Research into Thriller Conventions

1. Proppian character types

1. The villain-struggles against the hero
2. The donor - prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object
3. The helper - helps the hero in the quest
4. The princess - person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrative
5. The false hero - perceived as good character in beginning but emerges as evil
6. The dispatcher - character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off

The villain: The villain usually is the antagonist (though can be the protagonist), and the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters. A female villain is sometimes called femme fatale and is a conventional thriller convention. 
e.g. in the Thriller ‘Them’, the villain is a group of mysterious and dangerous characters who commit a series of murders.  In the opening they are not physically seen by the viewer however we know they are there which creates an eerie and tense atmosphere.

The donor: The donor is a character that tests the hero (and sometimes other characters as well) and provides magical assistances to the hero when he succeeds.
We didn't see any examples of a donor in the openings of the Thrillers we watched however an obvious example of this character is Machete in ‘Spy Kids’.

The helper: The Hero is supported in his or her quest by a Helper.
e.g in the film ‘Seven’ Brad Pitt’s character acts as the helper as he supports Morgan Freeman’s character who acts as the hero.

The princess: The Princess may take two forms. First, she may be the object which is deliberately sought by the Hero, perhaps finding where the Villain has taken her. Secondly, she may be the reward, such that after completing some other mission, he gains her affections or hand in marriage.  The Princess may be seen very little in the story, perhaps appearing only at the end, or may be an integral character, for example where she accompanies the Hero on his mission, where he may win her heart by the courage and determination of his actions.

The false hero: A variant on the villain and a potential complication within the plot is the False Hero, who appears to act heroically and may even be initially mistaken for the real Hero. The False Hero will try to steal the Hero's thunder, grabbing the credit and perhaps trying to marry the princess instead. The False Hero is thus a usurper, a thief perhaps of the worst kind, who plays on people's good nature to boldly steal in broad daylight.

The dispatcher: An early role in the story is that of the Dispatcher who sends the Hero on the mission. This may be a family member such as a mother or father.  The Dispatcher may also be combined with another role, for example the False Hero who then trails along behind (perhaps disguised as a Helper).

2.  Claude Levi Strauss – Binary Oppositions

·         Good vs evil

·         Protagonist vs antagonist

·         Male vs female

·         Light vs dark

·         Victim vs villain

·         Sane vs insane

·         Life vs death

All the above are commonly used binary oppositions in thrillers.  A binary opposition is a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning.  For example we understand the concept of ‘good’ as being the opposite of ‘evil’.

3.  Todorov’s Theory of Narrative Structure

Todorov’s theory is that there are three parts to a narrative.  He suggested that stories start with equilibrium where everything is in balance.  There is then disruption of some kind until it is solved. He called this the resolution.  We have watched various different openings to thrillers where we have noticed this occur.  The film ‘Face Off’ opens with a man and his young son on a carousel which acts as the equilibrium as everything is balanced and happy.  The disruption then occurs when he and his son are shot.

Equilibrium:

 

 

Disruption:
 



 

 4.  Opening Titles

In many of the opening titles to the thrillers we watched there are noticeable links between the themes that occur in them and the film. 

For example in ‘Face Off’, the titles start with classic sans serif white font on a black background.  The words fade in from a blur and out again which could signify mystery.  The names of the main characters then appear as an overlay with one have black and one half white and also one half coming forward and the other half receding.  This highlights the binary opposition of good and evil and that there is a battle between them that is evenly balanced.  In this case the titles foreshadow the film’s major premise.

 

In ‘Seven’ the titles appear after the opening scene.  They are every unsettling with violent music and images of body parts, sharp objects which implies death.  The words appear jerky and as if they have been scratched into the screen.  The main colours used in the titles are black and white which could suggest binary oppositions between characters with red also used quite frequently used highlighting danger.