Opening Analysis: The Purge | tdmediaportfolio

The Purge (15) Opening Analysis

The mise en scene is comprised of low key lighting to give the scene an evil feeling, and the costume for the characters is a mix of usual costume, which makes sure no character stands out as a protagonist, but also shows that these characters who are murdering and assaulting other people are just normal people. The setting is often some kind of city, an unconventional setting for a horror movie due to it stereotypically having a lot of people in it.

A clear shot (no pun intended) of some characters wearing casual costume

The urban setting shown clearly

The camerawork is tailored to look like CCTV cameras' viewpoint, so it is made up of mostly long and high angle shots to make it look like the audience is on the outside looking in, and instead removes the audience from the action to make them feel helpless that they can't stop what's happening. The camera also zooms in on certain situations to focus in on the action and simulate a CCTV camera. Overall, the CCTV effect is used because CCTV cameras are often related to law and order (or the use of it to uphold law), the opposite of what's being shown, perhaps implying that the police have no power in this situation.

Use of the long shot which shows the victims as weak and defenceless

An example of the zoom effect used to simulate a CCTV camera

The scene is comprised entirely of non-diegetic sound, the score is entirely asynochrous, put in the major key as a complete contrast to the violence shown on screen. The contrast of major key score and the low key lighting and the violent attacks gives the audience an uneasy feeling due to a juxtaposition of happiness with fear. On the other hand, as the scene progresses, the music crescendos and becomes minor key to make the score synchronous and join the images to increase the uneasiness of the scene.

The scene uses a lot of editing, mostly to add the effect of the CCTV camera. The scene uses long shots so the acts of violence are focused on, and also that this isn't anything extraordinary because the long cuts means that this isn't a panicked situation. The scene also uses editing for the CCTV effect, as it tints the screen or lowers the picture quality to make it seem like it is recorded through a CCTV camera. There is also text on the screen which not only adds to the CCTV effect, but also shows that this violence is in various places.

The town names visible on the cameras, shows this as potentially a worldwide thing

The text is in a sans-serif, plain white font to make it appear more ike CCTV text to add congruety to the scene, and makes the credits fit in with the camera style. The order of the credits are as follows:Studio

Production Companies

Actors

Casting Directors

Costume Design

Musical Director

Editor

Production Designer

Director of Photography

Co-Producer

Producer (x5)

Writer & Director

Mise En Scene

Camerawork

Soundtrack

Editing

Graphics

The Purge opening scene gave us the idea of using CCTV cameras as part of the scene as it gives the impression of an outsider looking in on the situation, and can be used to take the audience out of the antagonist's head for a moment to give a contrast between the antagonist's mind and everyone else's mind.