Neil Burger is able to reveal the faction system in an interesting way. We watch as Tris and her brother go to the choosing ceremony. Everyone is excited at the beginning as though they are there to watch a sporting event. But Burger uses very clear images of the factions split up into different sections and distinguished by the colors they wear. Although it may seem as if the factions are one, in fact the imagery shows us that they are quite separate. And the tone of the ceremony reveals this as Caleb and Tris both choose to become part of different factions than their parents. So, "Faction over blood" becomes very real. And as Tris' parents sit stunned in the audience as she leaves, Burger provides us with clarity that what lies beneath these ceremonies is something insidious.
Burger also reveals how joining a faction becomes part of your identity when Tris joins Dauntless and climbs the steel beams before jumping onto a moving subway car, and off of it onto a roof. The images reveal the reality of joining a faction. Their whole identity is made up in what they do and how they choose to do it, and if Tris doesn't jump she won't have a faction. Burger steadily builds the danger that Tris experiences in this sequence. She makes it up the steel beams and she feels great that she did something outside of her norm. Then she has to jump onto a moving train, a bigger challenge; and lastly jumping off onto a roof is literally putting her life on the line. Burger ups the stakes with each part of the sequence and it creates suspense for the audience as it's unclear whether Tris will make it seeing as she has grown up in a non-aggressive faction that didn't have her seeking danger but ways to avoid it.
This imagery creates the "faction over blood" oath that each person signs up for by literally dropping their blood into a faction-designated bowl. And Tris' actions to join Dauntless further this initiation process to make it feel as if it's hazing these people. That they go through these experiences right off the bat and it creates a false unity through shared experiences in order to maintain order within the faction. This is what Burger added to the film through his use of specific imagery and sequences.
