This task will require you to write a 1200 word report on a film text of your choosing. You must discuss these media concepts in relation to the film text in this report:

Micro-features:

• Mise-en-scene (150 words)
• Camerawork (150 words)
• Editing (150 words)
• Sound (150 words)

Macro-features:

• Genre (200 words)
• Narrative (100 words)

Media theory

• Employ the use of two different representation theories (choose from Tunstall, Connell and Alvarado’s theories) in relation to the film text (300 words)

The Purge: Election Year

The Purge: Election Year is a 2016 horror film which is directed by James DeMonaco. In this essay I am going to explore this film in relation to camerawork, mise-en-scene, editing, macro and micro features, and media theories.

Narrative

The Purge: Election Year is a film based on the idea of a “purge night”, where anything is legal for one night a year. The film starts by introducing us to the “princess” of the story, Senator Charlie Roan, who wants to put an end to the annual purge by going for president, because her family were tortured and killed in front of her on one of the purge nights. However, the current government doesn’t want an end to the purge and tries to kill Senator Charlie on the purge night. Senator Charlie and her assistant spend the night trying to escape and avoid the government’s killers, whilst facing scenes of horror and coming close to death.

Genre

The Purge is a horror which also contains a lot of action and suspense, due to violence, crime and the long-waiting moments of fear. Horror is created in this film from the graphic and gruesome scenes, as well as the tense scenes of almost certain death. Many props used during the film show violence and enforce the film as a horror, for example a variety of weapons and methods of torture, along with the eerie and creepy masks that people wear. This creates a sense of fear for the viewer because nowhere is safe and anyone can kill you. Adding to this, the purge is at night, which connotes the feeling of unsafety and creepiness, allowing moments of unexpected horrors frightening the viewer. Throughout the film, there are moments of peace or silence, which is often disrupted in some way, whether it would be someone trying to kill the characters, or a scene of torture viewed by the characters. This will put the viewer on edge due to the fact that anything could happen at any time. The sound used throughout the film creates a lot of suspense and fear for the viewer, due to the quiet and constant music, along with the sound of screams and guns in the background. The viewers will want the Senator and her security guard to survive, which adds intensity to the moments where the two are close to death.

Scene: Purge Patrol Scene

Mise-en-scene

In this scene of The Purge: Election Year, the characters are driving an armoured van in the street, where they see people patrolling with weapons and shouting. The lighting of the scene is very soft, with some direct lighting to the characters faces in the car, coming from the natural lighting in the scene of lampposts. The men with weapons are holding fire torches, which makes it obvious to the viewer that they are dangerous. The lighting is slightly green, which connotes a strange atmosphere and a feeling of sickness and discord. When the characters drive away in the van, they see people beheading someone with a guillotine down an alley way. There is a bright spotlight on the scene, with an unreasonably large guillotine used for a beheading. This shows the viewers that the murderers took a lot of time and effort just for a murder, and also makes the scene more gruesome because the spotlight made everything visible. The use of lighting makes it seem as if the murderers wanted to make the beheading a show, like a spotlight on the stage.

Camerawork

During some of this scene, the viewers can only see inside of the car. This can make them feel unsafe because they can’t see what is happening outside and around the car, unknowing of what could happen. In the previous picture, there is a two shot where you can see the characters face in the car mirror, letting the viewer see the expression on the girls face, whilst also seeing what she can see. There are also times when you are viewing the film from the characters perspective, looking out the window of the van. This puts the viewer in the characters place and helps them understand the feelings that the characters have. For example when the characters turn there head and a man suddenly jumps to the window, the viewer will get the same shock that the characters in the van would have. When the two drive off, there are many shots of there faces and the things happening around them. This shows the viewer that the characters are scared and why they are scared. When the characters drive past the beheading in the alley way, the camera focuses on it whilst panning with the van, as if the audience were viewing it from their perspective. The shot also kept rotating so that you could see the girls’ reaction to the killing as well.

Editing

At the beginning of the scene, a lot of fade transitions are used to show that the van is going a distance and that time is passing. It is also a more relaxed and less panicky cut, which could reflect the fact that the characters aren’t that scared. When the characters come across the violent men, cuts are used instead of fades, which gives off a more panicked feeling. After this, when the van drives past the beheading, the slow motion used shows the gruesome detail of the scene, and emphasises the emotions of the girls. Fades are used again when the van carries on driving, and there is a small montage of the things they drive past; girls tied to a driving car, the word “purge” written with blood on the walls etc. This gives the viewer a clearer understanding of what is happening on the streets around the van, whilst giving them a fright.

Sound

The sound at the beginning of the scene is mostly diegetic, with the music coming out of speakers, the car engine/brakes, the water splashing on the window and the men shouting. After the jump-scare where a man suddenly appears at the window of the van, some tense, loud, repetitive music (non-diegetic) starts playing, showing that the characters in the van were more nervous and scared than before. Whilst the characters in the van are driving around, you can here people screaming, yelling and laughing very loudly. This will put the viewer on edge and uneasy, as everything is happening so near and is so clear. The music then starts to die down at the end of the scene, when the characters get out of the van to help someone. This is because the viewers need to here the dialogue, and the intensity is brought down.

Tunstall and Connell theories

A lot of this film goes against Jeremy Tunstall’s theory of women in media. One reason is because there are many women in The Purge that are made to be either brave and heroic or scary and violent. For example Laney Rucker is a woman who goes out during the Purge night to help people and try and save lives, which is an extremely brave thing to do and something that most people would think man would do. Another example is the schoolgirl, who tries to kill some of the characters on purge night, using weapons like chainsaws and crowbars. However, the film does follow Tunstall’s theory when it comes to Senator Charlie, who seems helpless during the film and has to have her head of security (who is male) to help her. On the other hand Senator Charlie has a powerful role in politics, and this goes against all four of Tunstall’s “categories of women”.

On the other hand, I think Connell’s theory of men in media is represented in this film. I think this because there are countless male characters who are strong, brave, scary and violent during the film. For example Senator Charlie’s head of security is heroic and very skilled, saving the Senators life on many occasions. He seems to be the protagonist of this film, having the vital role of protecting the Senator. Many men in The Purge fit into the category of hegemonic, being very physically tough, white and heterosexual. There are many times in the film when the men are the ones being violent, and being in control of the violence, for example there is a scene where a man has captured some girls and tied them to his car, swinging a weapon round and acting aggressively.