Deconstruction of Film Opening: The Purge

DECONSTRUCTION OF FILM OPENING: The Purge

 

Camera Angles: In The Purge opening scene the camera angles do not vary very much at all due to the nature of the shots, the sequence is made up of a montage of CCTV footage. This is effective due to the fact that it entices the audience and draws in their attention. The camera angle variation ranges from high angle, birds eye view and a small amount of eye level, this continues to be effective and appropriate because it shows the audience exactly what the director wants and everything is clearly visible to them.

 

Camera Framing:  The camera framing in this opening scene also doesn't vary much due to the nature of the shots, the sequence is made up of a montage of CCTV footage. This is effective due to the fact that it entices the audience and draws in their attention. The camera framing variation ranges from extreme longshots to longshots, , this continues to be effective and appropriate because it shows the audience exactly what the director wants and everything is clearly visible to them.

Camera Movement: Some camera movement can be seen in this opening sequence towards the middle and end of the scene. This movement consists of panning or tilting shots that follow a person or act of violence to show the audience the outcome of the footage. On a number of occasions the camera also zooms in or out along with the movement. This is also effective because it adds something new to the opening that isn't a longshot or still camera frame which is exciting and enthralling.

Mise en scène: Not a lot of different props are used in the opening scene of The Purge, the audience  know why they are being used and what for at this moment in the film - having watched the trailer, they will find out more later in the scene, this mise en scène is relevant to the movie. This is effective because it gives the viewer a major insight to the main weapon used in the film and captures their attention due to the fact that they want to foreshadow the plotline, the main piece of mise en scène is a gun and some other blunt, hard objects are used to attack and cause damage to people. Furthermore, all of the objects are weapons, however, this is juxtaposed by the appearance and attire of the people using them. Most people are wearing regular clothes such as jeans, a jacket and a baseball cap however, the people that are victimised therefore being injured are wearing less clothes, for example a female character is seen wearing a short, plain dress and no shoes with a lot of blood over her crouching on the floor.

 

Typography:  Most of the typography in this opening sequence is in a simple white font due to the fact that it all fits in with security camera footage which has a typical capitalised font. In addition, every shot that the audience see also has information about the security camera including the date and address of the footage, the words 'Purge Feed' also appears constantly on the screen, reminding the audience of the film and its expectations. The actual title of the film never appears on the screen which subverts the typical opening sequence of a film where the name of the film is dramatically displayed onscreen.

Sound: The non - diegetic contrapuntal music that accompanies this opening sequence hugely juxtaposes what is seen onscreen and therefore causes the audience to feel very differently about what they can see. It causes a calm and tranquil atmosphere, for example I am now listening to it without watching the opening and I would never guess that it accompanies such violent footage. It is structured by a slow orchestral melody, a violin and piano are used frequently therefore subjecting the audience to feel a strange peaceful emotion whilst watching which could foreshadow what may happen in the rest of the film. This accompaniment subjects the audience to a surreal atmosphere that one should feel awful watching however, when I watched this I felt engrossed in the footage which is unusual for a film opening.

Lighting: The lighting in this opening scene is quite dark due to the fact that it is mostly set at night time.