1. Rory Giddings
Film Opening Analysis – The Purge (2013)
The opening title sequence immediately sets the violent tone and gives the audience
a clear insight into what the film is about as footage is shown through various CCTV
cameras which depict mass aggression, fighting, ultra-violence, people being beaten
up, killed, etc. All the characters that are shown in the opening sequence are either
participating in violent acts of crime or are victims of it. The switching between
various CCTV cameras reveal to the audience that this is happening all over the
world; this is further indicated when one security camera displays the footage with
Japanese writing/subtitles, implying that this scale of violence is worldwide. There
are also lots of high angled shots used, which not only adds to the CCTV footage
effect but also looks down on people as weak/vulnerable and shows the
insignificance of the lives that are being taken. Furthermore, throughout these clips
of CCTV footage the audience can see that the day and month is always the same
(03/21) but the date of the year goes up from 2017 to 2021, this tells the audience
that ‘The Purge’ is a yearly event, commencing from 7:00PM on March 21st till
7:00AM on March 22nd. At the top of each scene it says ‘Purge Feed’ which
confirms to the audience that this is what the ‘purge’ is. All the clips move at a rapid
pace, making the audience feel constantly on edge and the clips show a lot of
establishing shots which allows the audience to see the movement of the characters
and see what area the action is unfolding in.
The criminal behaviour is expressed in different ways with thugs and gangs who are
beating up innocent people. There are also many props used such as guns,
weapons, masks, baseball bats, while scared people are shown either being beat
up/killed or trying to run away. This has connotations of a dystopian horror-thriller
film. The non-diegetic sound such as soft, peaceful, relaxing music juxtaposes the
violence that is taking place and also suggests that this is normal behaviour. This
helps to create a huge contrast. The lighting through most of the scene is very dark
and grainy. The darkness in these clips makes it hard for the audience to see the
people in detail. This could convey that, in the world of this film, people act the same
as each other and are simply part of a population statistic rather than individuals.
Throughout the opening sequence, the credits frantically flicker in and out of the
screen, so they aren’t very noticeable to the audience. Again, this suggests that the
lives of these people are insignificant in the eyes of the government (CCTV), which is
reinforced by the extreme violence and murders captured by the CCTV cameras.
There are also moments when two credits appear simultaneously at opposite ends of
the screen, which could foreshadow later events in the film and suggest that our
main characters will eventually be forced to face off against the enemies.