Opening Scene Deconstruction of Chosen Genre 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning'

Genre

The genre of this film is 'Slasher Horror'. The audience can easily identify the genre though sound effects and mise-en-scene.

Firstly, there are multiple shots of blood and flesh, clearly identifying the genre.

This therefore conforms to common conventions of the sub-genre and the audience clearly knows what type of film this will be.

Other factors that also identify the genre are diegetic sounds of blood dripping and flesh 'squelching'. These imply that gore and violence will occur in the film, therefore, identifying the genre.

Another feature of the opening scene/credits is the shot of some of the locations used in the film, where murders and specific events have occurred. One of the locations used is in an isolated area, which is one of the 'typical' locations for a 'Slasher' film.

Mise-En-Scene

Throughout the opening scene/credits, multiple photographs are show of young children and babies. This contrasts with the killer in the film as young children are portrayed as being innocent and vulnerable, whereas the killer is ruthless and evil. The use of the photographs shows what the killer was like as a child and how they have changed as they have gotten older.

The 'Doctors Report' implies that the main character has always been different, even as a child. This can seem sinister and creepy as a child murderer is usually seen as a plot twist and subverts the common conventions of young children. In the shot of the report, you can just make out that 'Examinations' were performed on the child. This can come across as disturbing for some viewers  and make the film seem sinister.

Just after this shot, is another image of a report with descriptions of the child. These again are disturbing and can also seem gory, therefore conforming to common conventions of the genre.

Throughout the scene, we see a lot of blood and props to cause pain to people. This therefore shows that the film is a 'Slasher'. It also foreshadows future events that will contain gore and violence.

We also see shots of the character putting on bandages to cover up cuts and to possibly hide their identity. This conforms to the genre and also add tension and mystery to the film as the killer could be anyone.

As I have previously mentioned, the setting shots in the credits/scene support the conventions of the genre as they are located in remote and isolated places. This therefore conforms to the common conventions of the genre.

Another prop used in the scene is of a dead wolf/dog. In this shot, the character, (aged 9) seems to have taken an interest in it. Either he has killed the animal or has found it dead and is interested in it. This also shows the theme of death throughout the film.

There is a shot of a photograph of someone being burned. This could be the killer trying to remove evidence and to hide their identity. This adds suspense to the opening of the film as the audience is left wondering who the killer is and hat they look like.

The lighting in the clip is very dull and dark. This emphasizes the twisted and dark story line behind the character. There is only very dark and dull colours shown throughout the clip, such as brown, black and white and grey. The only bright colour use is red, which is for the blood shown. This highlights the blood showing the audience that this film is graphic and gory.

Sound

In the opening scene/credits, the sound mainly consists of a sound track which is non-diegetic and is parallel to the genre. The music starts of with slow paced strings that are quiet. This start off as being sinister and sly, gradually building up tension.

The sound track then moves to a slightly louder sound and the strings become almost inaudible. The new sound is synthetic but is deep, bold and powerful. This makes the soundtrack dramatic.

The next phase of the soundtrack is of quiet heart beat sounds. This again builds up tension and adrenaline for the audience as they are suspecting something to happen.

The soundtrack then builds up pace and more synthetic sounds are introduced to the music. This plays with the audiences adrenaline levels as before with the heart beat, thy could have been expecting a loud sound to make them jump, whereas instead the soundtrack gradually gets louder.

In the second half of the clip, the synthetic deep sound appears again, yet the faster synthetic sounds and the heartbeat continue to play. This also increases the sound of the the music and speeds up the pace, adding more suspense.

As the opening credits/scene progresses, the sounds get higher pitched, louder and faster. This increases the adrenaline levels of the audience creating a sinister and dramatic effect. At the last few seconds of the clip, the music comes to a halt and everything is silent. This makes the audience suspect that a 'jump' is about to happen and this 'toys' with them as they don't know what to expect anymore.

Throughout the clip, we also hear lots of diegetic and non-diegetic sound effects, such as blood dripping, knives/blades being used and flash being 'played with' etc. These conform to the common conventions of the genre by indicating that there is lots of blood and gore in the film,

We also hear the non-diegetic sounds of an old fashioned camera taking a photograph. The 'click' makes it seem like the character is mentally or physically taking photographs of their work. This shows an obsession. However, it could be interpreted that the killer is being watched by the government or police. This therefore creates suspense, as the audience may wonder if they will ever catch the killer. Another non-diegetic sound that we hear, is a 'swooping' sound, almost as if someone walks past you at a fast pace. This could imply that the killer could be anywhere and is always on the move, creating tension and adrenaline for the audience as they could jump out of no-where.

At the very start of the clip, there is the diegetic dialogue, "He's so beautiful." and "That's the ugliest thing I ever saw." The two lines of dialogue contrast each other and conforms to the stereotypes of men and women, as the woman says that the character is beautiful, showing a maternal side, yet the man says that the character is ugly, showing a dominant and aggressive side.

Another piece of dialogue that is heard is, "Don't worry 'bout it Tommy, you don't have to look pretty to work in the slaughter house." This shows that the character has been brought up killing things and shows that the film has a lot of blood and murder in it, therefore showing that it is a 'Slasher'. This line of dialogue is non-diegetic and this could imply that it is a distant memory, as it is played quietly and in the background making it seem 'ghostly'. This could also imply that the character killed the person who said this.

Typography

The text used in the opening scene/credits is very small and consistent.

Due to both the title of the film and the names of the producers, writers and directors etc. being very small, it shows that they want you to focus on the shots instead of the text.