Initial research: non genre trailer analysis - The Purge: Anarchy

Institutional information

The Purge: Anarchy is the second action horror film in a trilogy of films; the third film was released 14/7/16. The 103 minute film is R rated, and in it's first weekend at box office it gained $29,816,675 with the budget of the film being $9,000,000. The Purge: Anarchy has 6.5 stars out of 10 on the IMDb website.

Narrative

Including Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zach Gilford, Kiele Sanchez and Zoe Soul, this action horror is centred around an annual event in future America where for 12 hours all crime if legal; with the emergency services out of use, it is said to cleanse the souls of all American citizens and keep the crime rate low for the rest of the year. The narrative follows the story of 5 ordinary people attempting to escape the purge, with one man saving them all from death.

The film follows a linear narrative over the course of the 12 hour event, and also follows the stereotypical conventions of a film trailer; and ident appears at the beginning to show who produced the film, ensued by an establishing shot to locate the audience. The trailer then takes elements of the film and orders them chronologically, with black screens of text informing about the date and other information, which is interspersed throughout the trailer. Stereotypically, the title of the film is included at the end of the trailer along with the release date and a social media hashtag. 

Mise en scene 

The opening of the trailer begins with the ident of the production company 'Universal'. 

Universal Pictures creates and distributes theatrical and non-theatrical filmed entertainment, and therefore included the ident to create awareness to the audience of who produced the film and to build a reputable well known brand. The colours in the ident are bright and colourful, which would connote that the film is lively and exciting; as the colours draw attention to the screen and instill a 'feel good' emotion into the audience. This contrasts the actual tone of the film which is quite dark and sinister, but this may have been done to shock the audience and gauge their attention from early on in the trailer.

 

The first shot of the film trailer is an establishing shot that informs the audience where the film is set. This is a stereotypical convention of most film trailers as it establishes where the film is set and allows the audience to familiarise themselves with where the main body of the film will be shown. With the sun shown as setting, it signifies that the film is set at night, which is a stereotypical of an action horror film, as the darkness often represents danger and the ability to hide from bad things that may happen. 

A mid shot of two female characters is used part way through the film trailer, and it shows them barricading their door with steel and bolts. By showing this scene, it connotes that they are protecting themselves from something which is a stereotypical convention of action horror film. Including this will appeal to the target audience due to it being a convention of the genre. Within this shot, there is an element flow key lighting, which signifies that there is a danger; stereotypically dull colours represent poverty in the situation that is being shown, and this correlates with what characters say in the film about the purge eliminating 'poor people' like them. Showing the characters in this way allows the audience to feel empathy towards them, therefore forming a relationship with them; this engages them more with the film. 

Half way through the film trailer, there is a wide shot that shows two men on motorbikes and a white van. The two men on bikes are both wearing masks that cover their faces and have horror themed faces on. The way that they are positioned on the top of a hill puts them above the other characters, which connotes that they are dominant and superior compared to the others. Due to this and the scary masks that they are wearing, it signifies that they are the antagonists in the film, a convention that is present in almost all films of this genre.

Editing

The Purge:Anarchy uses mainly jump cuts between shots within the same scene, as this provides different perspectives on the same scene, while allowing the audience to view all elements and engage with the film. Jump cuts are also used in the trailer to create tension and suspense, as often a shot will jump cut to something appearing or jumping out of something, therefore it conforms to the stereotypical conventions of the action horror as it provides the adrenaline rush that is associated with this genre.
There are also a lot of fade to black transitions within scenes, and this is most often done when the tone within a situation changes.

For example when two of the protagonists realise their car is broken down and the warning for the Purge is announced, the tone changes quickly to sinister. The fade to black occurs when the car stops and the can't start it again, along with the announcement that the Purge has started.
Gradually throughout the trailer the pace of the editing increases and the time between one edit to another decreases. This signifies that there is an escalation in the action that is occurring in the film, so will appeal to the target audience. 

Camera angles

There are a number of different shots in The Purge: Anarchy, one of them being a low angle mid shot of one of the antagonists agressively riding a motor bike. The low angle of the camera represents the antagonist as being superior and more powerful than the audience who are viewing the trailer; this is because the way that he is looking down to the camera shows that he holds authority over the people who are watching. The dash cam effect of having the camera attached to the motor bike shows the way that he is riding, and instills fear into the audience due the way he is acting and the mask that he is wearing. The mid shot allows the audience to see some of his surroundings, which links to the city environment that was shown earlier on in the establishing shot.

The trailer also uses an extreme close up, as shown on the right. This close up is of a girl covering her mouth with her hand, which connotes that she is scared or trying to hide from someone. By having the extreme close up it shows the emotions that the girl is showing, which we can assume is fear; this is a stereotypical convention of action horror films, therefore will appeal to the target audience as it will produce the adrenaline that is associated with this genre of film.

Sound 

The trailer begins with an upbeat pop sound bridge that is overlaid on top of the indent sequence and the establishing shot. This gradually fades out to quiet and two of the protagonists start to have a conversation. The conversation sounds very normal, which subverts the stereotypical sound opening of a action horror; as the upbeat sound track doesn't suggest any of the narrative, such as scary or tense. The music then comes to an abrupt stop when the car breaks down, and immediately eerie dramatic music begins; this changes the tone of the trailer as it connotes that something bad is going to happen as a result of the breakdown. Off screen sound then starts announcing the commencement of the Purge, followed by the rest of the announcement which is played over a series of shots showing people preparing for the Purge. As the action begins, the tempo of the music increases through chase scenes and other action related shots, before a classical track is played over the top. The use of the classical track creates chilling feeling for the audience as it doesn't fit with the conventional music used by action horror films, but it gains the attention of the audience.