Here is a case study of the horror film 'The Purge'! :)

1. THE PURGE
Aima Begum 12A6

2. ABOUT THE FILM
• Directed by: James DeMonaco
• Produced by: Jason Blum, Sebastien K. Lemercier, Micheal Bay,
Andre Form and Bradley Fuller
• Written by: James DeMonaco
• Music by: Nathan Whitehead
• Cinematography by: Jacques Jouffret
• Edited by: Blumhouse productions, Platinum Dunes, Media
Rights Capital and Why Not Productions
• Distributed by: Universal Picture
• Budget: $3 Million
• Box Office: $89, 328, 627

3. How does the film use, develop
or challenge conventions?
USE:
• Celebrities
(Ethan Hawke)
• Creaky doors
• Loud banging
noises
• A hostage
• Historical
roots
• A weak
woman
• Darkness
DEVELOP:
• The film took a traditional idea of
a villain and made him out as a
good person by making it seem as
if his right to purge was a good
thing.
• The film used America as the
country the purge was taken place
in, however in most films USA is
seen as a good and loving
country, although in reality to the
audience it is seen as a bad thing.
• This is similar to another
convention they have challenged
as they have taken the convention
of killing people and turned it into
something good.
CHALLENGE:
• The films develops
conventions by taking a
lovely mansion but
making it the popular
house to kill.
• They took an upper
class group of people
and rather than
presenting them as
civilised they were made
out as the villains.

4. NARRATIVE - STRUCTURE
• In 2022, the United States of America celebrates once a year "The Purge", a 12-hour
period when any crime is allowed including murder.
• The result is an economical growth and society free of homeless, sick and
unproductive persons.
• James Sandin is a successful salesman that sells security systems for the houses. He
lives with his wife Mary and his teenage son Charlie and daughter Zoey in a fancy
house in the suburb.
• During the purge, James seals his house and plans to watch a movie with his family.
• However, Charlie sees a stranger fleeing from a group that is hunting him down and
he disarms the security device and lets the man in.
• But the leader of the group gives an ultimatum to James: if he does not deliver the
man to the group, they would kill the whole family.
• Now James has to find where the man is hidden and decide his fate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6butVVUwVrc

5. NARRATIVE – CONSTRUCTION
OF MAIN CHARACTERS
The main characters were:
• Ethan Hawke (James Sandin, father, head of the
household, successful business man)
• Lena Headey (Mary Sandin, mother, weak, housewife)
• Max Burkholder (Charlie Sandin, son, brother, alone,
quiet, helpful, easily influenced, young, weak)
• Adelaide Kane (Zoey Sandin, daughter, sister, rebellious,
scared, doesn’t know what’s happening, weak)
• Edwin Hodge (Bloody stranger, working class, black,
mischievous, scared, brave)
• Rhys Wakefield (Polite leader, middle class, , cunning,
criminal)

6. AUDIENCE
• The film is classified to be a 15 by the BBFC as the film doesn’t have
very childish themes but doesn’t also include a lot of violence and
brutal scene that would make the movie go in to an 18.
• The target audiences for this film are teenagers as the movie is not
that frightening and terrifying to be classified to become an 18 as
there isn’t a lot of violent behaviour. The target audience is for
teenagers as it has all of the things that teenagers are mostly
interested in like the thrill factor, suspense and the plot of the story
and who the antagonist will be. As it has all of the things that thrill
teenagers in a horror film.
• In a horror film they have a famous actor called Ethan Hawke who is a
well known actor this means that people who knows him will want to
watch him this mean that the movie will get an verity of different age
group for this film.
• The target audience for this film is over 15 so by having an older
actor as the main characters in this film it. The age of the actor will
match the target audience for this film so the target audience may be
able to relate to him better as the main character.

7. RESPONSES TO THE
FILM
• The purge received mixed reviews from critics.
Rotten Tomatoes records a rating of 37% based on
131 reviews, with a weighted average of 5.1/10 and
the site's consensus stating "Half social allegory, half
home-invasion thriller, The Purge attempts to use
thriller formula to make an intelligent point—but
ultimately only ends up sinking in numbing violence
and tired clichés.“
• “It is a nasty little high-concept horror movie that is
not only gratifyingly and consistently nerve-jangling
but also doesn't shrink from the mordant social
consciousness that drives its narrative motor”. -
MSN Entertainment

8. PRODUCTION – MISE
EN SCENE
• A feature of mise on scene that The Purge does well is it
uses costume to add effect. In this case the people who
are ‘purging’ are wearing a long faced ‘scary’ mask. This
shows a clear distinction between the good people and
the people who want to be purging and cleaning their
souls alternately known as the ‘freaks’. The masks aren’t
supposed to be relatively scary but creepy instead.
Therefore hence why they are called the ‘freaks’.
• Also the ‘freak girls’ wear white full-length dresses. This
is a contrast from acting as a murderer as white is
supposed to show innocence which however in this case
they are not as they are going around brutally killing
innocent people

9. PRODUCTION - CAMERA
• The Film maker in this shot has positioned Mary at the foreground of
the scene so we attach all our attention and focus on her, what she is
doing and what she is about to find on her hunt around the house.
However as we get more into the scene we notice one of the Purger’s
making a sly entrance into the frame behind her which then brings our
focus onto them. The film maker has done this because it creates a
sense of thrill and anxiousness towards the audience as we are unsure
whether or not this person is going to murder Mary or not.
• A long shot is used showing their house, which gives an indication of the
charters and their wealth, it being a large house showing how they are
wealthy.
• A pan shot is used showing the girl running, which shows the action,
and makes the audience feel a part of it. The camera also slowly zooms
in as the man manages to get inside the house, this could be to convey
the significance of his character, as he leads to the family being in
danger.

10. PRODUCTION - SOUND
• Non diegetic sound is used, of pianos which gives a
calm effect at the start, there is also a siren sound used,
which builds tension as you fear what will happen at the
end of it.
• There is also some sort of music playing in the
background which sounds like opera. This links to the
story being set in America though assumed in the
future, so perhaps trying to give the effect of being the
national anthem.
• As for diegetic sounds, there is more of this as there is
dialogue used, things smashing such as glass, an alarm
going off, door bell, all which relates to what is
happening in the scene, but also these sounds link to
the genre of horror.

11. PRODUCTION - EDITING
• Straight cuts are mainly used. At the start they are more
slow paced, conveying how they are at peace, though as
the trailer progresses it is more fast paced conveying
the action. Some shots also fade to black then go to the
next show, though this is used quickly it still has the
impact of engaging the audience and building up the
tension, increasing the suspense. In some shots straight
cuts are also used however, it seems to have a camera
effect of cutting out, which links to how they are
supposed to be videos from the news.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH973j3b8i0

12. ISSUES DURING THE
‘MAKING OF’
• An issue during the making up of was that
the crew may have gotten injured from
surroundings due to any of the glass
shattering and wood broken during the
violent scenes.

13. THE FILMS SUCCESS
• There are USPs in the trailer as one of these
are the famous actor e.g. Ethan Hawks is
one of the stars in the movie who as starred
in “sinister” which helps attract more
audience as has been in other horror films
as they might liked his acting in that horror
might want to watch this one too. This
might attract more people, as they might
like watching horror movie.