Eden Lake - Opening Sequence - G321 Section 2

G321 – Eden Lake Opening Sequence

Eden Lake begins with a fade in of a mix of high and low-pitched orchestral sounds, already this opening sequence is conforming to thriller traditions as it is often used in thriller openings to build suspense. This use of non-diegetic sound is effective, as the viewer cannot see anything on screen yet; this is another very good suspense technique, almost putting the viewer themselves in a very uncomfortable position and as if they are the victims to this terror tactic, this is already a very good title as it is putting the audience ‘on edge’.

The non-diegetic orchestral sound continues and the audience can very faintly see the opening credits, the font type is large and bold, and it looks as if it has been slashed almost in places. Of course, the use of red is an often used one in thriller movies, the colour red not only works well in contrasting against the plan black but it also connotes anger and is emotionally the most intense colour, most importantly however it denotes the colour of blood, hinting at what is to come later in the movie.

Unanticipatedly a frame of something flashes up, however it passes too soon for the audience to recognise anything – it was a literal 1/24 frames a second -. Again this is a very good thriller tactic, as it would make the audience jump and it is also very disorientating to watch, again making the audience feel slightly vulnerable. It continues with a black background and then the audience can see what can only be made out as water or the lake, this then flickers over to a quick close up of a woman screaming dietetically but it soon turns to black again. This makes the audience feel as if they are part of this mayhem. So far each frame we have seen that has flashed up has been of very bright and over exposed nature, this is effective at creating good contrasting images and works well in creating that sudden effect that it has on the audience because they are so bright compared to the black background.

More credits are flowing, the opening is following the already suggested pattern; Black, title and flash of images. Around half way through the opening the audience begins to see more lengthy clips and therefore the audience is beginning to see the locations it is filmed in. Flashes or pondweeds landscapes overlooking a lake work effectively at giving the audience an insight into the locations we can expect to see our female lead in.

Soon, the audience sees the characters (woman) face on a close up camera angle (this is used so the audience can see her struggling emotion and detail in her face – capturing her crying.) From the scene we can see the woman's face in a lot of detail and we can see that the make up used on her is meant to represent a struggle of some sort, looking at her hair the audience can see it’s very messy and along with the fact she has something red on her face makes the audience question whether that is blood, along with the screaming and blurred images the audience are flashed up on the screen, we can begin to put together that she has been in some sort of trouble and is psychically hurt.

Soon after this scene there is a deep drop in the soundtrack and the title ‘EDEN LAKE’ comes across the screen, still in the same text font, size and colour to previous.

Diegetic sound passes into the black and then revealed from the black a children’s classroom. We can hear a nursery rhyme being sung in the scene and students acting out ‘peek-abo’. The camera then turns to the lady teaching the class and the audience should recognise her as they have seen her before, as she was the woman's that was flashed up on screen numerous times in the introduction. Her make-up and costume here is very average of a young but professional woman. She is wearing a dress and doesn’t have too much make up on, already the audience can see her career reflecting in her appearance however there is not much to stand her apart from anyone else, so far the audience is being given no hints to how she ends up like she was in the flashing scenes.

The camera then switches to whom the audience perceive to be the protagonist waiting in the car. He is dressed in a shirt and tie however again there is nothing out of the ordinary in his appearance. The camera then changes to a close up on the protagonist in the car and he pulls out an object of interest, the camera then pans up following the object, upon opening the box the audience is able to see a ring and they can make the assumption that they are a couple and he is going to propose to her at some point. The audience then sees the female running toward the car in a joyful manor.

As she enters the car, the camera switches to an angle from the back seat so the audience can see the two characters kiss and greet on another, the car drives around the corner and the opening is over. The title sequence is very effective at creating an enigma about what is to follow, especially since such contrasting scenes from the female protagonist screaming to teaching younger children. However there were some clear hints, not only does the name of the film give it away but also the locations in which the opening scenes were shot.