1. 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 film
to 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 crucial
to the target audience.

2. In the first few seconds of the film we are met with an
establishing long shot. This is seen as a typical convention
as establishing shots are useful for the director to use at the
start of the film in order to connect with their demographic
by giving them some direction and perspective whilst
presenting the surroundings for the first scene.
Establishing shots are also beneficial to the opening scene as
they 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 it
helps 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 and
A deep base line. The effect this has on the opening scene
creates a very negative atmosphere which is suitable for the
genre. 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 target
audience’s expectations of the franchise and as a result
exciting them for the film.

3. 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

4. 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.