Thriller Conventions Linking To Jack Reacher

Thriller Conventions Linking To Jack Reacher

Plot: Generally, thrillers show justice and injustice (or good and evil) fighting against each other, with an overall feel of suspense. Most often, the identity of the antagonist is known and the protagonist must intervene with their plans; a thriller movie usually has a growing sense of threat and/or danger and there is a clear sense of pursuit, although they sometimes begin with an overall degeneration of events

Narrative: (points of view; events) The story of a typical thriller film will usually be shown from the protagonist’s point of view, following events that the heroes must overcome. This point of view allows the audience to become more involved in the events themselves and therefore closer to the characters, as they see how the characters interact with each other in different situations. However, other points of view are sometimes included in the telling of the plot: often they will be short clips from the villain’s point of view, allowing the audience to see how the antagonist acts while by themselves, or how they used to act (i.e. in a flashback), which creates empathy for the villain and possibly allows the audience to understand why they have become the evil party. Depending on the character that plays the villain or how much is revealed to the audience, a sense of guilt can also be created.

Characters: (dress; typical roles) The two main characters (antagonist and protagonist) in a thriller are set apart from each other in the way the audience views them. The heroes in thrillers are often men that are accustomed to danger in their jobs or lifestyles (i.e. policemen, spies, etc.) or are ordinary citizens that have been pulled into danger by accident. The male hero usually has an aim to defeat the evil of the situation and will persevere even if nothing is going according to plan. The villains in thrillers are also typically men, usually tall and/ or well-built, and with a shady sense around them that gives the impression that they shouldn’t be trusted. This character may have some physical deformity (if their identity is secret for the majority of the film), or a traumatic experience that has changed their outlook on life or humanity. Usually they will work alone.

Iconography: (setting; mise-en-scene; props; colours) The typical setting of a thriller is in an urban city. Usually the main colours used will be grey, black and white to emphasise the helplessness of the first character we see. Thrillers can also be set in quiet country villages, where everyone leads poor and simple lives; often the villain will come from a small village. Usually only a small range of colours will be used, the main being black or grey if it is set in a city environment, to show how normal and mundane life is. However other strong colours are often used at particular plot points; for example if there is a lot of blue we can assume that someone has or is going to die, and if there is a recurring theme of red (i.e. alarms) then we understand the characters are in danger.