1. Gemma Gaskell
Film Title: Eden Lake
Release Date: 2008 (James Watkins)
Genre: Slasher Horror
Brief Plot Synopsis:
„Refusing to let anything spoil their romantic weekend break, a young couple confront a gang of
loutish youths with terrifyingly brutal consequences.‟ (From Imbd.com)
Briefly describe the content of the trailer: The trailer shows a lot of the film footage, helping the
audience get a sense of what happens in the film. It uses upbeat music from a modern artist
(Dizzee Rascal) to reflect the modern aspects of this horror film, which is what makes it terrifying.
Average shot length: 5 seconds. This is because they are fast paced to create tension in the trailer.
Time in seconds of the whole trailer: 147 seconds
Count the number of shots: 72 . They are very fast paced to create tension, and the trailer uses a
lot of footage from the film.
Sequence time in seconds/ Number of shots = (Average Shot Length) 2 – 3 seconds.
Describe the settings and range of locations – Mostly set in Eden Lake, where the brutal tortures
take place. Shows them driving to Eden Lake, contrasting their life before to what it is at the end.

2. Describe the Star/s and their costumes. Are there typical horror character
spheres?
Each character wears their every day clothes, but this contrasts the social
class divide in the film from the gang of youths to Jenny and Steve. People
that star in the film are actors, but not incredibly huge named stars, which
is why they haven't been used to distribute the film. There are typical
character spheres such as „The Final Girl‟ character, where the woman
survives longer than the man(like Jenny over Steve) but also the typical role
of males have more dominance, which applies to Eden Lake as the gang of
youths, mainly male, although younger, torture the couple and have power
over them.
Were there any props significant to the trailer?
The knife that kills Brett‟s dog, as this is what sets the gang of youths off to
torture/kill Jenny and Steve. The torture weapons are also significant, as
this is what happens in the film, but also the props are typical of the generic
conventions of the horror genre.

3. How would you describe the camera work? Did it use particular types of shot?
Lots of cuts are used to create fast paced scenes that build up tension, as horror
films intend to. A range of shots are used depending on the focus of the shot, for
example, a long shot is used in the scene to show the spike Jenny stands on.
How was sound used on the trailer, was there scripted sections/voice over –
style/tone.
Music by Dizzee Rascal is played when the gang of youths are first
shown, showing the modern aspects of this film. At the end there is also a line of
dialogue spoken by Jenny to bring the trailer to a close, but she‟s crying, showing
the brutal tortures that are going to be in the film. There is also lines of dialogue
that are said in the trailer such as “help me!”
The editing? Pace, type of transitions e.g. cut/fade etc. How was it cut to the
music?
The first shot is a fade, which effectively shows the type of lives Jenny and Steve
lead before they go to Eden Lake, and from then on the shots are very fast cuts to
create a build up of tension throughout the trailer, which works effectively.

4. What was the trailer about? Did it link to the film synopsis/title? The trailer reflects the
type of film Eden Lake is, and gives a lot away of what happens in the film. The place the
trailer and film is set in (Eden Lake) is what the title is, but is ironic as „Eden‟ means
paradise, but the trailer and film show it is everything but this.
Were there any predominant themes? Torture and Social Class divide, that are portrayed
throughout the trailer and film.
Write down anything you think worked particularly well on this trailer? The fact that quite
a lot of the story is told, giving the audience a sense of what the film is about immediately.
Also, the fact no information about the film is told until the end also draws the audience in
as they want to know what film this is and when it‟s out etc.
Anything you didn‟t think worked?
The only thing I think didn‟t work was that the trailer gave too much of the real film footage
away, specifically the events that happen, so you know what‟s going to happen straight
away. This is because the trailer doesn‟t leave a cliff-hanger or anything unanswered.