The Strangers Miss Frisenda

LO: to be able to identify how editing styles are used in the thriller genre and how sound enhances this.

How does editing inform the audience of the generic conventions of the film and enhance the tension within the scene with the use of sound?


According to the generic conventions of a thriller film the pace of the editing is normally slow. This convention is used in The Strangers and gives the audience a sense of tension as they are waiting for something to happen. At the beginning of the scene she is listening to music already which is fairly spooky itself. As it get interrupted by a loud knock which off-puts the actress. The camera shots stay quiet a long time in the position they are to hold the suspense of the audience and keep them on the edge of their seat. The sharp eery noise which is then presented in the track lets us know that something could be happening as its much louder noise than the noises we have heard before. It also starts of sounding a lot like a sharp knife being scraped which is used as a prop during the scene and is a convention of the thriller genre. It then starts to sound like a low pitch hum, which slows the pace down  so it makes it easier for the audience to be shocked when there is a climax. We then hear the first word from the actress as 'hello', her voice sounds very timid which we see as scared and innocent. This also shows that she is the victim. As she is standing very close to the door and hasn't opened the door, we start to think that she doesn't actually know the people are outside trying to get in. Before they start having a conversation they doesn't appear to be any music playing. This lets the background noises become the center of attention and makes the film seem more real than it actually is. The sharp deep noise which sounds painful breaks the silence of the background noise and again makes you feel like the climax is soon approaching. The footsteps which we hear from behind the door make the actress nervous as we think they are coming closer to the door and maybe going to try to get closer to her. The loud lock of the door triggers some more loud music to be played. The editing during the scene as she is by the door stays in the same place so we can see everything thats going on inside the house. The change of camera shot to a long shot seems to be handheld which makes it seem more real, this is used quiet frequently throughout the clip And attracts the audience as we start to feel like we are actually in the house and feeling the nervous, scared feelings that she is experiencing. As we hear her typing numbers into the phone we still feel like we are there. As we listen to the conversation we notice her scared voice which we straight away feel for her as she talks to her friend ' james'. As the camera shows the view from outside the window we hear a eery noise which has been used regularly through the scene to keep the audience in suspense. Still during the whole clip we hear the background noise which makes the audience feel like they are in the film itself.
The close up of the fire alarm on the floor with the feet at the back shows how slow she is walking and how she is looking at it it shows how she didnt know it was there. With the conversation ending with the line cutting off we even more realise that something is not right. With the hidden identity of the antagonist, not only with the masks but with them not being in the clip it's a common thriller convention, we automatically feel scared with her. With more uses of background noise as the phone call ends leaves us in the film even more, noting what going on with the story and being there to 'support' her. Still the use of a handheld camera seems to make the audience think whether the 'stranger' is watching her or whether its like us watching her through the camera.
As a long shot is used to see everything in the frame we notice a white figure coming into the back of the screen which automatically draws us to it with the dark surroundings and low key lighting.
As you would think that now the villain is in the same room there would be a lot of noise from them we still hear nothing from them except the background noise of the tap running and her smoking her cigarette. The use of silence which is used very much during the whole clip really makes the audience feel like their involved in the movie as their isnt as much diagetic sound.






use of sound
use of silence
heavy breathing
timid voice
prop noises
lenght of shot of her head aerial
eery sounds - fire alarm alarm clock