Research into Thriller Genre: Sound

Sound is either diegetic or non diegetic in every film, often in thrillers they have a large usage of both.

  Non diegetic sounds are used very affectively in Thriller films, for example, in the shower scene in Psycho, there was very loud, intense non diegetic music. This helped increase the suspense and tension in the scene, creating a much more thrilling atmosphere for the audience. 

 

A good example of how effective non diegetic sound is in thriller films is in jaws. The music v non music video clearly shows that the scene is a lot more suspenseful with the non diegetic music. This non diegetic music helps to emphasise that they're running out of time and are in a very stressful, tense situation. Non diegetic music can also be used to represent emotion, for example in Jaws, it clearly represent panic between the characters. Non diegetic music can also be used to represent characters and their emotions, for example eerie music can portray a character as being quite untrustworthy and dangerous, encouraging the audience to feel suspicious of them. This is done quite often in thriller films, for example in the film Seven, this technique is used to represent the serial killer as being dangerous.

Diegetic music, such as radios or songs playing in the background, can be used to represent a particular character, like non diegetic music. For example, if a character is in a scene where happy diegetic music is being played, it conveys them as being happy. This technique is used quite often in thrillers and is often used to portray a character as being distressed or dangerous.

Diegetic sounds can also be emphasised to create a much more suspenseful and tense atmosphere. For example, footsteps can be enhanced through echoes to create a much more dramatic entrance/exist. This can be used to convey power and control within a specific character, in thrillers this is quite often the antagonist to emphasise that they are a threat to the protagonist.

Thrillers, just like most films, have diegetic dialogue. However, in thrillers this is used more effectively to emphasise the tension between characters or to convey fear in a particular character. For example, a character who is in danger may scream or ask for help in a very harrowing context.

There can also be non diegetic sound affects which are often used in fight scenes in thrillers, this is to enhance the action scenes. For example, a gun shot sound affect will be used if there is a fight scene involving guns, this usually makes the gun sound louder than it actually would be to, this can also be done if they're fighting with swords or metallic objects, as the objects hit each other, it will be made louder to emphasise the violence in the fight scene. These types of scenes are usually between the antagonist and the protagonist.

Diegetic background sounds are used to make the film appear more realistic to the audience, this helps create realism which engages the audience more in the film.