The sequence starts with the name of the distribution company being shown against a black screen with gentle music playing in the background; this gives the audience the impression that all is good and the music lulls them into a false sense of security. This is quickly shattered when a shot of a man in a blue hoodie, who was just standing on his phone texting, gets brutally shot by a random passer-by. This immediatly snaps the audience out of the sense of security they were immediately in and reveals the film's true nature. The fact that the boy was wearing a hoodie could possibly connote youth; the man who shot him didn't wait, he brazenly strode over and shot him several times. It is also clear that the young man in the hoodie didn't expect this as he was weaponless and also wasn't doing anything wrong; the other man just shot him because he could. This suggests that during The Purge, no matter who you are - young or old - or what you've done, you're at risk: no one is safe. This immediately sets up a tense and ominous atmosphere for the audience and quickly establishes the horror/thriller elements of the film. The whole set up almost seems satirical or scathing of how humans would react if The Purge actually occured; all sense of morality would go out of the window and the fact that the man with the gun just spontaneously kills the man in the hoodie suggests that if we were given the power to kill with no consequence, we would.
There is then a blurry shot of a group of men attacking another man, jumping on him and beating him up. The shots are stylized as being shot by a security camera (like a denomination of the 'found footage' trend) and in the corner, there is a small caption that reads "Purge Feed". This presents the audience with a clever juxtaposition and another scathing look into this version of reality. 'Security cameras' were meant to keep people safe and watch out for criminals however now they are actually used to air people killing and attacking each other for somebody else's enjoyment; this presentation of reality shocks the audience and makes them think, which adds another element to the film and changes it from being 'just another horror'.
The cast member's names flash up on the screen whilst images of violence are played behind them (the gentle music is continuing to play throughout).
Some of the acts of murder and violence happen in dark alleys or behind buildings; there is one shot of a man who appears to be cutting someone's head off with a large weapon and he's alone in a dark alleyway. This suggests that he wants to commit these deeds away from other people and despite the fact he is murdering somebody else, he isn't proud of it and he's chosen to do so in the shadows. However, as a juxtaposition, there are other shots of acts of violence that happen right in the middle of the street. This suggests that some were just so brazen and sadistically excited by the events that they're almost proud of what they're doing - they wear it like a badge.
We then see an image of a bloodied woman who looks like she's been attacked climbing to her feet. This could suggest a sense of gender inequality as all of those committing crimes up to know have been men and the only shot of a woman in the entire trailer is one that has been attacked; this suggests that if the purge were ever to happen, men would be largely invested in the violence and be the ones to take part whereas women would be at the receiving end of it. This paints an image of innocence for the women in the purge and paints the men as violence and sadistic, however later in the film we see one of the main antagonists is a woman which turns this idea on its head.
Throughout the title sequence, there are many people using guns and going around sporadically shooting whoever they can see; the fact that there is such an abundance of guns in this title sequence could be a critisism of the gun laws in America and how easily available they are in society already.
We then see a shot of dead bodies lined up in a line on a flat plain of concrete. It's significant that they are lined up as it suggests that somebody, possibly the murdered themselves or another passer-by, took the time to line them up neatly. It could suggest that the murderer wanted to relish in what he'd done and line up the people he'd killed like a tally or that a passer-by could've tried to line them up as a sign of respect like they would be in a graveyard, giving them each their own space.
We are then shown a shot of a beaten and bloodied man crawling along the ground; this causes the audience to feel shocked at seeing what is possibly an innocent man in such a state. It is purposefully meant to shock the audience and make them think about the consequence of what could happen if this reality was real.
We then see a medium long shot of a car on fire which connotes how society and everything that appears in a normal everyday lifestyle gets destroyed and how unnecessarily destructive human beings can be.
There is then a long shot of a man trying to escape by climbing over an iron fence but is violently pulled down by two men and beaten; all of these shots are meant to shock and disturb the audience and when they are contrasted against the gentle, soothing background music, it gives the whole title sequence an even more sinister atmosphere as the music connotes that in this reality, The Purge is a completely normal thing.
The sequence ends with a shot of several people aimlessly wandering around in an open street, surrounded by fires, debris and dead bodies. This could signify what happens after The Purge as the individuals are not attacking each other and the fact that they are just wandering around gives the audience the impression that they almost don't know what to do with themselves and now that they aren't able to murder or attack, they're confused as to what to do. This again reinforces the idea that The Purge is totally normal and also considered a good thing - possibly a holiday - to people in this reality.
The audience for this film is most likely 16-30 year olds, probably male and working to middle class as in the film, they focus on a middle/upper class family and there are certain satirical aspects to the depiction of them so I think that would appeal to people outside of that class - an 'outside looking in'-esque appeal. Furthermore the violence would stereotypically appeal to males more so than females and the majority of the characters in the film - namely the antagonists - are young males and females so I think that they were aiming for a younger demographic.
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