Sam Braithwaite

Purge Opening Sequence

The scene begins with a dark background with credits appearing on
screen, a non diegetic sound can also be heard in the form of an
uplifting, peaceful track. The dark background is foreshadowing the
dark events that are upcoming within the film, with the credits
showing the glimmers of light that appear within the dark times. The
music within the opening sequence is contrapuntal, as the calming
tone doesnt match the horrendous killing that takes place on screen
when a surveillance camera shows a man murder another man in
cold blood, this killing, along with the others is brutal because they
are done with no after thought or
care of what they have just
done, a theme that continues
throughout the on screen murders.
An important thing to notice is the
changing
of location within the surveillance
cameras
on screen information, showing that
it is
happening all over America, setting the story up to be an
apocalypse movie, however, one thing that doesnt change is the
date, going from the 21st to the 22nd dependant on time and
location, however, one thing that does change is the year which
continues to increase showing several acts from each year before
going onto the next. This gives the indication that what is taking
place is more of an annual event as the days are the same, however
the idea of an apocalypse isnt ruled out as scenes like these usually
occur in zombie films when the survivors have to collect supplies
and end up running into fellow survivors which turns into a war the
worlds remaining supplies, however, this is unlikely as only two days
are shown (21st & 22nd.)
The use of the surveillance camera shows that these crimes are
being recorded all over the country, however, what isnt known is
whether somebody is watching them.
As the scene continues, so does the brutality, with clips of terrorism
now being introduced, for example two men are pictured with guns
and appear to be shooting at something whilst people
in the background look scared and
obedient, showing signs of
terrorist actions.
Another important aspect of the
clip is the editing, firstly the entire
sequence is a montage of scenes
from around the country, this
shows the acts of violence are

being

committed all over the country, not just in one place. The montage
not only informs the audience of the events that are occurring, but
also makes them feel a sense of un-comfort from the graphic
violence of the scenes.
The sound in this clip is completely non-diegetic and the noise from
the clips cannot be heard, the soundtrack that plays over the clips is
known as an audio bridge. It is also notable that the sound, as
mentioned earlier, is contrapuntal with the uplifting, calming tone of
the track goes against the violence, aggression and hatred that
occurs within the clips.
The mise en scene of this clip is important in adding more thrilling
affect to the audience, the surveillance cameras on screen
information (date, time, location) shows the audience that the
events are happening nationwide and not just in one place which is
thrilling because it details the pandemonium that is occurring.
The
word
purge itself is
defined as
physically removing something
completely, the definition

with
audience

paired
what the
has just

watched leaves them not knowing what the current situation is

within the film, all they know is that people are violently attacking
each other all over the United States and from what they have seen,
no emergency services are intervening.