Textual Analysis on the opening of: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974 film)

          The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a 1974 American slasher film, directed and produced by Tobe Hooper. The film follows a group of friends who fall victim to a family of cannibals while on their way to visit an old homestead.

                The film starts off by narrating the story, giving the viewers an understanding of the characters and the plot. Throughout the beginning sequence at 3:18 we see various close ups of body parts from dead corpses until the end where the whole body is revealed. It then ends with a red tint, connoting the blood and violence that is to come. This is a non-linear film as it creates flash backs.

            The Mise En Scene in the opening scene starts off with background text in white and black. After this, there is flashing images as if someone was taking photos. This is effective because it keeps the audience in the dark as they cannot see what happening, building suspense and tension. Towards the end we see a close up of a head, the close of the head doesn't reveal his whole body, therefore conceals his identity, this again keeps the audience in the dark. Throughout the opening it obscures the identity of the mystery person through the use of a mask.  

 

 

          The editing and cinematography that is used to create suspense and tension because of the various jump cuts which creates effect upon the audience. It gives the audience a negative feel as it sort of makes them jump off their seats. We also pursued the same style of editing when we added a chasing scene to our production. This is where we got the idea of a chase sequence.