Lost Highway

Lost Highway (David Lynch, 1997)

Class discussion

• The opening credits are shown on a highway, the vehicle is travelling very fast along a highway, but can only see whats in its headlights, and the rest of the screen is black this creates a feeling of the unknown, as the audience cannot see anything that is coming towards them until the last second. the car is positioned in the middle of the road which creates the sense of vulnerability and lack of control
• The text comes towards you from the centre of the screen, appearing only when the headlights shine on it, the text stays for a few seconds and then moves towards the screen again before disappearing, this works well with the idea that a vehicle is travelling very fast down a highway
• The font is the same shade of yellow that is used for the road markings in the opening credits, which ties in with the highway theme, the text shows the keys characters in the film and also the companies that worked on it, but it doesn't show anything else, such as producers and people behind the scenes, which are conventions the ending credits
• The music is light and fast paced, but there is also a dark bass undertone, which is possibly foreshadowing the theme of the film, the music fades out at the same time as the screen blurs
• The next shot is a close up of a character, which only takes up part of the screen, there is an idea of the unknown, and there is some narrative enigma, as you instantly ask the questions; Where is he? What is he doing there?
• An extreme close up is then used to show a cigarette in the mans hand, and because we do not get to see the rest of the film, the significance of this is unknown, because the shots do not fill the whole screen there is a sense of secrecy, like you don't get the full perspective
• The various camera angles make the scene disorientating, and then you can hear faint sirens in the back ground as the character slowly paces round the house, with a distinct sense of tension in his movement, an eyeline match with the buzzer speaker, is used to show his emotion, he is expecting someone, or possibly hiding from someone, at the point when he looks out of the window, his reflection is shown, which is the mirroring effect, a common convention in Thriller films