Textual Analysis:The Jigsaw (Short horror film)

By Noshin Jahan

About• Award-winning short horror film about a

man who walks into an antique shop and sees a jigsaw that he wants to buy. The owner of the shop says it’s not a good idea but the old man proceeds to buy the jigsaw box. When he comes home he prepares himself to start the jigsaw, hours later the man finds out it was a bad idea buying the jigsaw.

Beginning• Opening sound intensifying ominous music like off-key

violin. Opera music/instruments is most commonly found in horror films as it sounds intense and it resonates much well with the audience, most horror films use off-key violin the sound sounds bizarre and strange.

• Ambient sound of a street market gives the audience context of where the man is and it sets the tone/mood. The close ups, hand held and panning shot altogether gives the impression that the man is in a bizarre place and he is looking for a place to go.

• The location/setting seems as if it is in a deserted place, the audience may question where he is.

Beginning• The shop the man enters seems it is an antique shop. Antique shops are

synonymous with horror films, as they are second-hand items from most likely deceased people which could have some sort of ‘attachment’ for example, the horror film ‘From Beyond the Grave’ the story is based on a item from an antique shop. The shop seems old, dirty this is successfully presented through low-key lighting which makes it scary and a place where nobody would want to enter.

• The only sounds that can be heard is the shop bell crab shot followed by silence and sound. The scuffling, and silence gives the audience the impression that no one enters the shop and it connotes danger.

• Low angle shot of shop man this means superior. Low angle shot is important as it shows that this man is clearly not some the audience should trust, this shot is juxtaposed with a high angle shot of the old man later on in the film.

• Mise-en-scene: location is an old antique shop dirty, low key lighting: this is all important to the plot as it suggests the jigsaw is an old object is of an old and mysterious origin.

Powerful shots/subliminal messages

Low angle shot makes the man seem mysterious. It also gives him a sense of superiority. The audience is able to understand through this subliminal message that he is the antagonist.

In contrast, the low angle shot is juxtaposed later on in the film with high angle/ariel shot of the old man. This message is powerful as the audience are able to connect the two scenes, the audience are able to tell that the old man is inferior and is vulnerable to danger.

The man is fixing a clock here in this scene, the audience are made to think he is fixing the clock,

The clock is later referenced in the end of the short film, when the protagonist realises that he took all day putting the jigsaw together, he thinks he’s hallucinating. Enigma codes are used in this film to forbode what is going to happen at the end

Middle• In the middle of the sort film various dissolves are used as editing to show

the journey to the old man’s house. Dissolve also shows the different times of the day. Soon the sky becomes dark.

• Zoom in to car makes it seem as if the audience is intruding in the journey.• Sound: prominent makes the atmosphere chilling terrifying• Dissolves used to show him driving for a long time and that it’s now dark.• During the car scene the build-up is important when • Mise-en-scene: dark/night time/secluded location= typical of a horror film,

it sets a suspenseful tone.• The camera zoom in on the jigsaw suggests it is more sinister than it appears

to be.• Dissolve to a bird shot view of car driving• Extreme close up of his feet getting out of car = bizarre• High angle of man this shows vulnerability• The middle is arguably the most anti-climatic part of the film, though there

isn’t much, the mood and atmosphere is set up.

Middle

The second picture, shows a close up shot of the back of the man, it gives the illusion as if he is being watched by someone, or someone is sitting in the back seat waiting to jump at him. The expression on the man’s face seems as if he is being cautious and acts as if he is out of place.

Middle

The ariel/high angle shot makes the man seem inferior and vulnerable, it is a bizarre shot to have, as it seems as if he is under some sort of surveillance. The low-key lighting sets abysmal the mood.

End• Ariel view of jigsaw when man splays it out on his table• Man putting jigsaw together• Audience hear phonograph record playing old music • Close up of the clock showing 9 O’clock= reference to the

clock the antagonist was ‘fixing’ the clock• Crab shot showing the camera from someone else's

perspective it looks as if someone is looking inside the house

• Intense ominous fast paced non diegetic music• Sudden halt in music • High angle of man shows he is inferior, vulnerable • The camera

End

The camera rotates clockwise (reference to the clock) showing the reveal of the jigsaw, the audience clearly anticipated this moment of the revelation of the jigsaw, the ominous non-diegetic music adds to the tension.

End

This scene is very unexpected and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, because we don’t expect this to be the ending. The ending is made slightly ambiguous, because the screen turns black and a sound bridge of a glass shattering can be heard which suggests that the antagonist has broken in and perhaps killed the man. The lightning in the background highlight the man’s face who is about to shatter the window.

Successful?Overall, the film was a short 9 minute film and lived up to

the expectations of a short horror film. It entertained as the plot was scary. The plot wasn’t very difficult to follow and the surprise at the end was unexpected and terrifying. It definitely fits into the ‘horror’ genre as it followed the genre codes and conventions, there were bizarre camera angles and compositions that mirrored the confusing atmosphere. The narrative was restrictive, and it did a great job at the end of surprising the audience with the unexpected twist, it was shocking. The video is available on YouTube, which is very easy to access and watch, the film overall received comments praising the unexpected plot twist at the end which shocked many people.