What makes a thriller a thriller

The idea of a thriller is to thrill its audience. It will atempt to focus on one goal and there for take the audience on the journey to find this goal with the protaganist/ protaganists of the story. Tension is needed to keep the audience on the edge of there seats as the narrative comes to a thrilling climax. The characters will find that they come accross obsticles ie, situations or people (villians) that they must over come in order for the film to finish or continue it's narrative.

You will find that the thriller is very fast paced, keeping the audience guessing and edgy. This can be helped in the editing. Which is vital for a thriller. Quick cuts and changes of camera angle are alwasy sure to bee seen in a thriller film.

The sounds in the film are also destinctive and b=very important. Music and cinema are like two peas in a pod, but when music is added to thriller film it becomes a different ball game. Thrilers would lose at least 50% of there impact if it weren't for the music or sounds (diagetic or non-diagetic) sounds heard in the films. For example the high pitched strings are often used to bring tension, and this can be influenced by the tempo. Jaws has one of the most iconic musical tension building tracks. So does James Bond with its use of a great orchastra and brass horns.


Lighting helps to add to the mis en scene of a piece. This can indicate to the audience what mood the scene is and what may happen next. In films like Seven, it is always raining and dark. It sets the mood of the whole film being a dark and twisted story. This is a good example of how the director David Fincher has used sound (sound of the rain) and the lighting to affect the audience watching his film. The use of shadows in thrillers (also used in Seven) is another devise used to creat a more sinster enviornment.


The idea of using lighting to enhance the atmosphere of the film can be traced back to the film movment of Film Noir. A film i have seen recently that uses film noir ideas was Momento. In a scene where the protaganist is sitting in his room alone, you really feel like you can feel the darkness of his character.