Eden Lake (2008)

Below is the opening sequence to Eden Lake, directed by James Watkins.  The only version I could find of the opening sequence was flipped, like a mirror, but this hardly detracts from the overall effect.

Plot
A young couple, Jenny and Steve, decide to go away for a romantic weekend break at the idyllic, remote Eden Lake, where, only known to the audience, Steve plans to propose. They are having a peaceful, relaxing time until a group of youths,lead by a male named Brett, appear and pay their loud music and cause a disturbance. Instead of being bullied into leaving, Steve becomes stubborn and stays put, putting up with the noise. After camping out for the night, the couple wake to find that their food has been infested with insects so they decide to drive into the town looking for a place to eat. The movie continues in the same fashion, the youths still tormenting Jenny and Steve until they final get to breaking point when Steve’s car, phone and wallet are stolen. Things then take a dramatic twist when Steve dies and the couple are about to be set alight. The film concludes with Jenny’s screams being heard when she turns up at house pleading for help. Unluckily for her, the house belongs to Brett’s parents, who are just like their son. The apple never falls far from the tree.

Enigma Codes
Pretty quickly, there are several enigma codes raised by the audience. The flashing images at the beginning cause the audience to ask a number of things: are these from before the ‘main’ story-line, or are they flashbacks? Will there be more of them later, and are they a crucial part of the narrative? A number of other questions are also asked; have any of the characters been to Eden Lake before? Why are they driving so far out just for one weekend? Are they safe? How long have they been a couple? How will he propose? Although there are many questions, there are limited answers, as the opening sequence does not focus on these aspects. The arousing of these questions automatically creates a hook for the audience, as they want to find out more about these characters and their backgrounds. It is already known that Jenny is a nursery teacher, however the audience are still left asking what does Steve do for a living? The use of the enigma codes also creates a sense of expectation for the audience, as they expect to, during the course of the film, receive the answers.

Character Establishment
Within the first minute, the main characters are established. Both Steve and Jenny are seen to be young and lively, therefore there is the assumption that they will not face any great difficulty in their time away.  They are represented as an innocent, sweet, 'normal' couple who have done no wrong.  Jenny is upset by a mother slapping a child, showing her caring nature as a nursery worker, which makes the audience warm to her.  Steve appears less worried about this, however stereotypically, men tend not to show their emotions.  Although the audience may not know it, another group of key characters are also introduced in the opening sequence: the youths on the bikes.  Immediately they are established as reckless and daring, as is shown when they bike in front of Steve's car.  All of the characters are limited in development, however there is an idea that something big will happen, as is foreshadowed by the flashing images shown at the beginning.

Location, Location, Location

There are a variety of locations established in the this opening sequence, the main one appearing to be the quarry Steve takes Jenny to.  All of the locations are established in a number of different way, from a close-up shot of a child's face in the nursery to an Ariel shot of the actual quarry.  Many roads are shown, representing the idea of a journey and a long length of time.  This length of time is also shown through the editing, which I will come onto in the next section.  The locations appear to be harmless, thus making the audience feel like there is no immediate threat to the characters. 

Editing

As is a typical convention of a horror movie, there are very quick cuts showing lots of different images.  Due to the fact the the opening sequence begins like this, the audience automatically know that something is going to happen, or has happened already.  This creates the element of suspense.  The sudden change of pace to longer shots matches the action, as everything looks like it belongs and nothing is out of place.   The sense of time passing is represented through the way the film cuts to different roads at different parts of the day, showing that it has gone from day to night.  This tells the audience that the characters are a long way from home.  Several continuity techniques have also been used in this opening sequence, and there is one shot in particular where the audience feels it's impact. Eye line match is used to show to a close-up of the dogs face, making both Jenny and the audience jump.  This is the first time in the movie that we are made to jump, as up until now nothing that would imply it was a horror film has happened. 

Can you hear that?

The use of sound is crucial in this opening sequence, most importantly when Jenny and Steve are in the car on the way to Eden Lake.  On the radio, a news story can be heard about parents not being able to control their children.  This is a key part in the film because as we discover whilst the film progresses, the parents of the youths have no control over them.  Although this a diegetic sound, Jenny and Steve do not seem to be listening, engaged in their own conversation.  The radio is then made louder to the audience whilst there are shots from the car's point of view, supporting the idea that the film will be something to do with out of control children.  There is also non-diegetic sound used in this opening sequence, through the use of a musical score.  At the beginning of the film, the music played is much more dramatic and a characteristic of a horror film, whereas the music used to accompany the journey is much more relaxed.  When the dialogue is playing, the sound can be heard from both characters points of view, unlike in Scream where it is heard from Casey's. 

Titles

Following the conventions of film, the titles appear at the beginning and whilst the action is happening.  The audience  expects, as they give us information about who's in it, who made it, who directed in and so on.  In relation to the footage, the titles are not at the centre of the screen, but they are still clearly visible to the audience.  The colour of the font also makes the titles stand out, as the red and white contrast against the black and grey.  Like in Scream, the red is used to symbolise blood, however none has been shown in the opening sequence. 

Mise-en-scene

The mise-en-scene is Eden Lake has played a key role in making the locations and the characters seem normal.  This makes the audience familiar with what's going on, as nothing shocking or different has been presented to them.  The props used are also unexciting, again showing that there is nothing out of the ordinary about the characters or the locations.  The collaborative effect of the costume and make-up once again make the characters seem typical, as they do not look like they are from Hollywood and are rich and wealthy. 

Target Audience

Due to the fact that nothing horror related has happened yet, it is a little hard to say who the TA would be.  However, because I know what happens in the film, I would say that the TA is 15 to 30 year olds, mixed gender and of mixed race. 

From the opening sequence I would say the film has the ability to be quite good, however like Frozen, I think it could take a while before the horror aspect comes through.