The Purge - Theatrical trailer analysis

The first thing we get told when watching this trailer is the location as it comes up in text - "America, a nation reborn", the text then fades and a transition is used to fade into the next shot of a mum, dad and their child walking; this long shot doesn't give any indication on the genre yet. The trailer then continues on to show another family eating dinner while smiling and laughing making the audience feel this movie could be anything but the horror/thriller that it is. At 25 seconds in is the first sign that this movie isn't as innocent as it comes across because the clip then appears to break slightly as it says "One night a year", continuing on to see CCTV footage of a gang beating someone else up, implying that the genre is a lot more intense than we thought. These CCTV shots make the film look more realistic because its filmed with equipment that we are around in every day life unlike the cameras that film the rest of the movie. 

There isn't much music or sound in the beginning of this trailer; they only use a slow piano when showing the first couple of clips which is effective because it allows you to concentrate on the text telling you the concept of the film. The music then changes to different sounds when we are shown the next couple of clips, instead of the piano, we are now hearing the sound of quiet alarms and a couple of police sirens used as bridge sound. The dialogue is mainly used to explain the plot of this film and to explain what 'the purge' is. The music and sounds build up suspense for a line one of the main protagonists in the movie say, "We're going to make it through tonight, and everything will be ok", to which the daughter replies "nothing will be ok again". The style of the music that starts at 1 minute 44 seconds shows a contrast between the good and the bad (the antagonists and the protagonists) as it is being played over the continuous non diegetic sounds of the alarms and sirens. Choir sounding music reminds the audience that this movie is about innocent, good people given the chance to kill anyone and have no consequences, leaving thriller movie fans feeling intrigued but also the rest of the audience feel afraid.

Mundane realism is used because the characters and location is realistic, its just the concept that isn't, the nuclear family make the audience feel as though the movie is a lot more realistic than it actually is which leaves an effect on them as they would feel on edge. Although the houses and location is presented as a very wealthy area, the family and regular way of living would help the relation.

The unique selling point for this movie is that it was brought from the people that created Paranormal Activity which was a very successful series of films, and Sinister which was also successful. The film Sinister includes the same actor in it as The Purge which would also be a unique selling point because he is recognisable for horror/thriller movie fans making them want to see if this movie will be as good as the others created by the same people.