Research into Thriller Conventions

Within Thrillers, the common characters involved in the film are Proppian character types such as the hero e.g. Batman (Dark Knight), John McClane (Die Hard) and William Somerset (Seven). All the heroes seen in thrillers all seem to follow the same rules. They are usually the protagonists who save the day when a disruption happens (Tzvetan Todorov’s theory), although in films such as Pulp Fiction, the protagonists are actually the criminals making them the villains.

They are also usually all middle aged men around 40 years old and sometimes older, they all have connections with the police and other law enforcements but they are also all flawed in some way. John McClane is having problems with his wife due to them working in different parts of the country and that she has gone back to her maiden name instead of using his. William Somerset is a perfectionist and due to this behaviour he doesn’t seem well liked by his fellow detectives and officers. Batman on the other hand saw his parents die when he was young which would have had some serious psychological effects on him.

Other Proppian character types such as the villain is also seen in thrillers such as Auric Goldfinger (James Bond: Goldfinger), Hans Gruber (Die Hard) and Gabriel Shear (Swordfish). The villains in the films are usually the ones to cause the disruption for the protagonist and are also equally matched in nearly every way making them binary opposites (Claude Levi-Strauss’s theory). The villains are around the same age as the hero but are usually fuelled by either greed or just sadistic acts which they believe is acceptable. The villains usually get defeated though resulting in an equilibrium again.

There is also a donor role within thrillers for example, Lucius Fox (Dark Knight) and Q (James Bond franchise). This role aids the hero throughout the journey by giving them items of importance that will help them restore the equilibrium. The donors seem to be older than the hero indicating that they can’t solve the disruption themselves, so they supply the hero with the needs too. Lucius Fox in the Dark Knight supplies Batman with his arsenal of gadgets giving him the upper hand against his enemies which usually is used to solve the disruption.

Finally another common Proppian character role found in thrillers is the dispatcher who sends the hero on his mission to resolve the disruption. For example, M (James Bond franchise), Lt. Jim Gordon (Dark Knight) and Marsellus Wallace (Pulp Fiction). The dispatcher in thrillers seems to be the person in charge of the hero such as their bosses. E.g. M from James Bond is the head MI6 and is in charge of Bond.

Claude Levi-Strauss’s structure of binary opposition occurs a lot within the themes of thrillers. There is good vs. evil which is a primary theme found in thrillers and occurs in a large majority of thrillers. This shows that there is a hero and villain within the film for the story to revolve around and that they are equally matched. This is usually shown with connotations of white and black indicating good and evil. Films such as Face-Off, Seven and Batman use this binary opposition to use as a guideline for their story.

There is also life and death within thrillers as the hero is out to try and save people from dying at the hands of the villain who is usually sadist. The villain doesn’t make it easy for the hero though adding tension to the film by making it so if the hero fails, a lot of lives will be lost. The James Bond franchise use this a lot so James has to go and defuse a bomb for instance to stop a lot of people from dying.

The life and death opposition also links in with the Captor and the captive opposition as the villain has some captives or hostages held and it is up to the hero to come and save the hostages before they get killed by the villain. Films such as The Taking of Pelham 123 and Hostage

A hunter vs. hunted theme can also be used in a lot of thrillers to add suspense to the film and make you wonder if the hero is going to get out alive and makes the villain seem more evil and mysterious. This opposition has been used in films such as Hard Target and Assault of Precinct 13. In Assault of Precinct 13, some people are held up in an abandoned police station while a crazed gang are hunting them trying to kill them connoting the hunted being holed up in a building while the hunters are trying to break through to kill them.

Todorov’s theory of narrative structure is followed by a lot of thrillers with there being an equilibrium or status quo which then gets knocked out of balance by a disruption of some sort with the hero then going out to resolve the disruption therefore recreating the same equilibrium or changing it into a new one if something life changing happened.

In Seven, Detective Somerset is just at his home getting ready for work which is the equilibrium. It then cuts to a crime scene were a murder has took place acting as the disruption. After the crime has been solved, it resorts back to the equilibrium. It probably stays as the same equilibrium as it gives off an impression that murder and crime happens a lot in that city and it doesn’t affect Somerset in a life changing way.

In Face-Off the equilibrium is Sean Arches spending some time with his son on a carrousel bonding with each other. When Castor Troy shoots Sean and kills his son, this acts as a disruption in the film. Sean finally catches Castor which results in a new equilibrium as Sean can’t go back to how he wants as due to his son’s death, everything has changed.

Within these openings, a few thriller conventions occur. It shows the protagonist and in some cases reveals the antagonist also. It then shows that they are both equally matched against each other but also reveals a flaw in the hero. The fact they are equally matched supports Strauss’s theory of binary oppositions as they are equally matched and are good vs. evil. It reveals the location in which it is all set which generally is a large urban environment to act as a ‘concrete jungle’. Finally a death occurs within the openings of these thrillers which then sets the whole narrative into motion.

During the Seven opening credits, it helps establish the genre of the film and gives an eerie feel to the whole film. The credits start with a fade to black with a pathetic fallacy occurring on a diegetic sound effect of thunder, indicating a coming storm. The credits then are done by acting as a montage, showing different things happening from one shot to the next. Then weird stuff begins to happen such as the person we see blacking out pictures, cutting pictures and blanking out words. Due to these weird actions, it gives the impression that it is the antagonist doing all of this and sets a tense atmosphere whilst adding enigma to the film. It has a cut to him cutting his fingertips off with a razor blade connoting that he is psychotic as he is inflicting pain upon himself. Whilst all of this is happening, it plays some industrial music in the background to add more suspense due to its metallic feel. At the end of the credits, it mentions the phrase ‘you bring me closer to God’, perhaps indicating that religion has a role within the film.

Due to all of this, it creates an enigma about the film that will keep you guessing throughout the whole film about what is happening, who is the next victim etc.

For the film Dirty Harry, the intro starts off with a death of a young woman by a sniper and it shows Harry going to the scene of the murder. As he does, it comes up with the titles while playing some eerie tense atmospheric score using a lot of percussion instruments and a bass guitar. Whilst the credits are still going, it shows the setting of the film as a large urban city (San Francisco). It then does another extreme long shot of the protagonist where the sniper was revealing the entire city allowing the audience to know the location.

As the opening of Dirty Harry starts off with a murder, it immediately follows one of the main conventions of a thriller film which also allows the audience to know what to expect.

When the opening credits start the name of the studio is usually given first, followed by the production company, producer’s name, and then it is usually the main stars of the show or any famous actors followed by the film title. After this the composer of the music appears, and then the editor followed by the producer once again. The script writers name appears followed then by the director of the film.