Influences

The Purge

The purge is based on a young American family, who are tormented

and brutalised by a group of masked figures on purge night. Purge
night is one night every year where all crime, including murder, is
legal. In our production, two sinister figures, who sought out to
brutally hurt Emily Wilson (Antagonist), are on the hunt to complete
an insidious agenda. When watching the purge trailer, we were
instantly inspired by the malicious nature and design of the masks
and how they made the audience feel emotions of terror and
discomfort. Our film is a thriller, and when watching the actual film
we were captivated at every moment, due to the characters being
so animalistic and frightening. We wanted our audience to also be
immersed into the action as well as feel a sense of suspense and
tension. As well as this, in this thriller, there is an enigmatic code,
which is revealed. This enigma is, we come to find the neighbours of
the tormented family turn against them and plan to purge, in order
to cleanse their souls. We wanted to incorporate a plot twist like
this, in order for our audience to have that thrill and shock factor. In
our piece, Emily is caught by the two masked figures after she
escapes their grasp. Upon awaking she looks around and has lost
sight of the antagonist, therefore she believes she is safe. However
as she looks up, they are staring at her, and we come to realise she
is in more danger than ever. In order to make our opening sequence
as unique as possible, we wanted to represent an almost sadistic
like pair of villain figures, rather than just two male teenagers. The
purge epitomizes the idea of the communitys belief, being to take
someones life will cleanse their life. We wanted to exemplify this
sadistic mind-set into our characters to highlight their emotional
instability. This instability is what makes the characters a threat and
dangerous. This sense of threat and danger will leave the audience
on the edge of their seats because it creates incomprehensibility.
The main gang member in the purge has a mysterious and almost
alluring persona. We wanted to recreate his personage into our
piece, therefore the main protagonist (Kevin Leroy) feels a lust for
the antagonist. This gruesome feeling heightens the intensity of the
hunt, because we fear for Emilys fate, due to a sick man that wants
to hurt her for pleasure.
 Eden Lake

Eden Lake is based on a young couple that take a romantic trip to a

picturesque lake to escape their busy lives. However, the tranquillity
takes a chaotic turn and they find themselves fighting for survival,
whilst trying to escape the grasp of a gang of boys. We were
influenced by this film, because of the idea of the protagonists being
hunted in a dark forest. This idea would create suspense and
tension, which further captivates the audience. Unlike a house, for
example, we felt the atmosphere of a forest would immerse the
audience into the action, due to the sinister antagonists. On top of
this, the seclusion of a forest increases the thrill factor for the
audience, because it feels like Emily is completely alone, and will
therefore never escape. This is because forests are immense and
every turn looks the same as the last. This symbolises the
protagonists entrapment due to her state of isolation. We also liked
the idea of two male antagonists, because it highlights their
strength. Stereotypically, men are seen as more dominant, therefore
the audience would feel fear for Emily who is portrayed as a
vulnerable female. The fact that there are more antagonists creates
a sense of fear the audiences minds, because they know the
protagonist wont survive, but the enigma is when she will be
caught? At the end of the film Eden Lake, the female protagonist
thinks she has found a place of safety as a family welcomes her in
with open arms. However, we come to find this is the house of her
attackers and this puts her life in even more jeopardy. To incorporate
this sense of safety being disrupted, we decided to go with the idea
of Emily being knocked out by one of the antagonists. When she
awakes she looks around and the masked figures are not in sight.
She therefore feels a sense on safety. However, when she looks up,
they are standing over her, ready to start their malicious acts of
violence once more. This illusion of safety followed by a shock aids
the themes of a thriller, because an aspect of a successful thriller is
providing the audience with a shock after all the action. As well as
this, the idea of males hunting a female creates a very unsettling
tone. In Eden Lake the group of boys start to feel guilty and only
want to hurt the female out of fear. Despite this, we wanted our
protagonists to be merciless and perilous, whilst completing putrid
acts without justification.