By Hope-Elena Sardella, March, 01, 2018
In this week’s discussion, I have chosen to analyze the Film Noir motion picture, Blue Velvet (1986) written and directed by the controversial David Lynch. The scene I decided to review is called “Baby Wants Blue Velvet”. In this scene, the main antagonist “Hopper” intrudes on the “Femme Fetal” (a fatal female in Film Noir films); “Dorthy”, then proceeds to inhale the drug ether while sexually and physically abusing her. During this particular scene main protagonist, Jeffrey is hiding in her closet witnessing the events that he cannot save her from.
Long shots are consistently used in the beginning and throughout the scene to give the audience the feeling as if they are seeing through the eyes of Jeffrey, who is witnessing the events through the slits of wood in the closet. The shot is taken at a high angle looking down or slopped downward. This use of cinematography almost gives the audience an unnerving feeling, as if you’re not supposed to be looking at the events that are transpiring. Long Shots are described by Goodykoontz and Jacobs (2014), as “we see a long shot that shows us all or most of what is in the scene”.
The use of the color red is key during this scene because it seems to be foreshadowing the fact that something violent will occur throughout the rest of the film. Use of color is often a cue of “intent of the director and cinematographer with a visual cue” (Goodkoontz & Jacobs, 2014). I believe that David Lynch is trying to instill a feeling a dread with the use of red. The red in the room is a somewhat matte red, and we can see that “Hopper” has a bright red pillow next to him.
The editing in this scene uses primarily direct cuts to go from one perspective from another. So we initially see a long view shot, that cuts into a close up of “Hopper” speaking. Then we see a dissolve shot, where the camera shoots from Dorthy’s left shoulder across the back of her head, and the camera shoots from the far-right low angle viewing “Hopper” inhaling ether. The close-up shot’s make one feel uncomfortable as if the events are happening to you at that moment and you are unable to escape the situation as “Dorothy” is unable to escape.
References
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing(2nd ed.) [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu
MovieClips, (n.d.). Blue Velvet (7/11) Movie CLIP – Baby Wants Blue Velvet (1986) HD. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=senNDipdmPo
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