The Grandmother

The Grandmother- David Lynch (1969)

The Grandmother is David Lynch's first film where he was the director, writer and producer. He was also the cinematographer, animator and created the sound effects. His partner in The Grandmother was Alan Splet who did the sound for the film, this was Lynch and Splet's first time working together. The Grandmother was also David Lynch's first "true" short film that Lynch created apart from The Grandmother at the time the only "films" he had created were

David Lynch 

The Grandmother is a short experimental film directed by David Lynch. David Lynch is an American director, screenwriter, producer, painter, musician, actor, and photographer. He is considered one of the most unique and important directors in this era. The Guardian credited him as "the most important director of this era". For him to be called the best director means his work is unique, so why is that? Unlike most film directors Lynch did not got to film school instead he went to art school. He went to Corcoran School of the Arts and Design. As a graduate from a art college this meant that David lynch understood and could precipitate emotions through art and it is visible in his work.  
His work can be considered as dark and thought provoking. When he started to direct his own short films the features in his art transferred over to his films. His films were dark, sad and even made viewers uncomfortable. One of the most popular short films from the early section of his career as a director was The Grandmother. After viewing The Grandmother I was left feeling a way a film has never made me feel before.

My Experience with The Grandmother

I would not say I watched The Grandmother but instead I experienced The Grandmother because of the way I was feeling during it and after it had finished. After hearing from people throughout my life that certain films have made them feel "uncomfortable" or "sick" I could never relate to them because no film I have ever watched has made me feel physically uncomfortable before. Until The Grandmother. From the very start there was a weird atmosphere which I did not feel comfortable with. From the artistic start till the "birth" of the parents and "mutt" I had already realised that what I was about to view was like nothing I had experienced before. This is because of Lynch's use of the formal elements of film. The two main formal elements that made me uncomfortable was the sound and cinematography. Even the first few seconds create an uncomfortable atmosphere. Even though the first few seconds consist of darkness the atmospheric music that begins is truly "nightmare fuel". The lo-fi notes that ring out are low and have a level of distortion that continues throughout the music in the film. The constant humming sound reminds me of white sound which I have always thought was unnerving. All of this makes the sound one of the most unnerving features of The Grandmother. Apart from the sound the other formal element that I mostly credit for creating an unnerving beautiful experience is cinematography. Like a lot of abstract art films the film has scenes shot in monochrome. An example of another abstract art film that is shot in monochrome is La Jetee. However unlike other films that use monochrome there are sections where colour is used. In the first scene the live action sections are all monochrome. The use of monochrome makes the focus on the tones used in the scene instead of the colour, there are many shots in the live action sections which use tone as a way of creating disturbing imagery. For example the close up of the child's parents are truly disturbing the lighting in these shots create very dark tones around the eyes of the parents. This artistic choice of tone is used to foreshadow the behaviour of the parents throughout the rest of the short film. The dark tones make them look similar to monsters which foreshadows the way they treat their child throughout the rest of the short film.  

Inspiration

Due to Lynch's artistic background instead of film he was influenced by artists paintings instead of directors. Lynch was influenced by was "Figure with meat" by Francis Bacon. The backgrounds in certain scenes in The Grandmother are obviously inspired by "figure with meat". The darkness of the background in certain scenes look extremely similar to the background in the painting. The "figure" in the painting also are very similar to the parents in The Grandmother. The colour of the skin and the black around the eyes accompanied with the lines all over the face which make it look disfigured resemble the parents a lot. Lynch was not only inspired by "figure with meat" he was also inspired by another painting by Francis Bacon called "screaming pope". Similar to "Figure with meat" Lynch was influenced by the art in the form of the parents and the background in the image.