving into a barrel of a gun. It’s a claustrophobic, closed in place that only has

one way out, and sets the mood of being trapped. It has a gangster soundtrack, which suggests that something sinister is going to

happen.

• The theme in this clip is confinement. The imprisoned reflection of the lights remind the audience of the bars from a jail cell. The driver is trapped in the situation because of the line of work he does. His

passenger is dominant here through his clothing and relaxed positioning.

• Both of these clips are full of anticipation, but contradict each other. The man in the suit appears to be the predator in control of the situation, but there is a twist in the next clip. He escapes only to fall into another trap and is actually the prey being conquered by the tough stylish guy.

The business man looks psychotic in the first clip, whereas he is clearly vulnerable in the second one. The ambient lighting is continuously

dim and hopeless.

• The common business man attire contrasts with the natural environment of the marsh. He is exposed in the middle of nowhere in

a very humiliated way. There is no help in sight from this isolated, empty, and nightmarish place, which is meant to put the audience on

edge. The lack of people and loneliness this presents could be very scary for the audience.

CONCLUSION

• Terry Winsor follows the generic thriller conventions such as: themes

of uncertainty, danger, and suspense, as well as characters who are

criminals and down-on-their-luck losers. The opening scenes of the

film make the audience curious to how things will start to piece

together because it has a casual start with not-so-casual action

happening.