The Cinema of David Lynch; American Dreams, Nightmare Visions

The Cinema of David Lynch; American Dreams, Nightmare Visions. Edited by Erica Sheen and Annette Davison. Wallflower Press. 2004

' Lynch's work tells a story of artistic and professional struggle which neither concludes nor allows for easy conclusions'.

chapter 6
Laura and Twin Peaks; Postmodern Parody and the Musical Reconstruction of the Absent Femme Fatale - John Richardson p 78

'Clearly more than the mystery of how she was murdred and by whome, a large part of what Twin Peaks tick in dramatic and specifically audio-visual terms was precisely the tantilising and apparently unbridgeable distance created by Lynch between Laura and viewing and listening subject - a distance created sustainted by the fragmentary visions and sounds of the female protagonist provided, which, in the words of Michael Choin 'served everyone as a prop for their own projections and fantasies' (choin 1995: 144-5)

discusses how twin peaks is film noir. have a detective, 'in search of a rational explanation to irrational world'. it has flashbacks and VO, from agent cooper. it has shifts in pov.  - 'where a woman is seen from several view points'. the true personality of the feeme fatale is shruded in mystery.                               

Chapter 7
Twin Peaks, Weak Language and the Resurrection of Affect by Sheli Ayers, p 93
'through a surrealist dream logic , this passionate living room allegory explores an uncanny cycle of consumption'/  

lots of contrasting fire/ice, good/evil/ visible/invisible
'through accumulation, the world of Twin Peaks divides and subdivides between realms of darkness and light'.
'within the allegorical palimpsest, heightened emotion often accompanies abstaction' Discusses how colour within the film is exaggerated to link spaces within the series. 'over time, these more or less subtle visual clues form a subjective code through which spaces may be distinguished or deliberately confused'.

twin peaks quote, when cooper is speaking to leland , head in his lap "into the light..wherein all things are like the void and cloudless sky, and the naked, spotless intellect is like a transparent vacuum without circumference or center. Leland, in this moment know yourself and abide in that state. Look to the light, Leland. Find the light."

The scene refers to popular western ideas of death as an 'ascendance' to light.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

meeting with Ben/ xmas to do

As we were breaking up for christmas, it would be a month or so before we would see each other again, so I wanted to have a meeting with Ben to clarify where we were at with everything, but also what was going to happen over the Christmas break , and where we should be once we meet again.

The first point of discussion was obviously the script; with Grace now fully on board, I think both Ben and I were happier about where the script would be going, and I was much more confident that it would actually get done.

We then spoke about what everyone in the crew could do over christmas , in terms of research, to give them a better understanding of the meaning of the film but also the look and feel of the type of film Ben was hoping to make.

Finally, we spoke about locations. I spoke briefly about my concerns with building a set; Ben had raised it as a possibility, however seeing how our art director struggled during Passing, I felt that building a set ( which is a huge and daunting task for anyone) might be too much, and not produce results that we would want. Ben agreed, and we discussed other location possibilities in Sheffield. Ben had turned down my favourite location, Bloo 88 due to the poor sound. This meant that I needed to find a new one asap. As I would be at home, which is pretty far from Sheffield in the south, I would be unable to visit any until I returned in January. We agreed that we would both do some research into locations and if there were any that we both felt were good potential spots, if he could, Ben would scout them out.

script draft 1?

Having expressed my frustration with him last week, Ben seems to have turned things up a notch; it seems that my visible disappointment and annoyance struck a cord with him, and he has been working pretty hard these past few days.

He has given me the first pages of a script!

It isn't what I was expecting - it is completely differet to what we had previously discussed, but it does seem very 'Ben'. Arthouse and surreal.

From reading it, the first thing that comes to mind is that its pretty heavy on the art direction which sends alarm bells ringing..

I do think that it could lend to Grace's style of sound design though.

script meeting with Ben

After discovering that we didn't have script for the film, I arranged to have a meeting with Ben. I wanted to make it clear to him that though I was unhappy with him for lying to him, it wasn't something that I would hold against him  , and that I wanted us to move on in a positive direction.

I spoke to him about the possibility of bringing Grace on board to help with the script; I thought this might be a good idea because Grace has just done the script writing module and was receiving good feedback.

Also, I thought that having someone else involved in writing the script would help push and motive Ben to work on it, but also take off some of the pressure that he might be feeling. 

I had already spoken Grace about this, and she was happy to help out, as she had expressed concern about a lack of script to work with over christmas. she also enjoyed script writing so was easily persuaded.

Ben seemed happy to do this, so I hope that things will improve. I said that I would be leave him and Grace to it, but would check in on how things were going , and that come January, and our return to uni, we would be in a much better position.

first pages of script

BLACK SCREEN -
In french (with English subtitles)

MAN’S VOICE
Je pense, donc je suis. (I think,
therefore I am)

INT. BAR - VIP LOUNGE

FADE IN:

A man, HARRY (mid 50’s), awakes from lying on the floor.
HARRY sits up and scans the room.

The room is dark and rich with deep reds and browns, a
Caravaggio brought to life. at least a hundred books are
scattered around the outside of the room, a circle of
literature.

HARRY stands and inspects a couple of different books

CLOSE UP ON HARRY - Expressions of familiarity and
confusion.

HARRY turns and sees a door, the only door in the room.
HARRY approaches, places his hand on the handle -

- A voice calls out -
                    MAN’S VOICE

STOP!

HARRY lets go of the handle, spins and sees MICHAEL (late
20’s), he’s tall, slender, and is dressed in a sharp fitted
suit.

MICHAEL, TWO CHAIRS and an EMPTY TABLE have appeared in the
center of the room.

                    HARRY
          How did you get there?

                    MICHAEL
          There was never any getting to, or

          from; I simply am.

                    HARRY
          Who are you?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

2.

                    MICHAEL
          And your next question will be..

where?

                    HARRY
          It had crossed my mind, yes. Well?

                    MICHAEL
          Ask me if I’m going to answer you.

                    HARRY
          Are you going to answer me?

                    MICHAEL
          No. Now take a seat.

MICHAEL gestures to the chair opposite him.

                    HARRY
          Do you know who I am?

                    MICHAEL
          Harry, please, lets not play games.

                    HARRY
          You know who I am; and you seem

          very confident in having me do what
          you want. But..

HARRY turns back to the door.
MICHAEL’s expression is washed over with dread and fear.
HARRY turns and catches MICHAEL’s expression.

                    HARRY
          But this door; you don’t have

          control over this door.

                    MICHAEL
          You are quick. Maybe a little

          incentive will coax you instead.

ANGLE, OTS on HARRY’s left side, the table empty. MICHAEL
extends a hand, gesturing to the empty space on the table.
CAMERA TRACKS RIGHT across HARRY’s shoulder line, shot holds
on right side OTS, there is now a CHESSBOARD in the empty
space.

HARRY is shocked. HARRY’s eye ask a thousand questions, none
of them make sense to him.

MICHAEL laughs, the laugh grows louder filling the room.
                                                 (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 3.

HARRY takes a deep breath and recomposes himself.
HARRY approaches the table. HARRY clenches a fist.

                    HARRY
          Chess, so you do want to play game-

HARRY stops just shy of the table. He is disturbed.

                    HARRY
          How did you get that?

                    MICHAEL
          I imagined you’d ask that sooner,

          so fond of questions. It’s not
          often I see a chessboard; familiar,
          no? -

HARRY’s temper flares.

                    HARRY
          HOW DID YOU GET MY FATHERS BOARD!

                    MICHAEL
          Temper temper; you’re the one who

          brought this here.

HARRY RUSHES forward, he FLIPS the table aside, casting the
CHESSBOARD and all the CHESS PIECES to the floor.

                    HARRY
          NO MORE GAMES!

HARRY makes a motion to grab MICHAEL -

INT. BAR - VIP LOUNGE - LATER
HARRY is by the door, his hand is placed on the handle -
- A voice calls out -

MICHAEL
STOP!

HARRY lets go of the handle, he SPINS around. MICHAEL is
stood on his own be the over turned table and scattered
CHESSBOARD and CHESS PIECES.

CUT TO:

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

4.

                    MICHAEL
               (CONT.)

          Stop playing games you say.

HARRY is visibly shaken, he’s caught by terror. HARRY tries
to utter a sentence.

CLOSE UP on MICHAEL’s face. MICHAEL looking at the scattered
CHESS PIECES, he then turns his head slowly to face HARRY;
whilst doing so we HEAR MICHAEL’s voice (in an ominous
tone), but he isn’t speaking.

                    MICHAEL
               (Voice Over)

          I’ll stop playing when you stop
          asking the wrong questions, Harry.
          You have a truth to find.

MICHAEL slowly approaches HARRY, his movement is slightly
off, in an inhuman manner. MICHAEL snaps his fingers and the
TABLE, CHESSBOARD and CHESS PIECES all reassemble back to
their previous positions.

                    MICHAEL
               (Voice Over)

          Time.. space.. life.. death, all as
          one; come to me.

MICHAEL extends his hand as he approaches.
HARRY is frozen in fear.

CLOSE UP of HARRY’s hand, with one swift motion HARRY SNAPS
his INDEX FINGER with pressure from his THUMB. HARRY lets
out a YELP. The pain helps HARRY to break out of his terror,
he turns and opens the door.

MICHAEL’s face turns gaunt, he scream unnaturally -
                    MICHAEL

NOOOOOOO!

HARRY opens the door fully. The door frame is empty and
black, CAMERA TRACKS into darkness, MICHAEL’s screaming
follows us through and FADES OUT.

CUT TO:

INT. DARK TRAIL - FENCE

CAMERA holds on shot of darkness. We HEAR a somber JAPANESE
BUDDHIST CHANT fade in.

CAMERA PANS up, we see a lit trail of TORN PHOTOGRAPHS, we
PAN up and HOLD on a fence, there’s a SMALL OPENING at the
bottom of the fence, it’s too dark to see through (only F.G.
is the photo trail, only B.G. is black)

A BOY (8-10) walks into frame (F.G.) he moves cautiously
towards the fence.

The BOY arrives at the fence.

ANGLE, BOY’s POV EXTREME H/A, the BOY’s feet are close to
the OPENING, surrounded by TORN PHOTOGRAPHS. A GUST of WIND
(more of a large exhalation) BLOWS the PHOTOGRAPHS away.

A voice WHISPERS from the SMALL OPENING -

                    MAN’S VOICE
          Closer. Closer.

The BOY takes a step back, away from the fence. The BUDDHIST
CHANT fades away. The BOY kneels to get a better viewing
angle.

                    MAN’S VOICE
          Closer. Closer.

The BOY slowly crawls closer to the OPENING.

ANGLE, SIDE ANGLE, the BOY is on the far right of the frame
and the OPENING on the left. The BOY edges closer.

ANGLE, OTS of BOY, from the OPENING, 8 human arm sized BLACK
CRUSTACEAN LEGS quickly emerge and VIOLENTLY settle against
the fence.

ANGLE, CU of BOY, recoiling in terror.

The BOY stands, the CRUSTACEAN LEGS PULSATE. A moment passes
and the CRUSTACEAN LEGS retract into the OPENING. The
BUDDHIST CHANT fades in once more.

                    MAN’S VOICE
          Closer. Closer.

The BOY backs off slowly, his eyes fixated on the dark
OPENING. The BOY bumps into something solid behind him.

(CONTINUED)

5.

CONTINUED: 6.

ANGLE, EXTREME LOW ANGLE OTS of the BOY, a minimal amount of
space in bottom right hand corner of the frame is taken up
by the BOY, the remainder is dominated by a board tower of a
man, he’s clad in a LARGE ULSTER, his face covered in
shadows.

The TOWERING MAN leans his head forward, dipping into the
light, he has no face. He extends his hand towards the BOY.
The BOY is frightened, he looks behind him -

- ANGLE, POV of BOY, the door he came through is there. It
starts moving backwards, disappearing into the darkness.

The BOY turns to face the TOWERING MAN, ANGLE, SIDE ANGLE,
the TOWERING MAN’s hand is on the right side of the frame,
the BOY’s on left.

The BOY is about to take hold of the hand, then another hand
from behind grabs the BOY by his collar and drags him OOS -

EXT. SNOWY FIELD - DAY
HARRY falls backwards onto the soft snow.

The field is huge and picturesque, snow blankets the
terrain.

HARRY stands, a soft breeze ruffles his hair. He isn’t cold.

HARRY takes in all of the surroundings, beautiful, HARRY
smiles.

We HEAR the wind gust on by, there’s something else behind
it though, the faintest whisper of a voice. HARRY doesn’t
notice.

After surveying his surroundings HARRY speaks, but no words
can be heard -

                    HARRY
          Am I free?

The voice of the wind becomes a little louder, certain words
are defined.

                    VOICE OF THE WIND
               (elongated)

          ..notice.. ..see..

HARRY scans the land, he spots a figure in the distance,
seemingly lying on the ground.

CUT TO:

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

7.

                    VOICE OF THE WIND
               (elongated)

          ..go.. ..see..
HARRY makes his way to the figure.

EXT. SNOWY FIELD - BODY RESTING PLACE - LATER

HARRY arrives, the figure is the corpse of a man. The corpse
is lay face down in the snow, his right arm is extended away
from his body, the hand is closed around something.

                    VOICE OF THE WIND
               (enlongated)

          ..open.. ..see..

HARRY checks if to see if he can see anyone else. There’s
no-one.

                    VOICE OF THE WIND
               (elongated)

          ..king.. ..king..
HARRY pry’s the hand open, the a single CHESS PIECE, a KING.

HARRY rolls the body over, HARRY recoils in shock. It’s
himself; frozen, with a face of horror.

HARRY looks up, the BOY is standing on the opposite side of
the corpse.

HARRY looks at his hand. ECU of the KING in HARRY’s palm.
CLOSE UP of the BOY smiling.

INT. DARK SPACE
ANGLE, MID of HARRY facing the CAMERA.

                    HARRY
               (happy)

          Do you know who the king is?

In SLOW MOTION the fragments of TORN PHOTOGRAPHS fall around
HARRY.

CUT TO:

CUT TO:

INT. DARK SPACE - LATER

ANGLE, BIRD EYE VIEW, many different fragment of a TORN
PHOTOGRAPH move across the floor and reassemble into a
picture.

The picture is of HARRY and the BOY, HARRY’s arm around the
BOY, both are smiling.

Faintly -
Louder -

Daniel.
Daniel.

HARRY
HARRY

INT. HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY

The room is almost like a study, there are books strewn
across the floor, side tables, the windowsills, but still
there is an air homeliness.

HARRY and the BOY, DANIEL, are sat at opposite ends of a
table playing chess.

                    HARRY
          Daniel, are you listening?

                    DANIEL
          Yeah, yeah.

                    HARRY
          Picking your next move wisely I

          see.
HARRY smiles.

                    DANIEL
          Yeah... got it.

DANIEL confidently takes one of HARRY’s pieces. DANIEL
smiles and crosses his arms in confidence about his
decision.

Hum.

HARRY

(CONTINUED)

8.

CUT TO:

CONTINUED: 9.

HARRY, without hesitation, takes the piece DANIEL just
placed. DANIEL’s expression drops. DANIEL reviews the board
quickly.

DANIEL

          No fair!
HARRY laughs.

                    HARRY
          My dad, your grandfather used to

          always ask me a question when we’d
          play.

                    DANIEL
          Grandpa Joe?

HARRY
Yeap.

                    DANIEL
          What was it?

                    HARRY
          Well I said a while ago, but you

          were too busy strategizing.
DANIEL gives a cheeky smile.

                    DANIEL
          What was it!?

                    HARRY
          Okay; who is the King?

HARRY points to, and slightly nudges DANIEL’s KING PIECE.
                    DANIEL

... errr

                    HARRY
          I’ll make it easier for you. Think

          of the King as a real person. Oh,
          and that’s your King -

               (Harry points to Daniels king

               again)
          - who do think my king is.

                    DANIEL
DANIEL is trying his hardest to figure it out.

...

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

10.

                    HARRY
          Yeah, it’s a tough one. Grandpa Joe

          told me, that one day, if I ever
          beat him at chess he’d tell.

                    DANIEL
          Did you beat him.

                    HARRY
          I sure did.

                    DANIEL
          And what did he say?

                    HARRY
          Cheeky! You ain’t getting the

          answer that easily.
DANIEL laughs.

                    HARRY
          I’ll give you the same chance

          kiddo; beat me in a game and I’ll
          tell you who my King is.

ANGLE, WIDE of HARRY and DANIEL continuing their game of
chess. CAMERA TRACK in on their hands moving the pieces.
After a couple of moves DANIEL’s hand has changed to the
hand of a grown man.

                                             SET TRANSITION:

INT. BAR - VIP LOUNGE

CAMERA TRACKS out from CLOSE UP of chess game to reveal
we’re now in the VIP LOUNGE. HARRY is playing the same game
he was playing with DANIEL, but sat opposite him now is
MICHAEL. (SEAMLESS TRANSITION)

Both continue to play. The silence holds for a moment.

                    HARRY
          You dragged me out of that room

didn’t you?

                    MICHAEL
          Still with the questions.

MICHAEL smiles as he finds a very adventitious move, he
beings to move -

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

11.

                    HARRY
          I’m dead, aren’t I?

MICHAEL pauses, he looks up from the game at HARRY.
                    MICHAEL

Yes.

Beat.
MICHAEL places his piece.

                    HARRY
          What will happen to me if I stay?

MICHAEL looks over at the door.
                    HARRY

I see.

                    MICHAEL
          Checkmate.

MICHAEL takes the King.

                    MICHAEL
          You have to protect the King. A

simple rule.

MICHAEL hold the King stationary above the board in view for
HARRY.

Beat.

          MICHAEL
Did you find your truth; are going

to stop asking and starting
answering?

          HARRY
Daniel. My son.

          MICHAEL
You have a question.

          HARRY
When will I see him again?

          MICHAEL
Sooner than you can even imagine.

CUT TO:

INT. SEWING SHOP - BACKROOM

ANGLE, WIDE of MICHAEL sit at an empty table opposite an
empty chair holding nothing with an arm extended.

A WOMAN is walking closer to a the only door in the room.
She extends her arm to the handle.

MICHAEL sighs.

          STOP!
CUT TO BLACK

END

MICHAEL

12.

no script, again

Getting the script is still proving problematic. After the tutorial I had, I spoke with Ben and we agreed on our own deadline for the first draft; Monday, giving him a week. I also offered him any help if he wanted it. As I had heard nothing from him, I messaged Ben at the end of the week to see how things were going but he didn't reply. I tried to contact him again at the weekend as I was concerned that his lack of response meant that things weren't going to plan.

He eventually replied saying that he may need more time. I asked if he could still meet me on Monday as I wanted to see what had been done so far and see if I could help him with progressing it. I thought that it was also important to see evidence of the script as so far none of the crew had seen a copy or knew of the final plot.

On Monday morning I messaged Ben to check that he was coming in for our meeting. Again, he didn't reply so I called him and he said that he was still working on the script. I said that this was fine, I just wanted to see where abouts he was with it, and as he was still has at home (even though we had a arranged to meet at this time) I asked if he could send me what he had done as soon as he got off the phone.

Again, this didn't happen, so I called him. When he answered, he didn't really tell me any good news. He admitted that he had lied to me, and that actually he had done none of the script. I was initally really angry with him, because I had been speaking to him about the script for the past month or so, and this whole time, he had lied. I was also frustrated because this put the rest of the crew behind in any work that they could do over christmas for research.

Though I was angry I didnt have a go at Ben on the phone. I told him that I would come round and speak to him directly. It wasn't a great conversation, I was very frustrated, and Ben didn't say much, so it didn't really progress the production. However, I was happy that I now knew exaclty where we were with things.

Another thing that really bothered me about this, was that I had spoken with Ben at the beginning of 3rd year and was very open with him about how I liked to work; if things aren't going well, or he is struggling, he should come and tell me, it won't bother me. I prefer people to be honest and upfront. And despite telling him that I wouldn't be annoyed if he was having a hard time , he still chose to lie.

I hope that we can move on from this, and that Ben will be honest with me in the rest of this production, otherwise its going to be a bumpy ride.

Ben's location scout

Ben and Grace went to have a look at Bloo 88 today. Though they thought that it looked great, the sound was terrible, and you can hear the traffic outside really clearly. This means that we will have look else where. I think trying to find somewhere that isn't on a main or busy road , so that the sound issues that we keep having will immediately be eliminated.

Bloo 88

Tutorial

Had a tutorial with Chrissie to discuss my concerns with Ben. As I have tried to speak with him and have offered him a lot of help, which he has turned down, I'm not sure what else to do that can help bring the production forward.

Upon Chrissie's advice, I will speak with Ben about creating our own deadlines, within the deadlines set by the course. Doing this could help break down the process of writing the script and therefore take the pressure off a bit for Ben.

Also, I will just try and offer him support where he needs it and emphasis that I'm available if he needs me.