In the opening of the clip, the music played in the background creates a peaceful tone, making it seem like the film is going to be equally as peaceful. The birdsong and the blue sky in the exposition of the clip add to this peaceful tone being created. It creates a sense of a utopian society, which adds to the view that America is a tranquil place to be. When the camera pans down to the roses and the white picket fence, all of the colours contrast together creating the red, white and blue American flag. This adds to the utopian society view on America in the beginning of the clip.
The peaceful tone is carried on when the fire truck is brought into the clip. The fire truck isn't one that we would see in today’s society and there wouldn't be a dog on the side or even room for anyone to stand on the side. This is how we know that the film is set in the 1950s and it is around the time of the American Dream. The slowed down transition put on the fire truck as it is going past the camera creates the tranquil environment. However, it almost seems fake and dream-like with the effect put on it which could symbolise the fact that America is and never was like it is depicted in the film. The transitions in the scene of the fire truck are coherent; they are supposed to be there as it makes part of the film. The transition brings an establishing shot of a house in the suburbs. These particular houses are stereotypical horror movies houses. For example, there is a similar house to the one in this clip in the movie Scream. This could foreshadow something severe happening to one or more of the characters in the film.
In the next scene in the clip, the male character, who seems to be the protagonist in the film, is shown being the stereotypical, working man of the house as he is tending to his garden. This part of the films shows that during this time, people didn't have to worry about anything unspeakable happening as it was a utopian America, completely different to how America was depicted in many other films set in the 1950s. The stereotypical gender roles carry on in the film, moving the scene into the house where the female character is sat on her sofa, drinking tea, watching a crime drama programme on the TV. The fact that she is watching this type of programme and there is a gun on the TV that is made extremely clear to us could also foreshadow something horrible happening throughout the film.
Going back to the
male character in the garden, we focus on the sound and the editing. The
peaceful music is still playing, however, there is a diegetic sound edited over
the top of the music; this being the sound of the hose pipe that he is using.
This is a contrapuntal sound as it goes against the peacefulness of the music
in the film. Here, there is a close up shot of the hose, this creates a sense
of importance as we find out that the hose is the weapon that kills/injures
this character. When the character has been hit by the hose, there are no close
up shots to show that it is an important event in the film, which signifies to
the audience that there are bigger events in the film to worry about. As the
character is lying on the floor, the hose pipe is still on, there is a dog
drinking the water and there is toddler wandering over to him. This tells us
that it is a different time in America, as children now-a-days, wouldn't be
left free to walk about by the roads. When the camera focuses on the dog
drinking the water, there is a slowed down transition put on the clip. This
signifies the fact that the dog doesn't understand what is going on, he just
cares about the water and playing about with it.
After this, the
music dies down, which creates an eerie atmosphere and leaves the audience
wondering what is going to happen next. This is the hook of the film, it makes
the audience want to carry on watching to find out what happens. The eerie
atmosphere is continued as the camera zooms in on the blades of grass; this
could be because what is underground is the main focus of the film. There is a
low-pass filter when the camera zooms into the grass, the scene slows and fades
into the monotone sound that has been edited into the film. As the camera moves
through the grass, the picture becomes darker and darker, which creates a sense
of danger which, if we watch past the end of the clip, we find out isn't very
dangerous at all however, it is confusing and creepy. This clip was out here to
tell the audience that there is more to the world than meets the eye or in this
case, the camera. We soon find out that the camera is zooming in on insects which
foreshadows danger in the film at some point.
This whole clip focuses on the fact that the director of the film, David Lynch, had an all over the place narrative when it came to the unusual films he has made.
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