The document analyzes the trailer for the movie "The Purge". It finds that the trailer uses many thriller conventions like distorted images, suspenseful music, and dim lighting to set the tone. While revealing some key plot points, it leaves other aspects unanswered to build intrigue. The target audience is identified as ages 16-35 who enjoy thriller genres. Graphics, editing, and the main characters are highlighted to introduce the narrative without revealing too much.

1. THE
PURGE
GENRE: Thriller
RELEASED: May 31st 2013.

2. TEASER TRAILER?
• NO, this trailer is not a teaser trailer.
• WHY?
• It states when the trailer will be released.
• It is 2:28 minutes long.
• Contains quite a lot of footage from the film.
THE
PURGE

3. HOW DOES THE TRAILER
START?
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PURGE
• The trailer starts using a
mixture of images and
typography. The purpose of
this is to outline a basic
back story for the film so
that the audience can get
an understanding of what
the film is about however
does not reveal much
about the film and still
builds suspense which is
very common in thriller
trailers.

4. GENRE/ CODE AND
CONVENTIONS
• GENRE:
thriller
• Conventions used:
Relates to crime and murder as well as scary/ mysterious
images.
• Iconography:
guns, masks, weapons.
• Music:
suspense, with the sound of weapons over it.
• Special effects:
beginning- title becomes distorted creating suspense –
letting audience know that something bad is going to
happen.
THE
PURGE
Images at beginning
of film are on a
security camera so
the image is fairly
distorted which
further represents
the genre. (thriller.)
Images include
iconography of
guns/ masks which
would be perceived
as scary further
relating it to the
genre.

5. GRAPHICS AND
TYPOGRAPHY.
• Text is used to link together the narrative as
they have used titles before an image so
that the image can support the text the text
fades away as the image appears so that it is
clear to the audience that they relate.
• There are a lot of titles at the beginning of
the clip which are giving a basic back story.
• There are also titles that appear towards the
end to explain the producers previous
achievements and attract the audience.
• Due to the fact that they do not have any
big stars, they have not been highlighted in
the trailer. However they have included
close ups of the main characters at the
beginning of the trailer.
THE
PURGE

6. NARRATIVE AND
CHARACTER
• IMPORTANT MOMENTS SHOWN IN THE TRAILER?
There are many important parts of the film which are shown in the
trailer including the scene when the boy lets the man into the
house.
• WHAT CHARACTERS ARE SHOWN?
They mainly show the main characters which is the family so that
the audience straight away know who the main characters are.
• SIGNIFICENT DIALOGUE?
The main dialogue throughout the film is from the family, this is
because they are the main characters and they are explaining part
of the story e.g. ‘why don’t you guys kill someone tonight?’ adds to
the storyline.
• INFORMATION ABOUT THE PLOT?
This is given through the dialogue as well as the typography to give
the audience an idea of what the film is about.
THE
PURGE

7. ENIGMA
• WHAT ENIGMA IS USED?
Through the dialogue ‘we’ll be fine just like
always’ makes audience think whether they
actually will.
• WHAT PARTS ARE LEFT UNANSWERED?
Why the people in the masks are at there house
and who survives at the end of the film.
• ACCOLADES/REVIEWS?
There are no accolades used within the trailer s
they probably wanted to tick with the trailer
just providing the audience with the storyline of
the film.
THE
PURGE

8. SOUND
• MUSIC?
The music starts off really slow and then starts to be
accompanied by discomforting sounds such as alarms. The
music then switches to being quite tense followed by choir
music which sounds quite scary and dramatic keeping the
audience on the edge of their seat.
• VOICEOVER?
There is no voice over included as it is replaced with
typography however the ‘dad’ of the family seems to be the
main character due to the fact that he has the most dialogue
this shows the audience that he is the main character.
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PURGE

9. EDITING/ CAMERA
SHOTS
• HOW IS EDITING USED?
There are a lot of very fast paced cuts in between scenes which creates
a tense effect reflecting the genre which is thriller.
• CAMERA ANGLES?
A lot of high angle shots are used of the little boy and the mum to
show there vulnerability however when the dad is speaking to them he
is being filmed at a low angle to suggest that he has the most power
within the family.
• LIGHTING?
There is very dark/ dim lighting throughout the whole of the trailer.
This is because they wanted to represent the film well through the
genre of thriller.
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PURGE

10. TARGET AUDIENCE?
• WHO ARETHE TARGET AUDIENCE?
Age:16-35 Gender: male and female who have an interest in
the genre which is thriller.
• HOW DO YOU KNOW?
Not only is the age certificate a 16 but the film would not
really be suited for anyone under this age as it has an aspect
of horror in it and would not be suited for anyone younger. It
is for both male and female as there is nothing within the
trailer which suggests it is for a particular gender.
However, the audience would have to be someone who is
interested in this type of genre which I think is quite a wide
audience as the trailer does not limit who the audience is.
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PURGE

11. CONCLUSION
The trailer for the movie, ‘The Purge’ uses many
different techniques to draw the audience in.
These include camera and editing, sound, codes
and conventions and narrative. By including all
of these things within the trailer, universal have
successfully managed to create a trailer which
attracts the target audience by explaining the
film but still leaving some enigma.
THE
PURGE