The document describes common stock elements used in thriller films, including characters, narratives, settings, and iconography. Some key stock characters mentioned are the victim, hit man, hero, and villain. Common stock narratives include revenge, serial murder/crime, kidnapping, and hero saving his true love. Typical stock settings listed are parking lots, apartments, fields, cities, and warehouses. Iconography elements often seen include guns, suits, masks, gadgets, money, weapons, and fast cars.

1. Repertoire of Elements
Stock characters Stock narrative
Victim Revenge
Hit man
Hero Serial murder/crime
Villain Kidnapping
Henchmen Hero saving his true love
Women in danger Robbery/heist
Donor
Police men
Hero’s sidekick
Stock setting Iconography
Parking lot Guns
Apartment Suits
Field Masks
Busy city Gadgets
Abandoned Sunglasses
Factories/warehouse Money
Mansion/Large house Weapons
Suburban streets Fast cars
Police/FBI uniform

2. Stock characters
•Victim
•Hit man
•Hero
•Villain
•Henchmen
•Women in
danger
•Donor
•Police men
•Hero’s sidekick
•Hit man: The hitman is the main stock character which is
used in our film.
all of the main characters, even the victim in the Betrayal are hit
men.
•Victim: The victims in a lot of thriller films are portrayed as
innocent and weak people who struggle to defend themselves
against a stronger attacker. However in The Betrayal this is not
the case as the victim is also a hit man and is trained and
skilled in fighting and killing.
As you can see we have not portrayed a hero and villain
scenario, that’s because mostly every character that is
involved in “The Betrayal” is a hit man and not necessarily
thought of as a hero, also the characters are not the type of
people that the audience can like and trust.
Evaluation Edward Robinson 2

3. Stock narrative
•Revenge
•Serial murder/crime
•Kidnapping
•Ransom
•Hero saving his true love
•Robbery/heist
•Revenge: Revenge is usually a strong and commonly used
element in thriller films and in The Betrayal it is no different.
Darren wants revenge on Mark for kidnapping and betraying
Steve
•Serial murder/crime: Serial murders are generally the theme
used in horror films, and is vital in our film as most of the
characters involved are hit men, so they make a living through
murder and violence.
•Kidnapping: kidnapping is used in a lot of thriller films and
usual include a ransom but in our film there is kidnapping but
with no money involved, just murder.
Evaluation Edward Robinson 3

4. Stock setting
•Parking lot
•Apartment
• Empty Field
•Busy city
•Abandoned Factories/warehouse
•Mansion/Large house
•Suburban streets
•Parking lot: A parking lot can sometimes be a big
factor in thrillers as it is generally a gloomy and
frightening place. In our film we have used it to show the
scene where Darren catches up with Mark and attempts
to have his revenge.
•Apartment: The apartment isn't a key scene, in the film
but we used it to show where Steve and Mark lived. We
wanted to point out that they lived together and had been
close friends
•Empty Field: The empty field is a typical place that
people are often taken, usually to be murdered and the
bodies disposed of. We used the field as the place where
Steve has been dropped off in the boot off the car.
Evaluation Edward Robinson 4

5. Iconography
•Guns
•Suits
•Masks
•Gadgets
•Sunglasses
• Money
•Weapons
•Fast cars
•Police/FBI uniform
•Guns: Guns are nearly always used in thrillers and is essential
item in our film. For a hit man a gun is his key tool, in the
parking lot scene we see that Darren has a gun and the gun
gives him the upper hand.
•Suits: a hit man appearance normally is very smart. In the film
“Hit man” the character was always smartly dressed when
carrying out his work.
•Masks: the mask is a source of secrecy and shows that a
person wants to be hidden. Also a mask strikes fear into people,
because they do not know who they are dealing with and it give
the appearance of malice
•Gadgets: Unlike in the James Bond type of movies where
they use a lot of gimmicky gadgets, In The Betrayal we wanted
to portray a hard hitting and gritty film, showing the realistic side
of life as a hit man, therefore we just used basic guns that can
normally be found in a real life situation.
Evaluation Edward Robinson 5

6. I chose to compare our two minute film “The Betrayal” to Guy
Richie’s “Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”. In my opinion
this was a good film to do because it links in with our film in many
different ways. One of the main reasons is that Lock Stock is a
low budget British film and so is ours, plus the genres for both
films are exactly the same with a mixture of thriller, crime and
action.
Another reason that I compared The Betrayal with Lock Stock
and Two Smoking Barrels is that similar techniques are used
throughout the films. For example a slow motion effect is used in
The Betrayal when the mask is dropped on the floor and the
same in Lock Stock when the two men run around a corner and
drop all of their money. Also a non- Diagetic voice over is used
in both openings.
Evaluation Edward Robinson 6