Part 13 - What story is that, Charlie? (SPOILERS)

[cgs027]

People need to remember that this franchise's entire mythology was born out of a crew member being accidentally caught in a shot. L/F are jazz musicians, improvising and riffing and letting the audience experience the result as they will. Too many people are approaching the work like an intricate piece of classical music, and they're setting themselves up for disappointment.

100% agreed, great way to put it. Intuition is a huge part of jazz music, and I think this pertains to the editing of what was a mostly linear script/plot. We all know Lynch works off of moods/cues, so imagine having 18 hours of scenes laid in front of him. He's putting the jigsaw puzzle together as he sees fit, and I can guarantee he's not interested in making sure things are laid out chronologically. Mood and cadence and these more ephemeral things seem to interest him more at this point, so it is what it is (not in a bad way -- just pointing out that there are going to be incongruous elements to these episodes that most likely have nothing to do with time folding in upon itself). That being said -- I do expect some sheer insanity once these coordinates come into play.

[Nighthawk]

Oh my. The Big Ed reflection is a real thing Just watched the video on Reddit.
First time I watched it I didn't even noticed a reflection., but it definitely is there and pretty disturbing.

It's really disturbing to see movement that is unnatural. I created two screen caps of almost consecutive frames (save them off locally and flip between them as otherwise the change is hard to notice). You can see how the reflection shifts while Ed stays motionless. I am pretty sure the passing car (its lights are visible though hard to notice in the screen caps) was timed perfectly to pass through the frame as well because it moves from right to left in fluent motion so there is no jump cut in the scene.

[cgs027]

Oh my. The Big Ed reflection is a real thing Just watched the video on Reddit.
First time I watched it I didn't even noticed a reflection., but it definitely is there and pretty disturbing.

It's really disturbing to see movement that is unnatural. I created two screen caps of almost consecutive frames (save them off locally and flip between them as otherwise the change is hard to notice). You can see how the reflection shifts while Ed stays motionless. I am pretty sure the passing car (its lights are visible though hard to notice in the screen caps) was timed perfectly to pass through the frame as well because it moves from right to left in fluent motion so there is no jump cut in the scene.

I still barely see what you are talking about... not to say it wasn't done on purpose, but... So vague, Lynch tends to be a little more up front when he want to disturb you with shifting personas, etc... Even when they are rudimentary effects like Robert Blake's face being superimposed over Patricia Arquette's in LH.

[sewhite2000]

People need to remember that this franchise's entire mythology was born out of a crew member being accidentally caught in a shot. L/F are jazz musicians, improvising and riffing and letting the audience experience the result as they will. Too many people are approaching the work like an intricate piece of classical music, and they're setting themselves up for disappointment.

100% agreed, great way to put it. Intuition is a huge part of jazz music, and I think this pertains to the editing of what was a mostly linear script/plot. We all know Lynch works off of moods/cues, so imagine having 18 hours of scenes laid in front of him. He's putting the jigsaw puzzle together as he sees fit, and I can guarantee he's not interested in making sure things are laid out chronologically. Mood and cadence and these more ephemeral things seem to interest him more at this point, so it is what it is (not in a bad way -- just pointing out that there are going to be incongruous elements to these episodes that most likely have nothing to do with time folding in upon itself). That being said -- I do expect some sheer insanity once these coordinates come into play.

+1

[Nighthawk]

I still barely see what you are talking about... not to say it wasn't done on purpose, but... So vague, Lynch tends to be a little more up front when he want to disturb you with shifting personas, etc... Even when they are rudimentary effects like Robert Blake's face being superimposed over Patricia Arquette's in LH.

You have to save images locally and flip between them. Otherwise it's difficult to notice from screen caps alone.

[cgs027]

I still barely see what you are talking about... not to say it wasn't done on purpose, but... So vague, Lynch tends to be a little more up front when he want to disturb you with shifting personas, etc... Even when they are rudimentary effects like Robert Blake's face being superimposed over Patricia Arquette's in LH.

You have to save images locally and flip between them. Otherwise it's difficult to notice from screen caps alone.

OK... again, I'm not sure that has ever been part of Lynch's agenda. Unless I'm wrong, I can't think of anything else he has done where there have been scenes so subtle that multiple people have to capture different snapshots of it to interpret it. When he wants to disturb, he straight up DISTURBS.

[sewhite2000]

I still barely see what you are talking about... not to say it wasn't done on purpose, but... So vague, Lynch tends to be a little more up front when he want to disturb you with shifting personas, etc... Even when they are rudimentary effects like Robert Blake's face being superimposed over Patricia Arquette's in LH.

You have to save images locally and flip between them. Otherwise it's difficult to notice from screen caps alone.

I am trying to speak very cautiously. I don't want everyone to think I'm an arrogant jerk again. I'm not saying what everyone sees isn't there. Personally, I can't see it, either in screencaps or in my rewatchings of the scene. But I'm just watching on a laptop. If I had a 50" HD screen, maybe I would see what everyone else does. But I absolutely agree with Nighthawk that Lynch is usually more obvious about these things. Gordon having a vision of Laura is obvious. Sarah's TV on rerun was a little subtle - it was a full minute into the scene before I realized what was happening. Still, fairly obvious. Ed's reflection is either incredibly subtle to reward only the really diligent, or it's just an atmospheric thing. But I don't think it's meant to have any significance. I don't think Lynch would hinge something drastically important about the show on an effect that a certain significant percentage of viewers (50%? 75%?) can't even see or see clearly.

[Nighthawk]

I still barely see what you are talking about... not to say it wasn't done on purpose, but... So vague, Lynch tends to be a little more up front when he want to disturb you with shifting personas, etc... Even when they are rudimentary effects like Robert Blake's face being superimposed over Patricia Arquette's in LH.

You have to save images locally and flip between them. Otherwise it's difficult to notice from screen caps alone.

OK... again, I'm not sure that has ever been part of Lynch's agenda. Unless I'm wrong, I can't think of anything else he has done where there have been scenes so subtle that multiple people have to capture different snapshots of it to interpret it. When he wants to disturb, he straight up DISTURBS.

Did you do what I suggested? Probably not.

It's really not that subtle. The unnatural movement of Ed's reflection was obvious when I watched it on a high resolution, big screen TV. Unfortunately I don't have access to that quality footage at the moment. These screen caps are the best that I could find online right now.

[sewhite2000]

Love your assumption that other people are too lazy to do what you suggest. See people, I'm not the only person who's ever been a jerk to other posters on here!

I feel like you're making my point. I'm not a millionaire. I still have a CRT TV and about the cheapest laptop one can buy. Would Lynch really make important plot points in the show visible only to the most affluent of his viewers? The one per cent?

[cgs027]

You have to save images locally and flip between them. Otherwise it's difficult to notice from screen caps alone.

OK... again, I'm not sure that has ever been part of Lynch's agenda. Unless I'm wrong, I can't think of anything else he has done where there have been scenes so subtle that multiple people have to capture different snapshots of it to interpret it. When he wants to disturb, he straight up DISTURBS.

Did you do what I suggested? Probably not.

It's really not that subtle. The unnatural movement of Ed's reflection was obvious when I watched it on a high resolution, big screen TV. Unfortunately I don't have access to that quality footage at the moment. These screen caps are the best that I could find online right now.

It's definitely pretty subtle. I've watched that episode on 2 different TVs and still don't see it. I have seen the screenshots on Reddit which show his coffee cup moving up for a split second.

[Elric99]

It's easier to see the glitchyness of it in this animated and brightened gif. Ignore the blocky compression artifacts and see how Ed's reflection abruptly jumps between different postures.

[Nighthawk]

Love your assumption that other people are too lazy to do what you suggest. See people, I'm not the only person who's ever been a jerk to other posters on here!

I feel like you're making my point. I'm not a millionaire. I still have a CRT TV and about the cheapest laptop one can buy. Would Lynch really make important plot points in the show visible only to the most affluent of his viewers? The one per cent?

I am not assuming anything. It's just that if you follow what I suggested (flip between locally stored images using arrow keys) you can see the reflection moving while Ed stays immobile even in low res equipment.

[cgs027]

It's easier to see the glitchyness of it in this animated and brightened gif. Ignore the blocky compression artifacts and see how Ed's reflection abruptly jumps between different postures.

And I STILL barely see that, looks like a tiny editing glitch to me (and not one that they thought people would go crazy over).

[sewhite2000]

Love your assumption that other people are too lazy to do what you suggest. See people, I'm not the only person who's ever been a jerk to other posters on here!

I feel like you're making my point. I'm not a millionaire. I still have a CRT TV and about the cheapest laptop one can buy. Would Lynch really make important plot points in the show visible only to the most affluent of his viewers? The one per cent?

I am not assuming anything. It's just that if you follow what I suggested (flip between locally stored images using arrow keys) you can see the reflection moving while Ed stays immobile even in low res equipment.

Yeah, the way you said "Probably not" was pretty aggressive.

Well, I'm not only not in the One Per Cent, but I'm computer stupid, I guess, because I don't know what that means (flipping between locally stored images, that is). Even I did, I don't think I could see what you want me to see because of the limitations of the technology I own.

[sewhite2000]

And again, I'm not really arguing that it didn't happen. I said that already a couple of posts ago. I can't see it, but a lot of people have, and I'm sure it's there. I just don't think it has any other significance than to maybe creep people out a little bit. I just don't think it's some moment on which the plot for the rest of the series is going to hinge, as some people have suggested. If Lynch and Frost wanted it to have huge significance, I think they would have made it easier to see for everyone, not just people who know how to flip images or who have expensive TVs.