DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
collection of the early student and commissioned film work of American filmmaker
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...
. As such, the collection does not include Lynch's later short works, which are listed in the filmography.
The films are listed in chronological order, with brief descriptions of each film. The DVD contains introductions by Lynch to each film, which can be viewed individually or in sequence to each other.
''Six Figures Getting Sick (Six Times)''
''
Six Men Getting Sick (Six Times)
''Six Men Getting Sick (Six Times)'' (sometimes known as ''Six Figures Getting Sick'') is a 1967 experimental animated short film, directed by David Lynch. A student project that was developed over the course of a semester, it is Lynch's fir ...
'' (1966). Originally untitled, "Six Men Getting Sick" is a one-minute color animated film that consists of six loops shown on a sculptured screen of three human-shaped figures (based on casts of Lynch's own head as done by
Jack Fisk
Jack Fisk (born December 19, 1945) is an American production designer and director.
As a production designer, he is known for his collaborations with Terrence Malick, designing all of his first eight films including ''Badlands (film), Badlands'' ...
) that intentionally distorted the film.Lynch and Rodley 2005 Lynch's animation depicted six people getting sick: their stomachs grew and their heads would catch fire.
Lynch made this film during his second year at the
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
''The Alphabet''
''The Alphabet'' (1968) was made for the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and combines
animation
Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
and live action and goes for four minutes. It has a simple
narrative
A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...
structure relating a symbolically rendered expression of a fear of learning.
The idea for ''The Alphabet'' came from Lynch's wife, Peggy Lentz, a painter whose niece, according to Lynch in Chris Rodley's ''Lynch on Lynch'' book, "was having a bad dream one night and was saying the alphabet in her sleep in a tormented way. So that's sort of what started ''The Alphabet'' going." Based on the merits of this short film, Lynch was awarded an American Film Institute production.
''The Grandmother''
''The Grandmother'' (1970, 33 minutes). After the success of ''The Alphabet'', one of Lynch's friends, Bushnell Keeler, recommended that he check out the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
. Keeler's brother-in-law had been involved in setting up the AFI. Lynch submitted ''The Alphabet'', and wrote a script for a short film entitled ''The Grandmother''. He sent the script and a print of ''The Alphabet'' to the AFI in Washington. Lynch got a call from
George Stevens Jr.
George Cooper Stevens Jr. (born April 3, 1932) is an American writer, playwright, director, and producer. He is the founder of the American Film Institute, creator of the AFI Life Achievement Award, and co-creator of the Kennedy Center Honors. H ...
and Tony Vellani at the AFI, who wanted to know if Lynch could make ''The Grandmother'' for $5,000 (it eventually cost $7,200).
The short film combines live action and animation. The story revolves around a boy who grows a grandmother to escape neglect and abuse from his parents. It is mostly silent with only occasional vocal outbursts of gibberish and soundtrack cues used to convey story.
The music in the film was provided by a local group known as Tractor, and marked the first time Lynch would work with Alan Splet, who was recommended to the filmmaker by the soundman of ''The Alphabet''. Initially, Lynch and Splet intended to use a collection of sound effects records for the film, but after going through them all they found that none of them were useful. So, Lynch and Splet took sixty-three days to make and record their own sound effects.
After finishing ''The Grandmother'', Lynch took the film to be shown at the AFI in
Washington, D.C.
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
The head of the AFI at the time, George Stevens, Jr. found that after all the films had been categorized, only Lynch's defied easy categorization. Stevens and Vellani recommended that Lynch apply to the AFI's Center for Advanced Film Studies. This was a filmmaking conservatory that Vellani had recently started in
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...
. Lynch and Splet both applied for scholarships, and on the strength of ''The Grandmother'' (which won awards at film festivals in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
), they were accepted into the program.
''The Amputee''
''The Amputee'' (1974) was made for the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
while '' Eraserhead'' was in financial limbo. The AFI was testing two different stocks of black and white video, and enlisted Frederick Elmes to test each one. Lynch asked Elmes if he could shoot something with this stock, and he allowed him, so Lynch and
Catherine Coulson
Catherine Elizabeth Coulson (October 22, 1943 – September 28, 2015) was an American stage and screen actress who worked behind the scenes on various studio features, magazine shows and independent films as well as acting in theater and film s ...
stayed up all night writing the script. The result was a one shot scene with Catherine Coulson about a woman attempting to write a letter while a nurse (played by Lynch) tends to her leg stumps. It exists in two versions: one that goes for 4 minutes and 50 seconds, and one that goes for 4 minutes and 4 seconds.
''The Cowboy and the Frenchman''
''The Cowboy and the Frenchman'' (1988, 26 minutes) is
slapstick
Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...
''Lumière: Premonitions Following an Evil Deed'' (1996, 52 seconds) was originally included as a segment in the 1995 film ''
Lumière et compagnie
Lumière is French for 'light'.
Lumiere, Lumière or Lumieres may refer to:
*Lumières, the philosophical movement in the Age of Enlightenment People
*Auguste and Louis Lumière, French pioneers in film-making Film and TV
* Institut Lumière, a ...
''. Forty acclaimed directors created works using the original Cinematographe invented by the
Lumière brothers
Lumière is French for 'light'.
Lumiere, Lumière or Lumieres may refer to:
*Lumières, the philosophical movement in the Age of Enlightenment People
*Auguste and Louis Lumière, French pioneers in film-making Film and TV
* Institut Lumière, a ...