Thriller Opening Conventions: Sound and Music

 

 

- Mostly in psychological thrillers and other thrillers in which tension needs to be built, there is an orchestral soundtrack, and it would be unlikely that there would be music with people singing in it, as this would probably destroy the tension. Orchestral sound tracks would probably be composed especially to coincide with the action occurring on screen; it would be quieter when less is happening and would crescendo as the tension builds and leads to the climax of the scene.

 

- If it was an action thriller film featuring chases and fight scenes, it may be that the music is more upbeat and fast moving so that the action on screen has a rhythm and fast pace to follow.

 

- Narration is something commonly heard in thriller films. It gives the opportunity to introduce setting and character to the audience, while also producing questions that they want to be answered by the film, forcing them to be hooked. Examples of this are in No Country For Old Men, Kill Bill (Volume 2 in picture above, this is the moment she is narrating what she plans to do in the film) and Cape Fear.

- Except from voice overs, there is often very little or no dialogue in the opening of films. Again this creates suspense because the audience asks questions, and the characters cannot answer them if they are not talking.

 

This is the opening scene from the thriller film 'The Prestige'. One of the characters opens the film with narration. While it answers it gives some information, mainly why the film is named what it is, and tells us that it is about magicians, however it produces more questions at the same time; 'Who is the character narrating and why is he significant?'