1. By Daniel Mallen
REPRESENTATION IN THRILLER

2. CONVENTIONS OF THRILLER
My coursework focuses around the Thriller genre, more specifically upon ‘revenge’ movies which
facilitate a subcategory of Thriller. The theme of Revenge has been present in film from the early
silent era and continues to be popular today. While revenge films revolve around the same idea, the
endings can differ greatly. For instance, sometimes the revenge is justified and the ending turns out
well (Revenge of the Nerds, Mean Girls). Sometimes though, the wrong person feels revengeful and
the outcome turns out badly (Carrie, Cape Fear). But even though the endings can vary, films that
have the theme of Revenge are always about the journey. Films like Kill Bill and Memento center
entirely on this idea, taking us on a tumultuous ride that culminates around an act of vengeance.
Quentin Tarantino is notourious for constructing films around this idea, though unfortunately after
viewing many of the trailers of his films I have recognised that they are not recreatable as they
usually include exotic locations and include violence.

3. PLOT
Often, Thrillers will display justice and injustice (good and bad-binary opposites)- people
fighting against each other. Though ‘Only God Forgives’ presents and exception to this rule as
a result of the antagonist being presented as the protagonist and vice-versa, with the viewer
effectively cheering for the bad guy. Perhaps this could be a theme that I interpret within my
film. Often, a growing sense of threat/danger is present and there is a clear notion of
pursuit, although sometimes begin with an equilibrium and show the deterioration of events.

4. NARRATIVE
Typically, the story will be told from the protagonist’s point of view by following events which
they must overcome. This allows the audience to become more involved in the events
themselves and therefore close to the character- Only God Forgives takes this to another
level by using first person shots. Other points of view, such as the following of the antagonist’s
viewpoint allows the audience to discover the antagonist’s actions or how they used to act (via
flashback), this helps the viewer sometimes develop empathy for the antagonist and possibly
discover how they became the evil character. Often the motive of the villain and their relation
to the hero will be revealed towards to end of the film, leaving the audience to epiphanize why
the characters have acted they way they have. If the motive is left unrevealed then, the film
will end with a note of suspension and confusion, effectively allowing the audience to imagine
what would happen after the film has finished.

5. CHARACTERS
The heroes in thrillers are often men and women accustomed to danger (i.e. policemen) or are
ordinary people that have been incidentally pulled into danger. The male hero usually has an
aim to defeat the evil/oppression. Villains are typically male, usually tall or well built (i.e. Bane
in The Dark Knight Rises) and with a shady of sense surrounding and may look
deformed, often originating from a traumatic experience (i.e. The Joker in the Dark Knight).
Female roles are often represented as being helpless and innocent (i.e. Irene in Drive) and
requires the hero’s help to support them. Generally characters will appear smartly or at least
well dressed and can be suited to the character, for example James Bond would probably
wear suit, though in other films such as in Memento where the main character wears a t-shirt
and smart bottoms to achieve a casual look. The colour pallet of character clothing is often
selectively chosen, typically villains will draw a darker colour set whilst young innocent
children will wear bright, light clothing the emphasise their innocence and youthfulness. Red is
often worn by alluring women in some form or another, this is often done to emphasis their
femininity and increase their sex appeal (the male gaze theory is relevant here).

6. ICONOGRAPHY (SETTING, MISE-EN-SCENE, PROPS, COLOURS)
Typically, a thriller will be set in an urban city. Conventionally, the main colours used will
include grey, black and white. Thrillers often use only a small range of colours, grey or black
being the main colour if the film is set in a city environment. Common props will include
weapons (i.e. guns, knifes, baseball bat’s- though I will not be able to include this in my trailer)
and vehicles common. Camera angles are often stationary or they move around a lot (shaky
cam- during a tense scene), if a scene has a large quantity of dialogue, then the camera will
probably focus upon the characters instead of their surroundings. During an action scene the
camera will often move around a lot and multiple quick cuts will be enforced to match the fast
pace of the scene. Often, dim lighting will be employed depending on the tone or the
character in shot, for example a currently unrevealed villain may be shot so the viewer cannot
totally see the aesthetic of the character, this helps add suspense.