Media essay: trailer analysis, ‘The Purge’

Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey star in the 2103 thriller, 'The Purge' as husband and wife whom struggle with their two children to survive the night while trying not to turn into monsters like the people after them. The film is based on American ravaged by crime and overcrowded prisons, the government sanctions an annual 12-hour period with all criminal activity (including murder) is legal. The family of James and Mary face the ultimate test of normality and sanity when a intruder drags the crime of the purge to their house.

All Thrillers show the same conventions which makes the genre distinguishable. I will be analyzing a number of trailers and opening sequences from the same genre; at the end i will be able to make a conclusion of the conventions used to make an effective thriller. For this analyse i will be looking at the trailer for, “The Purge” i watched the trailer a few times; each time looking at a different convention which was used throughout. 

First time watching the trailer; i looked at the different lighting used. During the beginning of the trailer, there is a large amount of natural high key lighting. This saturated lighting, represents the pure and happiness in the atmosphere which will be transferred to the audience. Towards the end, the lighting takes a sudden switch to low key lighting. Looking at the trailer in portion size, the ratio of which low key lighting used is higher than the use of saturated lighting. This signifies the genre of the movie as edgy and weary, which means it could be one of the three following; horror or thriller. This lighting can symbolise Tordorov’s theory where the high key natural lighting is signified as equilibrium and the low key connoted as disequilibrium. As an conclusion; this shows the trailer has a larger disequilibrium stage than equilibrium. There can be confusion between the two genres of horror and thriller; using lighting you can tell the two apart. For example, Low key lighting is used to highlight key features or darken makeup to scare the audience. Whereas low key lighting in thriller, is used to emphasis the realism in the narrative signified in an mysterious manor, where low key artificial lighting is used to build tension, for the peek of the film. 

Next, editing techniques. Again way the trailer has been edited it symbolises Tordorov’s theory. In the beginning (in equilibrium) slow obvious cuts are made between scenes this signifies the calm and relaxed breathing like pattern of the equilibrium and it’s calmness. This soon changes and flashing editing and montage of shots takes place when in the disequilibrium stage, where the cuts between shots take a sense of rhythm signifying a rush and panicked heartbeat, creating tension. Another editing technique used is subliminal cut; where the cuts between the scenes in the trailer are so fast, the cuts are almost hidden, this fast pace editing process, draws the audience in closer understand the movement of the trailer. 

Thirdly, a variety of sound was used as an convention of thriller, one of these conventions was non-diegetic soundtrack; this was used very quietly and only shortly behind diegetic soundtrack this signifies that the scenes (where the non-diegetic soundtrack was used) is when something shocking or slightly terrifying is about to happen; also the idea that the non-diegetic soundtrack was softer and muted behind the diegetic signifies its difference from horror as a thriller, as it connotes the realism of the narrative, and questions the audience. However in comparison horrors, over use the power of non-diegetic soundtrack to put the audience on edge and scream them consistently throughout the production. 

Another soundtrack used is parallel and syronchronous. Parallel is used producers want the image/ scene to match what we (as an audience) are seeing. This was used effectively, in, ‘The Purge’ trailer when, the protagonist are seeking around the house in the pitch blackness, this signifies the importance of the scene or the quest of which the protagonist is on, allowing the audience to have a worried or negative emotion towards and for the protagonist. Syronchronous, is used in the same scene; as the soundtrack we hear is in perfect timing with the image. This signifies a calm atmosphere to the audience as it is in time, meaning the timing of the protagonist is correct and they are in a, ‘safe zone’ however, the tension building and increasing in the pitch and beat of the  soundtrack connotes that something will happen, this mysterious element of mixed messages given to the audience, causes questioning and tension, which is what an thriller’s aim consists of. 

The last convention; analysed is mise-en-scene. The idea of a thriller is to bring tension and enigma to the audience, this is done perfectly through the setting or location of the movie. From the trailer the location only shown is an house; this creates confusion in the audience, as an house or home is signified as an safe paradise for those whom live there. Therefore for there to be so much horror and tension built up it intrigues the audience to watch the movie and come to a conclusion from this enigma.  

The props and costumes used are very basic adding to the sense of the realism in the narrative, being worry and tension to the audience, that that narrative of the movie is likely to happen in the real world.