Thriller Genre

Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960)
Sound is a very key element when it comes to making a thriller film, one of the most iconic thriller scenes that demonstrates this is that of the shower scene in 'Psycho' (Hitchcock 1960), an old yet one of the most well known films of the 20th century. The scene depicts a woman, going about her normal day and enjoying a shower, when she unexpectedly becomes a victim of the violent attack by a mysterious character  as she is stabbed multiple times and left to die in the shower. 

However what makes it so recognizable is the iconic non-diegetic sound of high pitched, screeching violins, violas and cellos used in the background as the lady is being stabbed by the 'psycho' in the shower. The sound itself has however, has become even more recognizable than the film itself as you're more likely to have heard the sound elsewhere, perhaps on a modern film.
This scene is also shown effectively using very fast cuts as the attack begins in the shower, cutting back and forth to show the woman's face and the 'psycho' stabbing her which increases the pace of the scene to reflect the fast action and corresponds with the loud and fast violin sounds.
What i found from this piece is that suspense is always created before any action actually occurs in virtually all thriller films. 

The Sixth Sense (Shyamalan, 1999)


In the intro for 'The sixth sense' the main convention of a thriller opening shown is based largely around sound. The background sounds in this film are similar to that of Hitchcock's 'Psycho' with orchestral music of piano's and violin's playing at first very quite and slow, then the sound getting louder with more instruments, although the music does stop altogether at different parts of the scene, in particular when Malcolm is trying to calm down the man.This creates more tension and suspense within the scene, and throws the audience   However this sound ceases towards the end of the opening scene which again throws off the audience as they may believe perhaps the suspense is over, but through all the silence the man pulls out a gun and shoots Malcolm and the shoots himself. 



The Maze Runner (Ball 2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCTVZ-SjG0M
The Maze Runner is a very modern piece based on the best selling novel series of the same name by James Dashner. The story follows a young protagonist named Thomas who is deposited in a community of boys with no recollection of his life, however they are all trapped and the only way out is through the ever-changing maze. 

The above scene again shows how sound is important within a thriller film but also shows the importance of editing and camera work. in thrillers sound is used to add suspense and tension, usually with music beginning slow and quite then building up and increasing in pace, this scene does just that. At the start their is only the diegetic sound of things like crickets but as the maze doors begin to close, violin music begins playing and escalates, getting louder and louder until Thomas enters to the maze, (against the rules of the others) and the music reaches its peak with a very fast pace. The dialogue is also useful in creating suspense as the characters say things like "They're not gonna make it" and 'Either they make it back or they don't" provoking questions in the audience like: Who are they talking about? What happens if they don't make it back? & What is in the maze?. This creates even more suspense with the audience as we wonder what is going to happen next.
However the initial suspense is created mainly through the use of diegetic sounds like crickets in the background and silence as the boys look out into the maze, and after this a gust if wind blows dust towards their faces. This initially creates an uneasy feeling as there is no dialogue with mainly silence and you start to wonder if perhaps something is wrong. 

In terms of mise-en-scène the use of lighting and also facial expressions are also useful in creating tension. At the start of the scene two wide shots are used so we see it is very light behind the group of boys but very dark within the maze suggesting that its perhaps safer on the brighter, greener side and that the maze is unsafe and sinister. in the first gif we see Thomas running into the actual maze and the further in he gets, the darker it gets, suggesting further that danger lays ahead and Thomas is now out of safety.