Blue Velvet

Blue Velvet is a mystery thriller film with elements of surrealism. Directed by David Fincher the film was released in 1986. The film begins with a long title sequence which in made up of with simple white titles appearing and fading out over a blue velvet screen. The simplistic opening is accompanied by a orchestra soundtrack which slightly foreshadows the movie in the fact that it has a calming start but builds up with more complex layers. The simple editing which allowed the words to fade in and out is also used to start the film as the blue velvet screen fades out and becomes a blue sky.

A tilt shot is used initially as the camera starts out pointing towards the sky by slowly tilts giving the audience a glimpse of a white picket fence with a neatly tended red tulips in front. The use of a white picket fence would give an audience a nostalgic and family friendly feeling with in reality juxtaposes the theme of the movie. Tulips like many flowers can be used to signify certain themes or foreshadow certain events, red tulips are usually associated with true love. 

As the orchestra music faded out the popular song 1963 Bobby Vinton song 'blue velvet' begins to play as a non-diegetic soundtrack. Fitting with the relaxed and laid back mood this song projects the editing between the first few shots is slow using fading instead of quick cuts. This adds to the relaxed tone the audience is currently feeling. Slow motion editing was also done to build up on the laid back and relaxed theme, an example of this being the shot in which the fire truck drives past, this also gives the audience an impression of safety and reassurance as fire trucks are usually seen racing towards danger, by showing this one casually driving it shows that there is no emergency implying the town that is being shown is safe. This shot is followed by a shot showing children slowly crossing the road with the aid of a lollipop lady, this also gives a peaceful and calm atmosphere as once aging the shot is slowed down during editing. 

An establishing shot is next used to show  a typical suburban house, this type of house would give most people watching especially Americas a sense of nostalgia as it a the common type of house in America. It is also a house commonly used in film especially in thriller and horror movies. A slow fade cut is used to move to a long shot showing a man watering his garden, this is once aging edited to appear slower. This repetition of slow motion editing gives the audience a sense of calm yet also adds to the slowly building more eerie tone- nothing is ever this picture perfect, it is almost like a foreshadowing of the calm before a storm. This foreshadowing of darker things to come can also been seen in the next shot in which a mid shot of a woman followed by her point of view shot gives the audience a chance to see a TV on which a gun can be seen. This suggests to the audience that there will be violence and possible mystery later in the film.

A mid-shot is then used to show us the man outside still watering his garden, a quick cutis used to show a close up of where the  hose is connecting to the house, showing it to be leaking quick profusely another quick cut is used to jump back to a mid-shot of the man. these quick shots used tell the audience something is going to happen as prior to this the editing between shots was slow fades. A close up shot of the hose pipe being tangles is also shown, the combination of these shots can be used by the audience as a foreshadowing of the mans impending heart attack, they could be seen as a visual representation of his heart failing because of blood clotting. It is during the mans heart attack when the non-diegetic soundtrack finally fades and a new sound track takes over, this track is not a song but more of a sound- it sounds almost like a what the audience would imagine the inside of a large wind tunnel. Immediately following the mans heart attack an out of focus close up shot of the water sprouting up from the pipe is used, followed by a wide shot which adds almost comic value to the now dark scene as the mans dog is excitedly jumping around trying to drink the water. This surreal and almost comic moment juxtaposes the dark and serious nature of the mans heart attack.

An extreme close up is used next giving the audience a view grass this close up shot also incorporates forward tracking as the camera moves forward into the grass giving the audience a view of what lies beneath the well cared for suburban garden. by showing the underground as a dark place filled with cockroaches Fincher is suggesting to the audience that underneath the nice exterior of this town which seemed perfect and calm is really a dark and unpleasant core. This shot is also accompanied by the same wind like diegetic sound which adds to the tone of the film as it sounds mysterious and fits with the darker themes currently being shown. 

A cut shot is used to move to the next shot, this movement between shots also cuts the music off. the shot shown is a wide shot showing a sign with the words 'Welcome to Lumberton' this  welcome sign can be viewed as almost sarcastic by the audience as in the previous shots their view of Lumberton has become jaded with not only the man's heart attack but being given a view of the dark underbelly of Lumberton. An establishing shot of a town on the edge of what appears to be a lake is then shown giving the audience an actual view of Lumberton.