Research into Thriller Conventions

Vladimir Propp was a Russian critic who analysed 100 Folk Tales in detail. According to Propp, each character has a narrative function as they provide a structure for the text. 

These functions are:

 1.      The Villain - Who struggles against the hero. We can name this the antagonist

2.      The Hero – Who goes against the villain and normally has some kind of flaw

3.      The Princess - The person who the hero may marry or save during the narrative

4.      The Reluctant Hero - Who helps to resolve and whom reacts to the donor

5.      The Donor - The Donor helps the hero

6.      The Dispatcher/ Father - who will send the Hero to go and do something

7.      The Helper - Who will help the hero along

8.      The False Hero - Who will try and marry the princess one the other hand try and stop the hero from completing the task.

Applying Propp’s theory to ‘The Matrix’:

·          The Villain – Agents

·         The donor- Morpheus

·         The helper – Trinity

·         The Princess - Trinity

·         Dispatcher – Morpheus

·         Hero – Neo   

·         False hero - Cypher

However in an opening of a film not all of these characters will be introduced, for example in the opening of Matrix only Trinity, the helper and the agents as the Villains are shown however Neo is heard on the phone suggesting he also has a main part to play. Another example using the film ‘ils’ is that in the opening scene we see two victims who die and we never hear or see them again in the film, this is also commonly used to establish the villain and what he or in this case, they, do. However after this section we are straight away introduced to the Princess character. 

After analyzing more Thriller films, I have found that each of Propps character types seem to have a typical age and apperance, For example in the film, 'Face Off': 

John Travolta, A middle aged man is the hero;

He is a strong, healthy and good-looking man. Which makes the audience like him more. He works as a detective and at the beginning of the movie he had a Son which he clearly loved however, the Villain killed the Son and now he looks for revenge. 

Nicolas Cage, again a middle aged man is the Villain;

Although he is around the same age he has a very scrawny look about him, he has thin, long features for instance his nose, making him look sinister and mysterious.

However, in the film, 'Se7en':

Morgan Freeman, slightly older than John place the hero;

Again he is a male, although not as young and good-looking as John, he does have Brad Pitt's character working with him. Which makes the audience like him. This character also works as a Detective.

Kevin Spacey, another middle aged man plays the Villain;

He has quite a rough and violent look about him which makes him look evil in a less mysterious way than Nicolas' character but more in a violent and upfront way. 

Through looking at these characters, it seems that majority of the Villain's and hero's are men which shows their willing to be violent and become caught up in fights, something which woman are not as much associated with. They also tend to be middle aged, perhaps to show their ability and high fitness levels. 

Levi Strauss is a French Anthropologist who studied Myths and Tribal cultures; he examined how stories subconsciously reflect the values, beliefs & myths of culture and how they’re usually reflected in the form of binary oppositions.

"All narratives have to be driven by a conflict that was caused by a series of opposing forces" The conflict between them would drive the narrative on until some sort of balance is restored.

Examples of Binary Oppositions in Thrillers:

             Good & Evil

·          Light & Dark

·         Day & Night

·         Victim & Killer

·         Protagonist & Antagonist

·         Detective & Criminal

·         Hero & Villain

·         Sane & Insane

·         High key & Low key

·         Life & Death

These can be shown through the use of characters, lighting and sometimes just generally the events that take place within the film.  

Todorov came up with a theory that most narrative storylines include similar conventions, his theory argued that many storylines had 5 common conventions and that many story’s follow these conventions. The 5 conventions are:

·                    There is an equilibrium

·         Some sort of problem disrupts this equilibrium

·         The characters realise that there is a disruption of equilibrium

·         They attempt to fix the problem

·         Returns to equilibrium or new equilibrium/ A Resolution

Here the narrative is not seen as a linear structure but a circular one. The narrative is driven by attempts to restore the equilibrium which has been disrupted, usually by a serious crime such as a murder, as in the movie opening, ‘Face Off’ where a happy father and son show the equilibrium at a fun fair, this is established through gestures such as hugging, laughing and smiling until the son is murdered demonstrating the disruption. However, the equilibrium attained at the end of the story is not identical to the initial equilibrium, for example John Travolta’s son cannot be brought back to life which would cause the father to push for revenge. Todorov argues that narrative involves a transformation, the characters or the situations are transformed through the progress of the disruption. In an opening of a film the resolution would not be shown as that would signify the end of the movie. 

The opening credits of the movie are shown at the beginning of the sequence; for a thriller this sets the dreary and dark atmosphere which the film is aiming to establish through the narrative. For example in Face Off the titles start with the Classic Sans Serif white font on a black background which instantly shows Levi’s theory of binary oppositions and along with the music which is rather eerie and has quite a sad undertone, an instant mood is set upon the viewer that something bad is about to occur without having seen any footage yet.

It is usual for the Film Company logo to be the first title in the sequence and will always be a full screen title even if the rest of the titles are not, this is then followed by the producers company and various important figures in the making of the movie for instance the main characters and co-stars, writers, producers and director. Then the name of the film, in thrillers the music usually deepens and the atmosphere becomes more ominous as an example in Face Off this is when the villain is introduced.