Katie Jackson and Michael Shelton are portrayed as stereotypical characters for the thriller genre through their use of stereotypes, costumes, makeup, and props. Katie, the female protagonist, is portrayed as vulnerable and weak through her blonde hair, minimal makeup, and use of a dog prop. Michael, the male antagonist, is portrayed as mysterious and strange through his use of a hat and dark clothing. Overall, the characters conform to stereotypes about gender roles expected in the thriller genre.

2. is the portrayal of someone or
something in a particular way.
is a collection of people who interact with
each other, share similar characteristics
and a sense of unity.
‘The Pursuer’ represents different types of social groups:
-Gender
-Age

4. In my film opening, the protagonist is a
blonde, young female. She is the victim
of a stalker. I chose her to be my
character as in thriller films the ‘damsel
in distress’ is usually a blonde woman.
The stereotype of women is that they
are vulnerable and fall victim to others
such as male characters. I used this
stereotype to create a opinion of my
character for the audience as they will
immediately recognise her as the
damsel. Whilst researching the thriller
genre, I found that the women used in
the films were portrayed as weak. This is
why I have used a similar type of person
to play my female character. Blonde
women are seen as ‘dumb’ which could
add to the narrative of how she doesn’t
know she is being stalked.
Spectre – James Bond.
Gone
Girl.
Triangle.

5. My protagonist (Katie) is shown
as a vulnerable and weak
character through the use of
stereotypes, costume, make
up and props:
Blonde hair: By her hair being blonde,
the audience have an automatic
stereotypical opinion of the character.
Make Up : By the character wearing
minimal make up it makes the audience
think that this could happen to them as
she is a relatable character.
Props: By using the dog as a prop I have
made the audience believe she is vulnerable
as dog are protective animals however they
wouldn’t be able to stop the male from
hurting the character. This makes her look
weak as she is alone and has nobody to
protect her from the male.

6. In my film opening, the antagonist was a
male who is stalking a woman. I chose him to
be a stereotypical British young male. I chose
him to have dark hair with dark clothing to
make him mysterious to the audience. I also
gave him the prop of a hat to make him
anonymous which makes the audience feel
suspense and tension whilst watching the
opening. After conducing research into the
male antagonists in thriller films, I identified
that they are all similar looking which made
me choose my character to look like the
stereotypical antagonist. The majority wear
glasses which makes them creepy however
my character is younger which I believe
wouldn’t have made it represent his age well
and I also wanted to challenge the
stereotypes as it could be anyone stalking
you.
Prisoners.
Lovely
Bones.
One Hour
Photo.

7. My antagonist (Michael) is
shown as a mysterious and
strange character through
the use of stereotypes,
costume and props:
Hat: the use of the hat hides the
identity of the male character which
makes him mysterious and
anonymous as he is physical hidden
from the audience.
Dark Costume: The use of dark clothing
adds stereotypes to the film as black
connotes power, death, mystery and evil
which aids with the narrative as the
audience automatically have an opinion
and know he is a bad character. In the
other films that I researched, the male
antagonist characters are dressed in
black.

8. Katie Jackson is a
stereotypical
female character
of a thriller film as
she is portrayed as
vulnerable and
weak as the social
group of women
are shown to be.
This is a convention
of women in this
genre as they are
portrayed as the
weaker sex.
Michael Shelton
is a stereotypical
male character
for the thriller
genre as he is
seen as
mysterious and
anonymous
which makes the
audience fear
him. This is a
convention of
the antagonist
for a thriller film.
Overall, the female protagonist and the male antagonist are both
stereotypical characters for the thriller genre as it makes the characters clear
for the audience and it is the conventions they expect from the two different
social groups of gender.

9. In my film, Katie is represented as
weak and vulnerable as she is in
the house on her own, she walks
the dog on her own and also
Michael walks into her house and
stalks her without her knowing. By
her being on her own, the
audience believe she is a not safe
or protected from the male
character which adds suspense
and tension. Katie wears her
pyjamas in one scene which shows
her being relaxed. This is not the
case as we as an audience know
she is in danger which shows
dramatic irony.

10. The male character of Michael has more air
time in the opening of the film as he is the
dominant gender which shows that he has
the power of the woman. He also appears
first in the film which portrays that he has
importance over Katie in the narrative which
agrees with the conventions and stereotypes.
The male character is outside the woman’s
house without her knowing which could
connote that the male gender is
stereotypically more knowledgeable than the
female gender as she is unaware of his
presence. In my film I do challenge the
conventions and stereotypes of a male social
group as I added voiceovers to show that he
doesn’t have all the power in the film as his
mind is playing tricks by repeating words said
to him in the past.

11. The male character has low angle shot during the opening scene as this
shows dominance, power, authority and intimidation. He is higher in social
groups as male are seen as the most important and dominant compared to
the female gender. The female character has high angle shots to show her
powerless over the situation she is in as well as her vulnerability. She is lower in
social groups as she is seen as the less important sex. This shows that social
groups is related to angles of shots as the higher the social group the lower
the shot and vice versa.
LOW
HIGH
ANGLES
LOWER
HIGHER
SOCIAL GROUPS

13. Both of my characters are teenagers to mid twenties. This means they
are classed as young people. Young people are stereotypically seen
as abusive and disruptive. They are also seen in a negative light. My
male character is the stereotype of a young male. He is wearing a
hoodie and dark clothing which is the stereotypical clothing of young
people. It represents evil and mystery as he also has his hood up. The
lighting is dark which gives us an impression that he wants to be
hidden. We know as an audience that he is of a young age as these
are typical conventions of a young person. My female character
challenges the stereotypes of young people as she is seen positively
through the lighting of the film as it is bright and high key. She is
shown in her pyjamas which shows her vulnerability as we associate
this costume with younger people. I decided to challenge the
stereotype with the female character as it shows binary opposition (A
Levi Strauss Theory)and a clear comparison between the two
characters.

15. The role of ethnicity does not play a crucial part in my
film ‘The Pursuer’. This is because I only have two
characters who are both white British and the film is set
in Britain. The narrative of my film doesn’t focus on
ethnicity however both of my characters white British. I
chose the characters to be on the same ethnicity as it
challenges the stereotypes of British people. This is
because they are both of the same ethnicity however
they are both different as one character is an
antagonist and one character is a protagonist. The
male character is a stereotype of a white British
teenager whereas the female character is a counter
stereotype of a white British teenager.