What makes a thriller?

Narrative:How it's told. Shows story lines, paths, clues, resolutions, happy endings and events.  How they get the story from the content. The plot comes from the key events and what we actually see. Normally crime or psychological. they normally have a high amount of suspense and anticipation.

The Protagonist: The Hero of the narrative, a person in which is normally fighting for good or is trying to reveal the truth.

The Antagonist: The villain of the narrative, a person in which is against the protagonist. 

Conventional Characters:hero, villains, victims, psychotic people, terrorists and characters with dark pasts.

Editing: Pan, Tilting, cross cuts for example car chases.Jump cuts, examples flash backs. Straight cuts, for example conversation.Jump cuts are used a lot in thriller films. This is usually used to show all of the events that are actually happening, or also to remind the audience of what is going on, which builds up a bigger climax.  
 

Mise en Scene and Titles:

The lighting in thriller films is usually dark and mysterious.

The props vary from weapons in Crime Thrillers and everyday house hold objects in Psychological Thriller.

The sound in Thriller films vary from diegetic sounds (such as police car sirens, traffic and sudden loud bangs) to non-diegetic sounds (such as suspenseful music and orchestral screeches.

Costumes are not specific in Thriller films as they range from Police or army uniforms in Action-Thrillers and everyday wear in Psychological-Thrillers.

wide shots for action scenes, extreme close ups for suspense.

Themes:
Action Thriller 
Crime Thriller 
Film Noir 
Psychological Thriller Driver'
Sci-fi Thriller
Religious Thriller 
Paranormal Thriller 

Settings:

The settings/location of the majority of thrillers is set in rural places such as a town or city. the action is normally centred around a particular house and family home. This works well in a thriller as a home is seen as a safe place. Therefore when this place gets invaded, the safety and security is broken and it becomes tense and unsettling. these ordinary locations allow the audience to understand and relate and empathise.

Sound:

Thrillers are typically noisy. They use a lot of diegetic sound during the course of the film. Commons sounds like bangs, ticking, and screams. the build up of these sounds help create suspense and tension. These sounds are heard by both us and the characters, and normally are jumpy. Non-diegetic sound is used regular during thrillers. A steady drone is used, which creates unease. there is normally the of a crescendo which takes place nearer the action. As the action increase and the tension builds the music speeds up and increase in unison.


sound can either be parallel or contrapuntal