Editing Blue Velvet (film) (section)

==Production==
===Origin===
{{quote box|quote=Kyle is dressed like me. My father was a research scientist for the [[United States Department of Agriculture|Department of Agriculture]] in [[Washington (state)|Washington]]. We were in the woods all the time. I'd sorta had enough of the woods by the time I left, but still, lumber and lumberjacks, all this kinda thing, that's America to me like the picket fences and the roses in the opening shot. It's so burned in, that image, and it makes me feel so happy.|source= —David Lynch discusses the autobiographical content in ''Blue Velvet''<ref name="Film Comment">{{cite journal |last=Chute |first=David |date=October 1986 |title=Out to Lynch |journal=[[Film Comment]] |page=35}}</ref>|width=40%}}

The film's story originated from three ideas that crystallized in the filmmaker's mind over a period of time starting as early as 1973.<ref name="rodley"/>{{rp|135}}

The first idea was only "a feeling" and the title, as Lynch told ''[[Cineaste (magazine)|Cineaste]]'' in 1987.<ref name="cineaste">{{cite journal |last=Bouzereau |first=Laurent |year=1987 |title=An Interview with David Lynch |journal=[[Cineaste (magazine)|Cineaste]] |page=39}}</ref>

The second idea was an image of a severed, human ear lying in a field. "I don't know why it had to be an ear. Except it needed to be an opening of a part of the body, a hole into something else&nbsp;... The ear sits on the head and goes right into the mind so it felt perfect," Lynch remarked in a 1986 interview to ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref>{{cite news |first=Nan |last=Robertson |title=The All-American Guy Behind ''Blue Velvet'' |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 11, 1986}}</ref>

The third idea was [[Bobby Vinton]]'s rendition of "[[Blue Velvet (song)|Blue Velvet]]" and "the mood that came with that song a mood, a time, and things that were of that time."<ref name=villagevoice>{{cite news |first=Lizzie |last=Borden |title=The World According to Lynch |work=[[The Village Voice]] |date=September 23, 1986 }}</ref>

The scene in which Dorothy appears naked outside was inspired by a real-life experience Lynch had during childhood when he and his brother saw a naked woman walking down a neighborhood street at night. The experience was so traumatic to the young Lynch that it made him cry, and he had never forgotten it.<ref>{{cite news | last=Ebert | first=Roger | title=Biting into ''Blue Velvet'' | work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] | date=October 2, 1986 | url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19861002/PEOPLE/41216001/1023 | access-date=February 16, 2007 | archive-date=May 23, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070523163316/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19861002%2FPEOPLE%2F41216001%2F1023 }}</ref>

After completing ''[[The Elephant Man (1980 film)|The Elephant Man]]'' (1980), Lynch met producer Richard Roth over coffee. Roth had read and enjoyed Lynch's ''[[Ronnie Rocket]]'' script, but did not think it was something he wanted to produce. He asked Lynch if the filmmaker had any other scripts, but the director only had ideas. "I told him I had always wanted to sneak into a girl's room to watch her into the night and that, maybe, at one point or another, I would see something that would be the clue to a murder mystery. Roth loved the idea and asked me to write a [[Film treatment|treatment]]. I went home and thought of the ear in the field."<ref name="cineaste"/><ref name="Peary">{{cite book | title = Cult Movies 3 | first = Danny | last = Peary | year = 1988 | publisher = Simon & Schuster Inc. | location = New York | pages = 38–42 | isbn = 978-0-671-64810-7}}</ref> Production was announced in August 1984.<ref name="Atkinson"/> Lynch wrote two more drafts before he was satisfied with the script of the film.<ref name="Blue Velvet"/> The problem with them, Lynch has said, was that "there was maybe all the unpleasantness in the film but nothing else. A lot was not there. And so it went away for a while."<ref name="rodley"/>{{rp|136}} Conditions at this point were ideal for Lynch's film: he had made a deal with [[Dino De Laurentiis]] that gave him complete artistic freedom and final cut privileges, with the stipulation that the filmmaker take a cut in his salary and work with a budget of only $6&nbsp;million.<ref name="Blue Velvet"/> This deal meant that ''Blue Velvet'' was the smallest film on De Laurentiis's slate.<ref name="Blue Velvet"/> Consequently, Lynch would be left mostly unsupervised during production.<ref name="Blue Velvet"/> "After ''Dune'' I was down so far that anything was up! So it was just a euphoria. And when you work with that kind of feeling, you can take chances. You can experiment."<ref name="rodley"/>{{rp|137}}

===Casting===
The cast of ''Blue Velvet'' included several then-relatively unknown actors.

Lynch met Isabella Rossellini at a restaurant, and offered her the role of Dorothy Vallens. [[Helen Mirren]] had been Lynch's first choice for the role.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Righetti |first=Jamie |date=May 24, 2018 |title='Blue Velvet' Remembered: Isabella Rossellini and Kyle MacLachlan Praise David Lynch's On-Set Environment |url=https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/blue-velvet-remembered-isabella-rossellini-kyle-maclachlan-praise-david-lynch-on-set-environment-1201966761/ |access-date=June 17, 2023 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}</ref> Rossellini had gained some exposure before the film for her [[Lancôme]] ads in the early 1980s and for being the daughter of actress [[Ingrid Bergman]] and director [[Roberto Rossellini]]. After completion of the film, during test screenings, [[ICM Partners]]—the agency representing Rossellini—immediately dropped her as a client. Furthermore, the nuns at the school in Rome that Rossellini attended in her youth called to say they were praying for her.<ref name="LookingBack">{{cite web|title=David Lynch should be shot": Looking back on the madness and chaos of "Blue Velvet" and Ronald Reagan's '80s|date=March 26, 2016|access-date=September 4, 2016|url=http://www.salon.com/2016/03/26/david_lynch_should_be_shot_looking_back_on_the_madness_and_chaos_of_blue_velvet_and_ronald_reagans_80s/|work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]]}}</ref>

Kyle MacLachlan had played the central role in Lynch's critical and commercial failure ''[[Dune (1984 film)|Dune]]'' (1984), a science fiction epic based on [[Dune (novel)|the novel of the same name]]. MacLachlan later became a recurring collaborator with Lynch, who remarked: "Kyle plays innocents who are interested in the mysteries of life. He's the person you trust enough to go into a strange world with."<ref>''GQ'', (for the modern man), Kyle MacLachlan, August 1992, Volume 62, Number 8, pp. 134–137, p. 197</ref> [[Val Kilmer]] was offered a role in the film, but he turned it down as felt it was too "graphic" for him, a decision he later regretted.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-30228558.html | title=Kilmer's regret over early decisions | date=November 3, 2005 }}</ref> Dourif and Stockwell also rejoined Lynch from ''Dune''.

Dennis Hopper was the best-known actor in the film, having directed and starred in ''[[Easy Rider]]'' (1969). Hopper—said to be Lynch's third choice ([[Michael Ironside]] has stated that Frank was written with him in mind)<ref>{{cite web|url= https://horrornews.net/89714/interview-michael-ironside-extraterrestrial/|title= Interview: Michael Ironside (Extraterrestrial)|date= October 16, 2014}}</ref>—accepted the role, reportedly having exclaimed, "I've got to play Frank! I am Frank!"<ref name="Blue Velvet"/> [[Harry Dean Stanton]] and [[Steven Berkoff]] both turned down the role of Frank because of the violent content in the film.<ref>{{cite web|first=Will|last=Harris|title=Harry Dean Stanton on 60 years of acting and the scene that should have never been cut|url=https://www.avclub.com/harry-dean-stanton-on-nearly-60-years-of-acting-and-the-1798241429|publisher=AV/Film|date=October 3, 2013|access-date=September 14, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= A rant too far|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/theatre/a-rant-too-far-6304562.html|newspaper=London Evening Standard|date=June 14, 1998|access-date=September 14, 2018}}</ref>

Laura Dern, then 18 years old, was cast as Sandy after several already-successful actresses turned the role down, one among those being [[Molly Ringwald]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Edge of Your Seat: The 100 Greatest Movie Thrillers|first=Douglas|last=Brode|page=52|publisher=Citadel Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0-8065-2382-8}}</ref>

===Shooting===
[[Principal photography]] of ''Blue Velvet'' began in August 1985 and completed in November. The film was shot at [[EUE/Screen Gems]] studio in [[Wilmington, North Carolina]], which also provided the exterior scenes of Lumberton. The scene with a raped and battered Dorothy proved to be particularly challenging. Several townspeople arrived to watch the filming with picnic baskets and rugs, against the wishes of Rossellini and Lynch. However, they continued filming as normal, and when Lynch yelled cut, the townspeople left. As a result, police told Lynch they were no longer permitted to shoot in any public areas of Wilmington.<ref>{{cite book | title=Some of Me | first=Isabella | last=Rossellini | year=1997 | publisher=Random House | location=New York | isbn=978-0-679-45252-2 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/someofme00ross }}</ref>

The Carolina Apartments in downtown Wilmington served as Dorothy's apartment building, with the adjacent Kenan fountain featured prominently in many shots. The building is also the birth place and death place of noted artist Claude Howell.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.starnewsonline.com/article/NC/20150319/Entertainment/605040703/WM|title=Nine amazing facts about Claude Howell|work=Wilmington Star News |access-date=September 21, 2021|archive-date=September 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921013745/https://www.starnewsonline.com/article/NC/20150319/Entertainment/605040703/WM}}</ref> The apartment building stands today, and the Kenan fountain was refurbished in 2020 after sustaining heavy damage during [[Hurricane Florence]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20200228/kenan-fountain-being-repaired-not-moved|title=Kenan Fountain being repaired, not moved|work=Wilmington Star News |access-date=September 21, 2021|archive-date=September 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921013642/https://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20200228/kenan-fountain-being-repaired-not-moved |last1=Ingram |first1=Hunter }}</ref>

===Editing===
Lynch's original rough cut ran for approximately four hours.<ref name="Blue Velvet"/> He was contractually obligated to deliver a two-hour movie by De Laurentiis and cut many small subplots and character scenes.<ref>''Blue Velvet''; a two-part search for the film's deleted scenes at [https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s87velvet1.html DVD Talk]. Retrieved July 24, 2007.</ref> He also made cuts at the request of the [[MPAA]]. For example, when Frank slaps Dorothy after the first rape scene, the audience was supposed to see Frank actually hitting her. Instead, the film cuts away to Jeffrey in the closet, wincing at what he has just seen. This cut was made to satisfy the MPAA's concerns about violence, though Lynch thought that the change made the scene more disturbing.

In 2011, Lynch announced that footage from the [[deleted scene]]s, long thought lost, had been discovered. The material was subsequently included on the [[Blu-ray]] Disc release of the film.<ref>{{cite web |title=Blue Velvet Blu-Ray To Include Newly Rediscovered Deleted Footage | date=January 24, 2011 | url=http://www.filmbuffonline.com/FBOLNewsreel/wordpress/2011/01/24/blue-velvet-blu-ray-to-include-deleted-scenes/ | access-date=January 24, 2011 | publisher= Film Buff Online}}</ref> Among the deleted footage was [[Megan Mullally]] as Jeffrey's college sweetheart Louise Wertham, whose entire role was cut from the theatrical release.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 28, 2019 |title=Megan Mullally Has "Zero Memory" Of Ever Kissing Kyle MacLachan In This |url=https://welcometotwinpeaks.com/actors/megan-mullally-kyle-maclachlan-blue-velvet-deleted-scene/ |access-date=June 27, 2023 |website=Welcome to Twin Peaks |language=en-US}}</ref> The final cut of the film runs at just over two hours.<ref name="BBFC" />

===Distribution===
Because the material was completely different from anything that would be considered mainstream at the time, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group's marketing employees were unsure of how to promote the film, or even if it would be promoted at all; it wasn't until the positive reception the film received at various film festivals that they began to promote it.<ref>{{cite web |title=Blue Velvet&nbsp;— David Lynch | url=http://www.lynchnet.com/bv/ | access-date=June 11, 2007 | publisher=LynchNet}}</ref>