Analysing the opening scene of ‘The Purge’

Analysing the opening scene of ‘The Purge’:

In the opening scene of ‘The Purge’, there is diegetic sound of an iPod playing music. The iPod slowly appears in view through a close up panning shot. The music is very loud and heavy metal which then suddenly changes to a ‘funk’ song. The shot then flashes onto a table with plyers, the shot then pans along so the viewers can see a chair with an arm resting however, you cannot see any more of the person. The camera carries on panning up so the audience can see the back of the head of the mystery person.  Again the shot changes to view a man in a mask, who the audience would presume is the killer due to the anonymity of the character. The close up shots also create anonymity as there are very few full body shots.

The shot then goes slightly blurry, changing shot onto a close up shot of a woman’s bloody cheek, she appears to have a gag on. This creates enigma as the audience don’t know what has happen, however they can presume that she has been tortured. A focus shot then appears of the iPod, as the music carries on playing. The sound is contrapuntal as the music is supposedly lively and happy yet the situation is seen as otherwise.

The shot changes to a close up of a group of people who are gagged with blood on their faces. The shot changes to a medium shot, slightly lower angled to view the ‘killer’. The low angled shot reveals he has power over the hostages, this would create tension in the audience as they would feel scared of the killer too. Lightening breaks up shots between the killer and the hostages. The lighting is low with slightly bright parts as there are lamps and the lightening. The lightening creates pathetic fallacy as storms are perceived as angry and scary, the killer is angry at the hostages, hence seeking revenge and the hostages are scared.

Diegetic sound of the dialogue is rough as the voice of the killer is low and gruff. There is a panning point of view shot, through the mask which is blurred. Close up and fast editing creates tension as the fast paced editing makes the scene move faster.