The document analyzes the timeline and structure of the trailer for the 2003 film Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It identifies three key periods: an initial period of calm with happy characters; a moment of disequilibrium when the plot begins and fear is shown; and a final period of unrest marked by screams, attacks, and the reveal of the killer and film title. The analysis breaks down the trailer into these narrative beats and examines how music, editing, and visuals create tension and pace throughout.

1. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
Trailer Timeline
0:08 - 0:13 –
fades in and out,
main characters
revealed,
happy/calm
environment
0:32 – “they’re
all dead”
diegetic sound,
plot begins,
close up shot,
shows fear
0:44 – sharp,
quick cuts, in
time with the
non-diegetic
heartbeat
1:29 – diegetic
screams,
running, black
screen
Period of Equilibrium Moment of Disequilibrium Period of Disequilibrium
0:02 –
production
company
logo
0:03 – soft,
melancholic non-diegetic
sound
0:14 – tone
card, date,
contextualises
0:18 –
diegetic
laughter 0:24 – tone
card, location,
contextualises
0:29 – long shot of
girl who survived,
face unrevealed at
this point, more of a
shadow
0:33 – non-diegetic
sound,
broken record,
heartbeat
0:41 –
establishing
shot – main
location
1:07 – possible
killer revealed,
is shadowed
1:10 – dissolve
editing
1:14 - 1:22 – non diegetic
sound of camera and fast music
which creates pace, diegetic
screams, frame freezes like a
picture, fade from yellow to
black several times
1:27 – tone card, camera
bulb revealed – fades out,
producers name appears
in place
1:33 – door slams, tone
card “based on a true
story” installs fear and
sense of reality, fades out
to black screen
1:43 – burst of
loud non-diegetic
1:36 - 1:42 –gradual reduction of
diegetic sound – chain, footsteps
and heavy breathing prominent
sound,
sound bridge,
several cuts of
people being
attacked
2:04 – film
title
revealed
1:56 –
murder
weapon –
knife,
paradigm
of slasher
horror
films
2:15 –
end