R23 - Analysis: 'The Purge' Opening Titles and Soundtrack

The screen fades from black to an extreme close up shot of the Earth. It starts off with a loud bang and softly echoes on. Then distorted music is heard as the Universal sign appears. The eerie music continues to get louder as the rest of the production companies are presented for example Blumhouse Productions and Platinum Dunes. The sound effects added sound like very disorientated deep breaths and the music gets more suspenseful. 

Drumming sounds get louder and then quieter before it all becomes quite soft as this text appears on screen:
"America. 2022.
Unemployment is at 1%
Crime is at an all-time low.
Violence barely exists.

With one exception..."

The text then fades to this text on screen where it says:

"Blesses be the New Founding Fathers for letting us Purge and cleanse our souls, Blessed be America, a nation reborn"

Perhaps insinuating to the audience that the America in 2022 is more different to the one that we know. Also it could suggest that the dystopian future we could be living in.

The type of font used represents the typical font used for data which is what the information is, therefore it would be safe to say that the correct type of font has been used. The fact that it is yellow though, could be queried into as to why specifically yellow. It stands out against the black but perhaps it was to link it to the main titles. 

However the music that follows on is asynchronous and enampathetic. There is a sort of irony to the music as it sweet yet melancholy. Though the music is dream like, smooth and soft, the clips presented are from cctv cameras which have captured moments of crimes to do with murder, arson, breaking and entering etc. The opposing, contrasting music to the image, gives the connotation that all these things happen in daily life, yet people stay oblivious to it, therefore when it happens on a massive scale, people suddenly wake up to the horrors around them.

There were also mid shots of a girl with blood all over her, wide shots of groups of people vandalising/beating as well a man being shot. 

However after series of disturbing images, the scene changes to a normal man in a car with a non diegetic voice over. This evidently shows that the movie starts off with an enigma which follows on by an equilibrium where it is a normal day. 

  He is presented on the phone talking to a lady. She ensures he checks that he is "locked and tight" and they both bid each other a 'safe night' as opposed a 'good night' implying there is a disastrous event which is going to occur soon. He then turns on the radio where the radio presenter says that "the poor cannot afford to protect themselves" alongside asking "how do you plan to protect yourself?" in an interview. The normality of this insinuates that 'bad' is something they just have to deal with however the more wealthy do not care as they say "nothing's bothering us tonight". He then turns the radio off as the presenter wishes a "safe night to everyone". 

When the car door shuts through a close up shot, as soon as the sound effect is heard, the screen switches to the titles of "THE PURGE". A loud boom/crash can be heard and the eerie suspenseful music arises again. 

Here, the font used is almost like a stamp on a warehouse, as it is big and bold, alerting everyone of what is about to occur. The main focus is on the centre of the frame, where the outer corners are more darker and turn black. There is also an effect on the background of stripes running across the titles, giving a more 'commonly' effect - giving a real representation of society not being perfect. The colour of the font is a faded yellow, as it doesn't boldly stand out, but is just enough for the audience to see. Unlike the other text, this one had no transition or any effect, it was simply cut onto this, giving the connotation that perhaps, where the others needed to be read, here, it is making a statement about this day, therefore the audience should already be expecting something from the horror genre.