The Purge Trailer Analysis - Research and Essay Task

• USP - the premise, the storyline. 
• montage opening - graphics and stills, which setup the ridiculous premise. 
• Bankable actors - cult backgrounds to attract different audiences. Young attractive teenager for younger audiences. 
• Genre is not clearly defined as the film is presented as a horror but turns out to be slightly different. 
• Three stages of Horror/Thriller - opening seems happy/upbeat. Something bad happens (man is let into house). Everything goes wrong.  
• Universal Pictures introduced before the more serious action. 
• Passive audience - events of movie are clearly shown through multiple montage shots. 
• Sci-Fi style noises suggesting danger - FEAR/THRILLER. 
• sound, montage shots of weapons etc - establishing the horror/thriller genre (accentuated by the large white block letter spelling out 'The Purge' at the end) - common convention in most thriller/crime/horror trailers is to use the montage effect as a way to adhere to the particular genre. 
• Mise-en-Scene - use of the masks to create mystery and adhere to the thriller genre - cut in sound whilst walking down the corridor (almost horror) - creates tension as the sound is stopped and all we can hear is the sound of a person breathing - common convention in thriller trailers is to show a similar scene to this one at the end of the trailer to create tension and leave a lasting impression on the audience. Usually after the big build up in music and fast paced editing, their is a scene, which is stripped right back and often causes the audience to feel tense (used most commonly in horror/trailers). 
• The choice of showing guns so often - adheres to the genre and suggests the style of film to the audience without telling them too much of the storyline itself. 
• Fast-Paced editing, close-ups of the masked men/woman, low angle shots to give the masked men/woman authority over the owners of the house.  

MT