Analysis Of The Purge Opening

The Purge (James Demonaco)

The opening scene for The Purge begins with it's title sequence. An off black background with white writing on begins the titles with "UNIVSERAL PICTURES PRESENTS". As the titles are changing it almsot flickers away as if you were watching a faulty movie. This gives a run down impression straight away. The colour of the background being off black, having hints of yellow and green quickly flash onto the screen as the titles dissapear to the next set, help to give this impression. 

After the second set of titles the flash of off colour appears again, only this time for a longer and harsher set of time. the colour are more vibrant and more obvious to the viewer. The image changed to a CCTV footage of a man mudering someone with a gun and running away. The victim falls to the ground. In the top right hand coner of the screen is the time, date, area and what it is. This connotes to the viewers that everything is being watched. All of these hideous and grotesque crimes are being commited and yet no one is stopping it. An idea of isolation a fear is what comes into the viewers mind. It connotes that you are alone in the world and have to defend yourself. 

Over the top of these titles and footages is incidental music of a very light and pleasent tune. Instruments used in this include violins and pianos. This music is used to juxtapose agains the images you are seeing. This is done as the movie is about anything against the law for a limited amount of time is legal, this includes muder. So when we see these harsh images of brutual muder throughout the title sequence it is juxtaposed against this light and beautiful tune, suggesting that all of these crimes are good and postive. 

A later image shows a victim on thr gound alone, whislt being beaten by a baseball bat. The lighting in this insert all comes from the one street lamp in which the victim is hurled up against. This  could connote that goodness is surrounded by darkness. The use of lighting specifically in the left of the screen means that the audience is drawn to the victim.

The grainy, deliberately poor quality of the camera helps to convey the CCTV footage, giving verisimilitude to each shot, as each is made believable for the viewer. The choice to use CCTV is noteable as, it suggests to the audience that they are witnessing something they shouldn't be. The shaky nature of each shot helps to convey the sense of unease and terror within the opening scene.


The use of fire in this shot relies on the viewers pragmatic understanding of fire and its effects on the environment and symbolic imagery. The vibrant red flame, also gives connotations of anger and pain, suggesting that the film will likely focus on these themes, themes which are common in thrillers.




The uniform, straight positioning of the bodies, immediately susggest that the victims were part of some sort of ceremonial or religious lilling. This use of violence in this manner is often used by thriller antagonists, as often the victims have no link to the antagonist, meaning the antagonist is completely random in their actions.

This long shot establishes a women attempting to climb over a railing in escape. She gets dragged back by serveral dimly lit men, this connotes that they are threatening.

The use of the sterile, plain white background gives connotations of innocence and purity to the viewer. This is thereby juxtaposed by the blood staining left by the victim.

The bold, white, sans serif style of the font used for the titles is kept away from the events shown on screen, meaning the viewer is not distracted by their presence, but they are not completely oblivious either.

UNIVSERAL PICTURES PRESENTS

A PLATINUM DUNES/BLUMHOUSE/WHYNOT PRODUCTION

ETHAN HAWKE

LENA HEADEY

MAX BURKHOLDER

EDWIN HODGE      TONY OLLER

RHYS WAKEFILED      ARIJA BAREIKIS

CASTING BY LISA FIELDS

COSTUME DEGIN BY LISA NORCIA

MUSIC BY NATHAN WHITEHEAD

EDITIED BY PETREGVOZOAS

PRODUCTION DEGIN BY MELANIE PALZIS-JONES

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY JACQUES JOUFFRET

CO-PRODUCER JEANETTE VOLTURNO-BRILL

PRODUCED BY JASON BLUM, p.g.a.

PRODUCED BY SEBASTIAN K. LEMERCIER, p.g.a.

PRODUCED BY MICHAEL BAY

                       ANDREW FORM

                    BRAD FULLER 

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY JAMES DEMONACO