Editing

Another convention is the thriller genre is the use of editing, this allows the director to decide the pace of the film by using quicker or slower cuts. A good example of quick cuts would be in Hitchcock's stabbing scene in 'Psycho'. This scene has many quick cuts from a multitude of different angles, making the scene fast-paced and is extremely effective in evoking tension. Another typical trait of editing in thrillers is fading to black at the end of the film, which can add ambiguity to the ending and leave the audience guessing as to what could of happened next, and wanting a sequel to answer  questions.

Cross-cutting is often used in thriller films to highlight action happening in two places at once, often related to one-another. Here we have Martin Scrosese's crime-thriller 'The Departed' where in one location, the police are watching the microchip deal in a secret location, and it keeps cross-cutting to where the deal is taking place, it often flicks between the two scenes to show they're happening at the same time.

At the police station

At the microchip deal