Blue Velvet Opening Scene

Blue Velvet opening scene

At the start of the scene in Blue Velvet the opening credits pan out of view with a backdrop of a blue velvet curtain. The shot from this slowly pans down to show a blue sky and this pans down to show a bed of red roses in front of a white picket fence whilst the song ‘blue velvet’ starts to play in the background. The use of them playing this in the background is to show the non-diegetic sound and this is played all throughout of the opening scene of the film. The use of the camera in this shot is important as it shows the patriotic side as it pans down on to the picket fence as this conveys an American flag and this scene also shows a typical American suburban lifestyle.

It also links to a typical suburban American lifestyle as it shows a friendly fireman driving by with his dog on the fire truck shows how natural this is and also these scenes are all establishing shots by the use of the camera to show the audience a friendly neighbourhood. This is conveyed by children innocently crossing the road and the camera pans to show a classic home with the picket fence again making an appearance linking this back to the American flag. All of these shots are all lit brightly but also the camera seems to be a bit unfocused as this could portray to the audience that these shots are like memories of the place and shows us that it is showing only the good of what happens and this could hide the mystery behind it.

The camera then pans to focus onto the house and cuts then to the man watering his lawn innocently and his wife who is watching the TV inside. But reading between the lines the wife is watching a program with a gun on and this could show that something is going to happen in the future and shows that the wife isn’t sweet and innocent as they make her out to be. As the camera shots keep changing the camera gets keeps getting closer, e.g. the first shot of the man was a long shot and then when there is more focus on him the shot changed to a medium shot to convey the impact that the man has.

After this they used the camera to do a series of quick cuts between the man tugging the hose and the tap to where it is attached. They have also included a diegetic sound for when the water pressure is building up on the tap and the frequency is getting louder and they have done this to add tension the this part of the clip and also they have done close ups on the tap to build more and more tension as the viewers are waiting to see what is going to happen.

After the tension on the hose pipe that was built up and as the camera was panning over the neighbourhood to show how peaceful it is, the man suddenly starts to clutch his neck and drops to the floor after suffering with a stroke. As the audience we hear the man making choking noises as he goes on to the floor and this is used for diegetic sound as we can hear what is going on as well as the characters in the film. The camera then cuts to the man rolling on the floor holding on to the hose which is spraying in the air. They have edited this scene to show a slow motion of the water spraying everywhere and then cuts to a wide shot of the man lying on the floor again with the dog licking the water and also this shot shows a little child in the background and this shows how innocent but significant this shot is as viewers think about who is going to look after the little kid or who is going to save the man.

After this shot the camera cuts to a close up of the dog drinking the water with a slow motion edit and then it cuts to an extreme close up tracking of the grass. As this close up progresses the non-diegetic music in the background gradually starts to fade out as they go deeper into the grass and then the audience hears a high pitched droning sound, with their being a low light on it this adds to the unease of what is in the grass.

In this opening sequence it sets the message that everything seems perfect but no one knows what is hid beneath the surface and as they show the man having the stroke it adds to shock after seeing the scenes of an innocent suburban life. The contrast in the lighting throughout the clip between the sunny neighbourhood and the dark contrast of the grass at the end of the scene shows that there are two contrasting worlds in the film.