5. TWIN PEAKS
ANALYTICAL EXTRACT 1
The censorship of taboo subjects like
necrophilia, homosexuality or incest, has been
loosened since the advent of
psychoanalysis……What do we make of the
fact that in Twin Peaks the fantastic…emerges
with full force?
Diane Stevenson
6. TWIN PEAKS
ANALYTICAL EXTRACT 2
‘In the empty, post-midnight darkness at the
edge of town, a red traffic light blinks for no
one. Its glowing red light…seems eerie but
almost pointless in this empty setting. That
image comes from the telemovie that
introduced this disturbing, yet haunting,
series…’
J.P. Telotte
7. TWIN PEAKS
ANALYTICAL EXTRACT 3
‘The strange case of the killing of Laura Palmer
can be accounted for either by paternal
psychopathology or by demonic possession.
The universe of Twin Peaks alternates between
the psychological and the phantasmal…’
Diane Stevenson
8. TWIN PEAKS
ANALYTICAL EXTRACT 4
‘The question of child abuse can be
considered on two levels……
Family violence, the secret violence of
American life, has, from the beginning of
Lynch’s career, been a key ingredient of his
work.’
Diane Stevenson
9. TWIN PEAKS
EXTRACTS FROM END OF THE DIRECTOR’S
STORYBOARD
30.12…stabs him in the stomach, followed by a
shot of blazing fire…‘You go. He can’t ask for your
soul. I will take his’. A burst of fire comes out of
WE’s head…’
30.14 ‘Alone in the bathroom [DC] squeezes out
the toothpaste tube into sink, looks into the mirror.
The reflection is B’s not DC’s. In a half-turn to the
camera, his face covered in blood, DC sneers
‘How’s Annie, how’s Annie?’ as the show, the
season, the series, all come to an end.
15. THE GODFATHER
• Strand 1: church baptism
• Strand 2: massacre
• Soundtrack: organ music
• Diegetic in church but underscore for gangster massacre
Baptism A. 19th century organ improvisation…
…consonant, brighter, higher in pitch
1st gun shown B. darker, lower, more dissonant
Baptism return to A.
Gangster B. reed stop used on organ
Pistol shown Bach Passacaglia in C minor; use of bass
pedals
……this is the structural downbeat
Tension builds dissonance increases
Climax faster editing/changes; use of silences in
music
16. DOWNFALL
(HIRSCHBIEGEL…2004)
Alternation of…
• Strand 1: Eva Braun’s letter …intimate, sometimes trivial
• Strand 2: Magda Goebbels’ letter …cold, fanatical,
…a loyal Nazi to the end
• Strand 3: …the destruction of Berlin
…doctors and wounded
…Nazi teenagers’ suicide pact
• Music: Purcell Dido and Aeneas
……NB music does not change
17. STRUCTURING...
• Micro-structure cues and scenes
• Macro-structure the complete film:
spotting
theme, development,
variation
leitmotif,
tension-structure
18. MICROSTRUCTURE
THE BOURNE SUPREMACY: CHASE
SEQUENCE
• Initially …bass riff
• On station …more intermittent; less riff
…builds up
• Jumps onto the boat …change of key; bass riff returns
…builds up with upward ‘stretching’ phrase
• Hooks onto the bridge …bass cuts out as feet leave the boat
• Feet on bridge floor …bass reappears
• Back on the train …music slows and calms
