Thriller Conventions

Camera

Tracking Shots and Pan Shots are most commonly used in the opening scenes of thrillers, this is to ensure that we engage with a certain character/group of people that are important and relevant to the narrative. The framing used in the shot is also extrremely important as is evident in Se7en and Kill Bill vol. 1 - close ups seem to be extremeley popular amongst these features to capture the intensity of the character's expressions. Long shots are also used frequently to allow the audience to observe the environment in which the action will take place. There are also a vast variety of camera angles used to meet the conventions of thrillers, such as the high angled/low angled shot to represent superiority and inferiority, for example in Terminator to suggest that a character is superior to those around him.

Mise en Scene

Lighting is a key part of a thriller, as it impacts the ambience of the audience and must stay relevant to the themes in the film, for example, in Terminator lighting is reflected off of machinery as robots/androids are a key feature in the film and so they adapt the lighting to the key themes in their feature.

Editing

Jump Cuts are used very freuently throughout thriller films to maintain intrensity, a set of sequential jump cuts often culminate into something important that happens in the narrative. Jump cuts often fill in the audience with events that they are not aware of and therefore retain continuity. Essentially, a jump cut is when two sequential shots are taken of the same subject at pace and from slightly varied angles.

Sound

Non-Diegetic sound is used in every single thriller film, no question. This is because without the use of short sharp sounds that build tension before the scene culminates, there would be no suspense built. However, silence can also be used to build suspense in thrillers: moments before the murder takes place in the famous shower scene in "Psycho" (1960), there is complete silence until the shower curtain is drawn and the murder takes place.