The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Opening Scene Analysis

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has become a cult classic among horror films,starting with its original in 1974 and continuing its franchise in 2012 with yet another sequel. The box office success of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre have made them iconic slasher films, which gives us reason to analyse their filmto help benefit our own film production.In particular for this research I am going to focus on the first scene of the film, to try and identify what makes an opening scene so enticing and crucialto the target audience.

In the first few seconds of the film we are met with an establishing long shot. This is seen as a typical conventionas establishing shots are useful for the director to use at thestart of the film in order to connect with their demographicby giving them some direction and perspective whilst presenting the surroundings for the first scene.

Establishing shots are also beneficial to the opening scene asthey can present the genre of the film. This is apparent through the use low key lighting along with the small opening of light which carries negative connotations of entrapment with no escape. This clearly suggests the conventions of a horror film and is useful to present in the opening scene as ithelps to entice the audience of what's to come.

Along with the cinematography, sound is an ever-present factor which plays a useful part in the first scene. During these shots non-diegetic music is heard playing a dull drone of violins andA deep base line. The effect this has on the opening scene creates a very negative atmosphere which is suitable for thegenre. In addition to this, more non-diegetic music is heard through the voice of a narrator, as he describes the synopsis of the film in a very gruesome way, playing on the targetaudience’s expectations of the franchise and as a result exciting them for the film.

Throughout the opening

scene of this film there

has been a lot of

unconventional shots

which are appear very

distorted. The effect of

this suggests the

negative connotations

that the horror genre

brings, which would

appear disturbing to the

audience as the shots do

not take into account the

principle of thirds, which

helps to achieve this

distorted look.

To further apply the

negative

connotations, low key

lighting has been applied

with a black and white

colour fill to emphasise

the idea of roughness

and dirt in the

shots, adding to the

ruggedness.

Another useful device that this film uses in the opening scene is the use of contrast. The effect this has on the audience is luring them into a false sense of security and consequently scaring them more once the conventions of horror ‘kick in’

There are many factors that contribute to this contrast, such as the lighting of low key and high key lighting, which is further emphasised when the shots are juxtaposed together, the audience will recognise this, and will make them feel uneasy as they made uncomfortable at the sudden contrast.

Another way this is achieved is through the use of sound. Just as non-diegetic was used earlier to create an eerie feeling, it is used again in these scenes to create a more positive atmosphere. In particular, the song ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ is used, which is very upbeat with positive connotations in conjunction to the negative long violin tracks used previously in the scene.