A Level Media

Camerwork

The camerashots used are all from cctv cameras, from the angle of the camerashots you can not always see all of the action in the frame, however by using the effect of the cctv cameras, it creates a sense of realism to the audience, which allows the tension to grow. Also as the cameras are using a high angle shot, the characters are shown from above. This shows that they are the antagonists and to begin with shows that they are going to do something bad. Also due to the majority of the filming in the opening scenes being filmed by cctv, the audience are able to see the date and time in which the violent attack took place, allowing the audience to connect with the victims and to feel sorry for them.

Editing  

The scene starts off with a black background and then skips to the first cctv shot of violence. From that a series of different violent clips are played. The editing ranges from just playing one scene to the next with no editing techniques to sometimes using a jumping technique which makes the clip skip slightly. This, although done on purpose, is ment to make the scene look unprofessional (which fits with the use of cctv) so it appears realistic to the audience. This keeps the audience on the edge of their seat as the tension of what is going to happen next increases due to the sympathy and anxiety they feel for the victim in the film.   

Text

The opening credits to The Purge starts the institutional conventions with the name of the production company, "Univeral Pictures" appearing on a black screen. It then leads onto "A PLATINUM DUNES/BLUMHOUSE/WHY NOT production". From that, the first camerashot is shown, and the titles of the actors/actresses in the film are slowly shown one after the other. After the main characters names have been displayed, the crew involved in the film are the next titles added, for example: "Casting by Lisa Field". The opening credits then end with the writer and director "James Demonaco". The credits are in roughly a size 16, clear enough to see but small enough they dont take up too much space and blocking the content of the filming. The text is the colour white and has been put in bold. This is so the text stands out through the low key lighting of the extracts in the film. The white text connotes goodness, however atypical of the thriller genre, it gives the audience a sense of comfort from the viscious attacks being shown. This allows the audience to feel that there may be some good in the film and keeps them intrigued to continue watching. From what i have learnt from these opening credits, i now know that when i make my thriller film opening, i will firstly start with the production companys name, then the actors and then the crew. I will apply this to my film to make the opening scene look professional and successful.  

Sound

The sound techniques chosen in The Purge's opening scene, is very atypical of a stereotypical thriller opening. The non digetic sound of the backing track is in a minor key and creates a very simple and almost relaxed atmosphere about it. This contradicts the contents of the film being played at the same time, as the film is of a violent nature which makes the audience angry and furious, feelings which are not brought across by the minor key, however the minor key does creates a negative and sad effect on the audience, making them emphasis with the victims due to the emotions they feel from the sound effects. The non digetic sound in the opening scene of The Purge, starts off fairly quiet, this connotes a sad realism to the audience of the contents of violence and murders they are being shown, however towards the end of the clip, the non digetic sound increases in volume, showing the anger and frustration of the audience is growing with the more violent attacks they see. Futhermore, when the clip reachers around 1.18, the sound begins to fall in volume, this has been done to calm the audience down before going into the first scene of the film. From this i have learnt, that when editing sound into my thriller film opening, i must be aware to match the sound effects with the feelings the audience will be experiencing at that specific time. I feel that if i follow this, my film opening will be successful.

Events, Themes, Characters

The main characters shown in the opening scene of The Purge are all antagonist characters, the target audience will gain a dislike towards these characters as they are hurting other people, which makes the audience sympthasise with the victims. Due to the violence shown within these characters, the film has a certification of 15. The events that take place, during this specific scene, are very stereotypical events of a thriller. These are, the murders and very violent attacks. The events during the opening, were explicit as the events that were happening were obvious in their content and there was nothing left for implication. The theme showed in the opening scene has a variation of concepts, i.e. revenge, jealousy, obsession, hunger for power etc. This is shown through the murders and violence shown.