Within the Thriller genre, sound, mise - en - scene, camera angles and editing are vitally important so that a successful thriller can be created.
Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960):
Sound: Every genre of film uses sound diegetic or non-diegetic to create atmosphere. This is more true for the Thriller genre as fast or slow paced sound has different effects for this genre. An example of this is the infamous shower scene in Psycho where Norman Bates kills the woman. The use of non-diegetic Violins implemented as the curtain to the shower is drawn quickly enhances the atmosphere. The rapid violin notes along with the Norman Bates knife indicates to the audience that the lady will soon die. This scene ends with the Cello and Bass playing long held notes as the lady lies dead on the shower floor. For a successful thriller, suspense is vital. Seen through Psycho's score, it is possible to attain suspense through sound.
Mise-en-scene: For Norman Bates, the lighting used is Back lighting. This completely darkens Norman Bates. This was done intentionally so that the audience could not tell who the murderer was.
Camera angles: The camera slowly zooms into the shadow creeping up to the shower curtain. This is followed by a close up of the shadow as he attacks the lady with various shots of the two people's point of view.
Editing: A key example of editing in this scene is when the shot of the shower hole slowly transitions to the right eye of the lady on the floor. This clarifies to the audience that she has died.
The Sixth Sense (Shyamalan, 1999):
When this film was initially released, it received critical acclaim. This thriller however incorporated a chilling twist at the end. Bruce Willis' character was a ghost since het met the child. This thriller pays special attention to the editing and special effects of the ghosts that are in the child's house and school. The infamous 'I see dead people' scene starts of with no sound at all however non-diegetic Violins gradually creep into the scene until the child says 'I see dead people' to which a whole ensemble of stringed instruments play a slow, sad tune until the end.
Taken (Morel, 2008): Another infamous scene in Thriller films is when Liam Neeson's character hears her daughter being taken. While Liam Neeson explains to his daughter what is about to take place, non-diegetic violin notes are being played quietly along with the loud thumps of a bass drum. As the close up of his daughter is shown, diegetic sounds of the floor boards creaking as well as the slamming of doors is in harmony with a string ensemble creating an eerie atmosphere until it suddenly fades to a double bass playing low long notes. The non-diegetic sound resumes with the Timpani being hit twice. This combination of strings and percussion continues quietly until the people after the daughter leave the room to which the non-diegetic sound pauses for a while allowing the daughter to speak thinking that she is safe when she is suddenly dragged out from under the bed and screams in terror.
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