improved analysis

1. The Purge
BY JOE CHAPMAN

2. Camera Shots
 The trailer opens with a long shot showing the horizon/sunset connoting the end of harmony and the start of hell as the Purge
begins. Then after the cut goes to what seems to be the main protagonist family being happy and enjoying each others
company.
 Moves to an establishing shot of the neighbourhood. The neighbourhood looks very wealthy and you wouldn’t think anyone
would commit crimes there. You wouldn’t expect crimes to happen here as you associate the big houses and swimming pools
with wealth and people who obey the law. The trailer progresses until it gets to an over the shoulder shot which shows
somebody preparing a weapon of some sort for the purge. The purge is where for 12 hours once a year all crime is legal. This
denotes people fear for their lives in the purge even from their own neighbours. Then shortly afterwards there is a high angle
shot of the family preparing their weapons for the purge. After more cuts there is a long shot of the houses defences which
connotes the families wealth and their ability to prepare for the purge/the fear that the purge conveys onto normal people.
 After the doorbell rings there is a close up of the criminals face, however he is wearing the mask this may be because although
you do not get prosecuted in the purge he may not want to create an enemy for the next purge. Also
because they are masked it means that the audience cannot associate with them as there is not human connection and as a
result we see them as villains.
 There is a panning shot inside the house which shows writing on the wall written in blood which says ‘Do not look for me’. This
warning is very forceful and threatening connoting if they look for the stranger they have let in their house he will fight back.
In addition to this it could be an intertextual reference as in some movies such as ‘Harry Potter- The Chamber Of Secrets’, when
a killer is demanding something they right it in blood to scare the person they have sent the demand to.
 There is then a no level eye line match showing the girl under her bed as the antagonists shoe comes into the frame. This has a
good effect because it really captures her scared look and shows the danger she is in as she is clarly under the bed trying to
hide from an antagonist.

3. Editing
 There is a time lapse of the sky colour changing this denotes a different time period and as
well as this a change in attitude as the purge is about to start. This is because it starts off light
and gradually gets darker connoting a darker mood.
 The transition to text is slow which gives the audience time to read the text and take in the
messages that it shows. This is a good way to convey to the audience what happens in the
purge and what it means for people. In addition to this the fade transition between shots
varies, this is to help build suspense.
 The cuts happen on score and as the action picks up so to does the cuts. Again this is another
method to help build suspense and is a typical convention of horrors in that there are a lot of
fast paced cuts.
 After the antagonist rings the doorbell and tells them the message there are four different
fast cuts of the antagonists surrounding the house. This is to show that the family is in danger
and have no way of escaping.
 The trailer also tends to use a black screen whilst the characters are talking. Again this is a
convention of horrors and it helps to build suspense and increase the unknown so we do not
know what to expect. This evokes a response (a scared response as they are waiting for
something bad to happen) from the audience which is what the film makers have intended to
do to get us to question what will happen next.
 At the end of the trailer there is a focus pull from the woman carrying a gun to an antagonist
stalking her in the background, this connotes the danger that the family is currently facing
and they do not know the impending violence they are about to face. This effects the
audience as they are worried for her as they know who is watching her but obviously she does
not. This is typical of a horror e.g. the audience to see something that the antagonist does
not.

4. Mise-En-Scene
 Setting- A wealthy suburb where the main protagonists own a big house with top of the range security.
This connotes that because they are so successful and have it so easy they could be a target for people less
fortunate of business rivals who want their wealth and success.
 Props- The use of guns is conventional to horrors as it is usually much like a knife, the go to weapon of
choice for murderers. It also denotes that violence is a main theme or ideology of this such as the case of
revenge or petty killing for the sake of it because they’re cold blooded and mentally unstable some
stereotypical traits of horror villains.
 Costume- The antagonists wear masks ,which connotes a mysterious sense of the unknown maybe
because they do not want the responsibility being associated with the killing of certain people. In addition
to this the band of antagonists differ in smart clothing the main antagonist wears a suit whereas the others
are in pyjamas etc. this connotes he is in charge of the antagonists. The family generally wears smart
clothing such as shirts which denotes that they are very wealthy and well educated.
 Performance- The main antagonist seems very polite and has a smile after he says he will kill
them all which gives him a sadistic edge to be feared which works in his favour to make him even
more intimidating than someone who would shouts at the family. The father seems to stay calm
throughout the trailer which gives the impression that he has done this many times before and now sees it
as a necessary evil. When he says ‘think of all the good the purge does’ seems to indicate this idea. This is
in contrast to his son who seems mortified by the idea as would his expressions indicate.

5. Mise-En-Scene Continued
 Lighting- The lighting at the start of the trailer is high key which connotes a light
happy environment. In addition ambient lighting is used to give the audience a
sense of realism.
Whilst they are in the house the lighting is generally low key this is to embed a
sense of fear and uncertainty into the audience to increase the fear factor and create a
sense of foreboding. In contrast to high key lighting which puts the audience at ease.

6. Sound
 The piano playing at the start before the purge starts connotes happiness and
peacefulness as no one is being killed etc.
 However once the piano stops the noises get more distressing progressively indicating
more anarchy. There are scrambled signal noises after the purge starts to broadcast on
the TV, police sirens, beeping etc. These all lead to suggest almost a flashback of the
chaos of the purge in the past. Whilst the beeping may represent a countdown until the
purge begins, such as a bomb ready to explode which proposes the idea all the anger the
citizens of the USA have kept bottled up are about to explode.
 The door bell connotes a sense of impending danger as the murderers turn up at the door
to seemingly kill them.
 The heavy breathing of the focus pull puts emphasis on the danger the mother is in as the
antagonist appears behind her

7. Theories
 Todorov- Todorov’s theory is only established in the purge trailer. The equilibrium is when the women are laughing and the
family are having a meal together. Then the disruption would be when the young child lets the African American man in their
home. The recognition of disruption is when the antagonists turn up on the families doorstep and demand the stranger is
handed over. The attempt to repair is when they attempt to defend themselves form the antagonists attacks, however the new
equilibrium is not established because that would give the story away and they want to attract you to go to the cinema and see
the movie.
 Propp- Propp’s character theory is also touched on. The hero would be the main family and the villain would be the group of
antagonists who rang the door bell. In addition it could be argued that the family are also the prince as they need rescuing from
the villains. As well as this the stranger of black ethnicity could also be seen as the princess as he is being hunted down by the
villains. The stranger could also be seen as he helps to fend off the villains.
 Uses &Gratification Theory- Personal identification would be that people would understand you would do anything
to protect your loved ones. Inform would be how at the start of the trailer it tells you about the crime rate and what the purge is
and does. Entertainment would be the action, fighting and jump scares etc. as they evoke a response from us. Social response
would be talking to someone about what happened in the movie. For example asking each other why the little boy would open
the door to a stranger or even the question which is like an enigma which is why are they after the stranger.
 Socio-Economic Groups- People who would watch this movie would be in group C1-E. This is because in group A
for example they are on high income so are less likely to watch this big blockbuster movie and instead opt for educational of Art
House cinema films. Where as someone who is in C1 for example a junior manager are more likely to watch these as they are
younger so will want to get scared with their friends.

8. More theories
 ITV Sales Demographics- The groups most likely to watch this movie are
AD,AA and A3. This is because of the age rating as younger people would not
be able to watch it.In addition the adults are more likely to want to watch it to
get scared with their friends and partners as it is common for these groups to
like being scared.
 2 Step Flow- This theory can be applied to the trailer as the ‘Opinion Leaders’
could be the rich family who are passing on a message to the audience
watching who are usually willing to except this ideology. This message could
be the idea that you shouldn't be nice to strangers and you should only look
after yourselves because if you try to help it could bring repercussions.
Target Audience According To Life styles- This could be groupies and trendies
as they want to be accepted by their peer groups. They might see this movie as
a chance to seem cool and brave in front of their peer group in an attempt to
gain admiration and acceptance form the group and see this movie as a great
way to do that.

9.  Stereotypes- Stereotypes on show in this trailer is the power of white people over
ethnics. This is because the black man clearly has nothing whereas the white family
are very wealthy and can look after themselves. The film can be criticized for this as
it is generalising the idea of black people being worse off when in fact in todays
day and age blacks are no longer disadvantaged. You could also say that this
trailer is stereotypical of other horrors as there are many fast cuts which is a
convention of horror trailers.
 Gender- There is equality generally on show in the trailer as the women appear to
be able to look after themselves just as much as the men. This is demonstrated in
some shots where the woman are shown in combat with men and are not
represented as damsels in distress. This goes against convention as women are
usually seen as weaker than males when in fact most are not. This could be linked
to a fight or flight response where she will do anything to survive and protect
herself and her family.
 Ideology- The ideology seems to be that white people tend to look out for
themselves but not others and they opposites black people vs white people and
Rich vs poor are willing to end someone's life to save their own . This brings up
two examples of binary opposites.