The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Trailer (2003)

CAMERAWORKIn the trailer for ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ there are various shots used. These shots help to build the narrative of the story as well as displaying tension.

The first shot is an establishing shot of the setting. As you can see there is a camper van going into the distance of what seems a place such as the countryside which seems quiet, peaceful and happy. This shot aids the equilibrium of the trailer until everything goes bad. This type of shot shows the equilibrium to be a conventional form for the horror genre.

In the first part to the trailer where the equilibrium is created the characters seem to be happy and having fun. This is shown through various couples cuddling and kissing which signifies that they are in love. And this connotes to them being happy and therefore creates a cheerful and high-spirited atmosphere that relates to them being happy and excited aboutgoing on a road trip/holiday. The fact that one of the shots is a close up portrays their facial emotions more closely which shows them to be deeply in love. However, the mid shot portrays the couple to be quite seductive and naughty due to the boy grabbing the girl’s leg over his body. This displays the stereotypical representation of teenage males nowadays. This shot also portrays sex appeal due to the girl wearing a short skirt in which teenage boys will be fascinated by.

The equilibrium comes to a hold when they arrive in Texas and the camper van stops when they see a girl walking alone. The composition of the wide shot works really well here because it shows the girl alone in contrast to the group of teenagers. This shot makes the girl seem a little odd and eerie in which the teenagers should be cautious of.

Establishing shot of the setting

Mid/Close up shot of boy and girl kissing

Wide shot of camper van and girl

The same girl is shown to be in the camper van with the group of friends. A close up of her face is shown here to represent her fear. The girl’s fear is represented through her tears and running nose showing that she is crying. At this point diagetic is sound is added when she says: ‘they’re all dead’ which engages the audience and the other characters. This is where the young naive teenagers go to investigate. The fact there have been deaths is a horror movie genre convention.

Part way through the trailer there is an establishing shot of the place where the teenagers adventure to and therefore where the film is set. The film is set in an old mansion-type of house which is a genre convention of the horror genre. This shot is dark and gloomy which represents something bad is bound to happen.

At the point where the girl ventures into the house she hears a noise and immediately there is a close-up of her face. This is to show that she has been shocked by something and looks slightly confused due to the way her eyes are looking upwards as though she is looking for something. Also her facial expressions shown in this close up represent her as worried and scared to what may happen next, due to the open mouth.

This low angle shot of the police officer shows his dominance and power over the young girl who is on the floor. By using a low angle shot is shows the officer to look down upon the girl and makes the officer look bigger and therefore more powerful than he perhaps may be.

Close up shot of girl to show emotions

Close up shot of girl to show emotions

Establishing shot of the setting

Low angle shot of Police Officer

EDITINGIn the trailer for ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ a variety of editing techniques have been used. Editing is used to make the overall trailer look much better and to add tension and suspense throughout.

Inside the house there is a sequence of shots which fade to white after about two seconds. For example, this two-shot of the boy and girl fades to white to add tension to the trailer, because it puts a sense of mystery to the trailer as we don’t know what happens beyond the whiteness. This fading to whiteness also happens to interpret a camera capturing images of the people so they can not get away due to a previous image of a camera lense.Also this is a mid-close up shot to show the fear of the boy and the girl through screaming due to their facial expressions.

However, outside the house there is a series of shots which fade to black after about one second. This works in contrast to the shots indoors which lighten. Darkness suggests that something gloomy and sinister is going to happen. The darkness occurs quickly as the shots have been edited together with a fast-pace. The fact that there is a creepy weird doll face relates to the genre conventions of horror film. The darken fade out is a form convention for horror movie trailers as darkness represents sinister and gloominess.

Fast-pace cutting is used part way through the trailer when the disequilibrium and suspense is taking place. This cutting adds to the panic of what is happening in the trailer. For example; the cutting adds to the tension of the boy running away from the chainsaw as this would be a very. The panic and fright the cutting creates can relate to the audience being frightened also.

The trailer also consists of text-on-screen near the beginning of the trailer in order to break up

Two-shot lighten fade out

Close-up darken fade out

Fast-cut editing

parts of the various clips. This is used to give the viewer a more in depth background to the film, in this case it gives the exact date and it gives the exact place too. The background is black which suggests something sinister is foreshadowed. Along with this, the writing is in white which is in a high contrast to the black which makes is stand out. The text style is written in a form of a typewriter which suggest the video clip is a real documentation. Also the typewriter suggests that it has been written in the past which relates to the first ever film of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ which was created in 1974. Text-on-screen is presented on most horror trailers suggesting that it is a conventional element of the form of horror trailers.

The title sequence in this trailer is in a chrome/silver colour which stands out on the gloomy black background. The black represents evil and sinister. Also the font style is in serif font style which signifies the gothic genre and therefore connotes that the film is a horror film.

MIS-EN-SCENEIn the trailer for ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ mis-en-scene has been used to help create a more effective film trailer. The trailer uses, setting, lighting, costume and props to do this.

At the beginning of the trailer where the equilibrium takes place the lighting is high-key. This suggests that the spirits of the characters are also high suggesting that there is a happy atmosphere being created. Also the lighting is in high-key because it is daylight.

In the part of the trailer where all the tension and suspense is created; where the disequilibrium takes place, the lighting is low-key. This is because tension is built up throughout in order for

Title Sequence of Film

High-key lighting

Low-key lighting

something sinister to occur. Here, the low-key lighting is also used through the use of pathetic fallacy, where the rainy, dark weather represents the mood as being dull and gloomy because of the action which is taking place.

Within the trailer, there is one main prop which is used to kill and that is in fact the chainsaw. The chainsaw prop suggests violence and aggression. By the slasher/killer having an aggressive weapon, it is a conventional element for the horror film trailer.

The trailer is set in Texas, which is shown through text-on-screen and the title of the film. However, the house in which the group of friends end up at seems to be in the middle of nowhere. For example, this shot has nothing in view apart from the house, suggesting it is set in the middle of nowhere. This is conventional of the horror film genre.

Inside the house there is a long wide shot of the girl which shows her costume. The clothing she is wearing is just a basic vest top and a pair of jeans. This shows that she is a regular teenage girl due to the average clothes in which she wears. They are the types of clothes which every teenage girl owns which means the audience of teenage girls can relate to the character. By dressing the girl as an average teenage girl is a horror genre convention in films.

The boys in the trailer are also wearing everyday, casual clothes, such as vests, t-shirts, jackets and caps. This allows teenage boys to relate to the characters in the film because they will believe they are no different from them due to the casual clothes being worn. The fact the

The chainsaw (prop)

Derelict Setting

Wide-Long shot to show Costume

Close-up shot to show Costume

characters are dressed to be average teenage boys is a genre convention of horror films.

SOUNDIn the trailer for ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ both diagetic and non diagetic sound has been used. Sound has been used in the trailer to enhance the audience’s experience.

The trailer starts off with a non-diagetic sound track which includes a soft and soothing tone. This represents the mood of the trailer as being calm and happy which therefore shows that the equilibrium is created.

This equilibrium is then disrupted when the group of friends come across a lonely girl and she speaks through using dialogue. The girl says: ‘They’re all dead’ which changes the mood completely and in fact seems to come as a shock to the group of friends.

After this a sound effect of heart-beating has been used when the friends get to the house at the same time as various weird things are being shown on screen. This adds tension because the constant deep beating sounds as though the characters’ hearts are beating because they are panicing and therefore scared.

After this, one of the male characters says: ‘I’m gonna have to call the cops I guess’. This immediately suggests that something is wrong and therefore something sinister is about to be shown on screen.

When the girl goes inside of the house, she seems to be searching for something. This is where a sound effect, has been added in to the clip to enhance the sound of a slamming door. This makes the girl jump and therefore presents the trailer as jumpy through the use of the sound. This is a conventional element for the horror genre.

Other banging, swooshing and squeaking sound effects have been used to represent the unknown. This makes the characters panic as the tension is created. However, these types of sound effects are prevalent in all types of horror movie which suggests that they are conventional for the genre.

When some of the shots fade out to white within the trailer, the transition is made to look like a camera effect. This is due to a camera capturing/zoom noise being added into the trailer at the same time. This could conote that the killer/slasher is able to watch everyone so that he can catch them.

After this, the screen goes black but the diagetic sound can still be heard as it follows on from the previous scene. This is where running foot steps, panting and screaming effects are used to suggest that the girl is running due to heavy footsteps and breathing and the screaming therefore suggests that she is scared and therefore in panic.

Also, the sound of the chainsaw is enhanced through the use of a sound-effect. This sound effect is much louder and therefore makes the weapon seem much more sinister. Sound effects are usually added into trailers and films to enhance the aggression of weapons which is suggested as a genre convention for horror movies.

Where the disequilibrium takes place (towards the end of the trailer) there is non-diagetic sound added. This is up-beat with a fast tempo and makes the running and all of the other action seem of a faster pace than it actually is. This music helps to create the tension of a frightening mood and atmosphere within the trailer.

CONVENTIONSThe trailer of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ uses both genre conventions and form conventions of horror films.

Conventions of genre:The trailer is set in the middle of nowhere in an isolated derelict mansion which is a conventional setting in which most horror films take place. Along with this, the movie starts off with a road trip of a group of teenagers which presents an equilibrium. Teenagers in horror movies is conventional to the genre, and the fact they are going on road-trip makes the film much more conventional to the horror genre. This is because it allows everything to descend from happiness into gloominess. The low-key lighting and therefore the dark scenes are also conventional to horror films as it represents sinister and gloom.

Conventions of form:The trailer consists of a lot of diagetic and non-diagetic sound which is conventional of the horror trailer. These sounds often add emphasis onto the action which is being displayed which can then create further understanding of the narrative. Along with this, fading out to black is used frequently in film trailers because the black suggest something evil and sinister. Also, text on screen is conventional to horror movie trailers as it give the audience some background knowledge on the film, and often the text style gives away something relevant to the genre.

NARRATIVEThe narrative of the trailer is put together through the use of the four technical areas which are, camerawork, editing, mis-en-scene and sound. As well as this, conventions of genre and form have been used in order to make the trailer much more effective.

The narrative of the trailer is that there is a group of mixed-gender teenagers who are setting off on a road trip/holiday. The atmosphere created at this point is happy and up-beat which is shown by the singing, smiles and kissing which is

occurring. The group of friends come across a lonely girl and ask her if she is okay. After this, the girl ends up in the camper van with all the friends and tells them about her friends being dead. This engages the naïve teenagers into wanting to find out more. So this leads to them going to the old mansion which is set in the middle of nowhere. This place is extemely eerie as constantly they hear noises etc before the face of the massacre is revealed. This results in a change of mood and leads to all of the friends being shook up by the attack on them which is about to occur. Immediately after this we see running, screaming, shouting and the slashing noise of the chainsaw which is where the disequilibrium takes palce. After this fast-pace cutting has occurred, we come to an end of the trailer which leaves the audience hanging and intrigued to see the film.