When Twin Peaks returned in 2017 to Showtime, the opening credits were updated with new footage from the Washington state area. One of the first images seen is tree covered mountains bathed in mist. As it turns out, this location is very familiar to fans – it’s part of the historic Snoqualmie Falls.
THE LOCATION
The area seen in the opening credits is circled in red above. The Salish Lodge (exterior location of The Great Northern Hotel) and Snoqulamie Falls are seen on the far right side of the image.
A closer look at the area which is also circled in red.
I walked down to this spot in Snoqualmie Falls Park in October 2019 to photograph the handful of trees located there.
The building seen in the credits is the top of the second powerhouse.
Built in 1910 and expanded in 1957, it’s located approximately a quarter-mile downstream from the falls.
You can take a separate trail down to that building. The trail to the bottom of the falls was closed the day I visited, but I snapped a few autumn-hued images from around the area.
Here is a short video of the top of Snoqualmie Falls before I dive into deconstructing the opening credit scenes. This is probably my favorite waterfall in the entire world. It’s majestic!
THE TREES IN PART 1
The opening credits for Part 1 is slightly different than the remainder of the series. For this episode, a brief glimpse at this location is shown before cutting to the abandoned former Weyerhaeuser Saw Mill.
Here’s a similar look from my visit in September 2019.
That grouping of trees is clearly seen in the opening credits.
I returned to the spot about a month later and photographed the same trees just as the sun was rising behind me. You can see how the valley is blanketed with a beautiful white fog.
Fall is truly a magical time to visit this location!
LAURA’S PICTURE IN PART 1
The scene continues with the “Twin Peaks” logo appearing over Laura Palmer’s homecoming photo.
This is the same photo that was displayed in the trophy case at Mt. Si High School in the Pilot Episode.
The image was cropped to 16:9 aspect ratio for Season 3. Sadly, the trophy case was removed with the recent modernization of Mt. Si High School.
THE FALLS AND LAURA IN PART 1
The scene transitions again to a shot looking down at a body of water. This is the top of Snoqualmie Falls.
At the Twin Peaks Collaborators discussion during the Festival of Disruption on October 14, 2017, editor Duwayne Dunham described this scene’s transition to Kristine McKenna:
Kristine McKenna: “I asked David, “What clips should we show for Duwayne?” And he said, “Show the opening titles … those are pure Duwayne. What did you do?”
Duwayne Dunham: “…So when it came to the titles, I’d done the title sequence in the original, and of course we had the waterfall. We had a new waterfall, and I looked at the footage and I said one day to my assistant, ‘I’m going to tell you something right now.’ And we’re only about six months into shooting. I said, “Someday we’re going to come over that waterfall and we’re going to drop into the Red Room.’ … It wound up being pretty much just that at least for the individual episodes. For the first, what became the so-called ‘pilot’,’ it became a little bit longer and we put some of the clips in of David would say, ‘Get Laura’s 8 1/2 by 11 and let’s put it over the sky.’ …
Dean Hurley: “I love in the opening how you took that portrait and drowned her.”
DD: “Oh yeah, that was just a stroke of luck and David is someone who absolutely believes in the magic that happens in the moment. That is why he is always in the moment, and I myself have a hard time as I’m always trying to climb out of the moment and see what else is going on … We went inside that trophy cabinet which was footage from the original pilot episode … We went into that trophy case which he had done before and it sort of wasn’t working, it wasn’t the same emotional resonance. And then, like I said, let’s go to the waterfall. And there happened to be a shot, it’s made up of about three shots kind of all dissolved together, and then we did this nine second dissolve. So Laura, we’re pushing in and pushing in, which we created as well. We’re pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, the water starts coming and then the idea is she slowly sunk, and over, then landed on the beach.”
ABOVE THE FALLS
As Duwayne mentioned, we transition over the top of Snoqualmie Falls in this sequence.
You can see the rock formation at the top of the falls on Google Maps.
This is the same rock formation seen at the top of the falls on September 14, 2019.
I took a nearly identical shot a month later (I didn’t even know it would match so closely to the September shot until I was editing the image).
PARTS 2-18 OPENING CREDITS
For Parts 2-18, the opening credits use mixed footage from Part 1.
Laura’s smiling face transitions to the tree covered mountain where the “Twin Peaks” title appears.
The scene then cuts to the top of the falls.
Thankfully I had a telephoto lens when I visited the falls so I could capture water cascading over the rocks so clearly.
It’s like a mini waterfall before the actual 268-foot drop.
TREES FROM PART 14
Footage from the opening credits also appears briefly in Part 14. It looks like additional footage that wasn’t used for the credits.
I caught some of the fog rising up from the valley during my visit in October 2019.
After seeing images like this, I completely understand why Agent Cooper wanted to buy property in Twin Peaks. It’s beautiful!
