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Week 11 - Twin Peaks


I watched Twin Peaks as an example of long-form television. I was already watching the series, but I continued with an analytical eye. Twin Peaks is primarily a crime/mystery/thriller show, but has undertones of the supernatural. The fact that it’s a visual media allows new clues and information, being revealed by the characters, to be segmented per-week. The story unravels slowly, but as the plot wears on many characters in the town Twin Peaks take a part of the spotlight. Some episodes will focus on some characters, and another on a different group. Most of the time it will feature at least some of the main plot-line and police force characters, but oftentimes episodes will be sprinkled in where the director focuses more on secondary characters, on a more personal narrative. I think this is how Twin Peaks became so popular, and how it really took advantage of it’s format. Television, specifically long-form, gives the director enough time to tell an, if not longer, wider story. A larger cast and more emotional connection are possible when visual media is doled in an episodic form. It’s very apparent that the director is taking liberties to experiment with the focus of the show, and the genre. Some episodes are very romantic, some more mysterious, and some thrill the viewer with cinematic storytelling similar to horror. If released first as a single movie, many of the concepts of the show would have probably been rejected, but because it’s long-form the director can ease his viewers into a whackier and personal style. At first, the show appears as a simple crime-drama, but as it wears on the plot becomes more experimental and ‘out-there’ with it’s themes. Also, because we have more time with the characters, their quirks become familiar. The show bears on and becomes more focused on the characters than the central plot-line. I think this is quite common for long format. This isn’t something that might work in movies, because the viewer wouldn’t have enough time to get used to how the character’s behave. The visuals of the show start to become more experimental as well. Early digital effects, strange compositing, hallucinations, and borderline psychedelic imagery appear more frequently as the show matures. David Lynch, now a widely respected director, has a very strange and personal style to his media. This long-form television show was a way to ease the standard viewer into his universe.

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