Textual Analysis of 'The Purge' for media

1. The Purge (2013)
Textual Analysis

2. One of the first shots in in the trailer of 'The Purge' is a family of three walking into a sunset. This shot is a
long shot as all of the families body is showing. The sunset signifies the final stage of the day, so keeping in
context with the film, it could be meaning the final stage of someone's life. In the shot the family members
are also holding hands and look like a normal, happy family, this could be because of the statistics coming
up on the screen.
Next there is a medium shot of a young teen girl and a young male adult kissing, this can show the happiness of
the characters and them showing there love for each other. This shot connotes real life passion, which later in
the film, when the characters life's are in danger, shows that sometimes love changes depending on the
situation the people are in.
26 seconds into the film trailer there is an establishing shot, this shows the main setting for the film, which is a
medium sized, circular village in America. The shot appears to show the village at midday when the sun is
overhead which connotes happiness within the neighbourhood. From this establishing shot I can also see that
many of the houses in the neighbourhood have swimming pools which connotes that the people who live in
these parts of America are very wealthy.
Next there is a long shot of the families next door neighbour as he appears to be sharpening a machete. The
person that is sharpening the machete appearing to be wearing a casual brown t-shirt and jeans, this means
that he is connoted as just a normal man but the fact that he sharpening a machete connotes that he may
have dark, sinister intensions, yet the lighting in the shot seems ambient which connotes that he has no dark
intentions.
Camera Shots

3. This is a close-up shot of the father of the family as his hand is pressing the ‘Arm’ button on what appears to be
a tablet. The fact that the person pressing the button is the father, shows that he is the protector of the family.
The fact that the family have a ‘Arm’ button to arm defences on the house connotes that the purge is a night of
horrors which families want to keep out of there house as it is not save.
The next shot is a long shot of a long street in America. The traffic lights and the street lights are turned on which
connotes that people should be in and around the street. The street is normally a very busy street in America,
this can be seen because the street is seven lanes long, yet at this time the street is completely empty. The
empty street connotes terror in America and could mean that if people go outside, then they have the potential
to be killed. The dark lighting shows that the film it set at night but also connotes the darkness in the souls of the
people who go out and kill during the purge. The fact that the film is set at night is conventional to horror films.

4. Mise-en-scene
The main setting of the film is
shown to be set in a wealthy
neighbourhood where all of the
people their have big houses and
swimming pools which connotes
there wealth. This film uses the
stereotype that a lot of crime
happens in rich neighbourhoods as
there is more to steal.
Setting
There are small clips of the film which are
set in the poor parts of the United States.
These clips are all showing violence in
them, this connotes that the majority of
purge crime happens in the poor parts of
the country. This connotes that the purge
is an event which is used to eliminate the
poorer people in the country thus leaving
America with a very low unemployment
rate, which is one of the statistics shown
at the start of the trailer.
Costumes and
Make-up
Sound
The first sound in the trailer is a low pitch organ sound,
this organ sound is seen as calming as an organ is used
in the church of Jesus Christ. There is emphasised on
the sound of the next-door neighbour machine, the
machine that he is using is to sharpen his machete. This
can be heard to be emphasised because the sound of
the alarm which is ringing three times is being
drowned out.
There is emphasis on the sound of the gun magazines
being clicked into the gun, this sound has been
emphasised to connote that the people with the guns
are ready for something violent to happen. As this shot
has low-key lighting the people cannot be identified
however it turns out to be the parents of the main
family, this connotes that the parents think that
something bad could happen to there family. The fact
that the family even owns guns connotes that they
care about protecting the house and there family from
any events.
During the middle of the trailer an alarm starts to ring.
Five seconds later all the ambient sound to the clips
fade out so that the only one main sound can be heard,
this is an announcement from the government talking
about the ‘Annual Purge’ this announcement has no
diegetic or non-diegetic music/sounds play through,
this is to show the importance of the speech, especially
the part where the person speaking says ‘All
emergency services will be suspended’, as this part of
the speech is spoken in a louder and clearer voice. This
is used to emphasis that during the period of time
when the purge is occurring, there will be no help if
someone is attacked.
Performance
The costume of the main
antagonist (Peter) is an anti-
stereotype to the costume
which is normally worn by
an antagonist in a horror
film. This is because the
antagonist is wearing a
smart looking suit. A
stereotypical costume for
an antagonist is dirty
looking clothes and a lot of
clothes covering a lot of the
body of the antagonist, e.g.
Hats and gloves. What is
stereotypical about his
costume is the fact that the
is wearing a mask, this is
very conventional to horror
films because it is hiding
the identity of the
antagonist and a lot of the
antagonists want to keep
their identity hidden to
protagonist characters. The
female antagonists in the
film are wearing white
robes. The colour white
connotes purity this means
that outside of purge these
people are good and would
hurt anyone.
We can tell who the main antagonist is because of the staging
that is used. Using the rule of third Peter (The main antagonist)
is always is the middle of the stage. This connotes that he is the
main antagonist due to the fact he is centre stage and will be
what the audience concentrate on when watching the film.
Using the rule of thirds again it is seen that the main family
member is the dad, this is because he is almost always centre
stage when he is in the shot. This can also been seen because
the rest of the family (Mother, son and daughter) take up the
sides of the stage when they are in the shot.
The screenshot on the left shows
how happy one of the characters
is, this is a shot before the purge.
The screenshot on the right shows
the same character whilst the
purge is commencing. In this shot
the mother looks terrified for her
life which connotes just how
deadly the purge is.

5. Props
Almost all of the antagonists in the film seem
to wear masks during some point in the film. A
mask connotes that the person in the film
doesn’t want the protagonist in the film to
know the identity of them. A mask can also be
seen as being scary to some people as nobody
know what is behind them
In the film the main protagonists appear to
have three television screens in a basement
under there house. This connotes that they
are a wealthy family. The fact they also have
so many CCTV camera suggests that they are
quite aware of the dangers that the Purge
brings.
There are many props in this film which connote
violence. In this screenshot the prop used is a baseball
bat. A baseball bat connotes that the people killing in
the purge are quite poor, as if they were rich then they
would be using gun of some sort.
This screenshot shows a short barrelled python which
is a very expensive gun, this again connotes the wealth
of the family. The fact that the family actually have
guns means that the family think that they could get
attacked during the purge, and that they don’t mind
killing if one of there family members are in danger.
This screenshot shows the rich families house
as the steel doors lower to stop people
getting in unauthorized. The fact that they
have steel doors covering there house
connotes the wealth of them.
The man in this screenshot is using firing a gun at someone.
The fact that he has a gun means that he was aiming to kill
someone, however the fact that the man firing the gun is
wearing a checked shirt connotes he is just a normal,
everyday guy. Guns are weapons which are conventional to
horror films nowadays due to the fact they are easy to get
hold of and ‘do the job’.

6. Editing
There is a focus pull towards the end of the trailer. This is seen when the mother of the family is
walking through the house holding a gun. This shot starts with her in focus because she is the main
part of the shot, however seconds later when a figure can be seen in the background leaning their
head through the window, the mother of the family goes out of focus and the figure in the
background becomes clear and in focus. The mother in this shot is constantly looking forward and
not turning back, the fact the antagonist is behind her and becomes in focus signifies that he can
now see the mother, and the mother going out of focus connotes that she can’t see him.
During the first 30 seconds of the trailer when the family are all happy together, fade transitions are used.
There are also some shots which fade to a black screen, these shots show people being happy which is
then faded to black and met by a statistic about America’s employee and crime rates.
There is a shot in the trailer which shows a time lapse of the sky changing colour. This is used to signify the
change in time. The sky is firstly shown as being bright to signify that it is early in the day, this quickly changes
to show the clouds with the sunset shining on the them, this is used to show that the day is ending and the
night is going to be beginning soon. It shows this because the purge starts at night.
The fades are used to signify the changes in time and location, this means that they are used to show how
happy the family are during the year, which then changes dramatically when the purge starts. A lot of the
shots during these fades are slow motion which allows the audience to see how happy the family are
together.
This horror film trailer is full of fast paced cuts and short duration shots, this is very conventional to the last
minute of horror trailers as they normally show a compilation of a lot of the action which will happen in the
film without giving the main parts away. These quick cuts are used to interest the audience and make them
want to watch the film to see what actually happens.

7. Audience Theory’s
This film looks very good and I think that it would achieve a mainstream audience, especially anyone who likes horror films. As a horror film, this has it all;
blood, guns, creepiness, passion, plot twists and many more things.
Using the ITV sales demographics I believe that the main target audience for this film would be anyone in the categories; A3, ME an CH. I think that adults
would watch this film firstly because horror films are suppose to be for them, but I believe there is an age limit for adults watching horror films (16-34). I also
chose men because men are suppose to be seen as fearless and will sometime watch these types of films when they are on their own. Lastly I chose children,
this was hard to say as I don’t know what age group the category ‘Children’ runs to. If it runs to teenagers, then this film is also targeted towards them as
teenagers always try to watch the scariest movie that they can when they are young, normally because makes them look good in front of their friends.
Using psychographic and the socio-economic groups to find a target audience I think that the main categories to watch this film would be; C2, D and E. I have
selected the unemployed because they will have more time to watch films and casual workers because when they get home from work, they feel they need to
relax in front of the television. The other two categories that I chose were Unskilled manual workers and skilled manual workers. This is because there income
won’t be that high to find them uninteresting and they will also still have a lot of time left in the day to sit down, relax and watch a good film.
Binary Opposites
This film clearly shows the binary opposite which is rich vs poor. This is seen numerous times through-out the film, firstly it’s seen when the homeless man is
let into the house. The rich parents don’t want him to be in there and secondly when the antagonists say ‘Give us the man, and you will be unharmed, this
shows that they have a respect for the rich people which they don’t have towards the poor.
Another opposite seen in this film is Old vs Young. The younger people are seen as more considerate towards other where as the older people just want ot
get on with their lives without disruption.

8. Theory
Todorov’s Theory
Most horror genre films trailers do follow certain parts of Todorov’s theory. The trailers
do normally start with the equilibrium, The Purge starts with an equilibrium where all
of the main protagonists are met seeing what they do in day-to-day life, this can be
seen by the shot where the family are sitting down eating dinner together, laughing and
talking. The setting for the film is also seen within the first 10 seconds of the trailer, this
is shown by the establishing shot of the rich neighbourhood. There is a disruption in the
trailer when the black ethnic man is let into the house by the young boy, the dad is
then seen shouting at the boy for letting him in which connotes that he shouldn’t be in
the house, this shows a disruption within the story. The recognition of the disruption is
when the main antagonist rings on the households door, telling the family to give the
man to them. The audience then becomes interested when the main antagonist says to
the family that they have an hour to find the man and give him to the group of
antagonists. The attempt to repair is when the family are walking round the house with
guns trying to find the black man, this connotes that they are trying to comply with the
rules given to them by the antagonist. Obviously trailers don’t give to much of the story
away as the film company want the audience to the trailer to pay to watch the film,
because of this fact, the trailers do not contain a new equilibrium.
Propp’s Theory
The hero in the purge could be seen as the family as the seek out to find the black man
in their home however towards the black man the family could be seen as the villain,
but in the film I think that the family are mainly the hero. I think this because the villain
has to be the group of people wanting to kill the black person. This is because they are
going out of their way to kill him, they don’t have to but they want to. The dispatcher in
the film is the group of people competing in the purge, this is because they make the
family look round the house for the black man when the boy lets him in. The helpers in
the film are the rest of the family as they assist the father when he is going around the
house looking for the black man.
Representation
A stereotype which is used in the purge is that black people are poorer
than white people, this is shown by the fact that the homeless person in
the film is a black man. Many of the neighbours are met during the first
parts of the films and none of them are black, this again connote the
stereotype of black people being poorer as the film is set in a very
wealthy place in America.
There are many anti-stereotypes in the purge. One of the anti-
stereotypes seen a lot is the fact that women are violent. This is seen
when the mother of the family is carrying a gun around the house. The
way that she is holding the gun also connotes that she isn’t afraid to
shoot it.
Another anti-stereotype that is seen is when the son of the family lets
the black homeless person in. The father runs to the door saying
‘What did you let him in for’. The boy letting him in is a anti-stereotype
as American citizens are generally seen as people who only care about
themselves, but the son letting the homeless man in, suggests that he
is kind and considerate towards others. His dad on the other hand is
used as the stereotype as he I seen as someone who isn’t thinking
about the safety of others but only himself.
Another stereotype in the film is that men are more dominant then
females, this is she as the main antagonist in the film is a man, he is
also the only antagonist in the film to have a large amount of stage
time and I think that he is actually the only one that talks in the film.
This makes him seem like the alpha male and since he is a man, makes
him look stronger towards his peers.