Iconic Sounds of Trailers
A gun sound effect is also another sound effect which is used in many thrillers. The sound effect is often used in crime thrillers where there are often violence. This effect is usually loud and is also accompanied by effects in order to make the gun shot sound realistic. This sound effect is used in many different thriller movies such as the Drop, The beach and Inception.
Heavy breathing is another ambient sound or sound effect which is usually added in some scenes of thriller movies. These have been used in many thriller movies such as Zodiac and Hard Candy. Heavy breathing is usually used as openers in thriller films and it also increases the intensity in the scene because the viewers would have no idea of why the protagonist or the victim is running therefore this makes the atmosphere more intense.
One of the movie soundtracks which is totally different from the jaws soundtrack is the abduction movie trailer soundtrack. This sound very different from the jaw soundtrack but it also has some similarities too. Similar to the Jaws soundtrack, the Abduction soundtracks starts off slow and then builds up. However, the Abduction beat and the tempo of the abduction soundtrack is on a different level. The tempo rapidly changes and the beat becomes faster in order to match the quick change of the scenes in the movie. In addition, the movie was a cross over between action/thriller therefore the movie’s target audience was mainly young thrill seeking adults.
When high pitched string instrument sounds are played in thriller and horror movies, immediately it creates an uncomfortable atmosphere because it indicates that something negative is going to happen. Similar to the Jaws soundtrack, the high pitched piano often starts off fairly quietly then it steadily builds up tension which corresponds with the character’s emotions or actions. This sound is used in some movie such as The Psycho.
The jaws soundtrack is one of the most recognisable thriller soundtracks. This soundtrack is so simple but so effective at the same time. Different base instruments which were used to create this intense sound and these base instruments were 4 trumbones, a tuba and 8 cellos. These instruments combined made the soundtrack a perfect match for a thriller movie because the soundtrack starts off slow then it builds up and causes tension within the movie. The soundtrack was simply used to warn the viewers when a shark was going to attack and for this reason the soundtrack became hugely popular after the movie. Today the soundtrack is used to emphasis danger and when people hear it, they often associate it with sharks.
One of the sound effects which is often used in thriller movies are phone ringing sound effects. These are often added to many thriller movies because they create tension and suspense as the hero or villian doesn’t know who is at the end of the phone line therefore the longer the phone rings, the more suspense and tension it creates in that scene. This sound effects has been used in thriller movies such as The Phone Booth and Dial M for Murder.