Critically analyse the way in which one particular signifying system is used in a film of your choice,

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In this essay, I will pay close attention to the use of the camera in Eraserhead, (David Lynch, 176), and look at the effect such camera work has on the viewer, in conjunction with other signifying systems. This film, marking Lynch’s proper debut as a director, is rife with exciting touches that, though the film has little dialogue, keeps the viewer entertained throughout. If each shot could be individually captured in a frame, they could each display an artistic quality.



The opening of this film shows Henry (John Nance) in a mid-shot, horizontal across the screen; first at the bottom, with half of his face concealed. Centre screen is an asteroid, over which Henry’s head will float in subsequent scenes, with both being visible at once. The decision to show such surreal scenes from the outset only serves as a catalyst for audience curiosity, and indeed, the film in its entirety is a cohesive blend of disturbing imagery, challenging metaphors and conceptual surrealism. After the introduction previously mentioned, the viewer is invited to roam across the surface of this asteroid; it is almost as if we are in a sort of craft, travelling in a straight line, looking downwards at its undulating, inhospitable, rocky terrain, before the dark, trench- like aperture that has occupied the central portion on the screen widens, and the shot goes into darkness. Lynch transports the viewer through a piece of sheet metal, into which a hole has been cut; it is as if we are falling in slow motion, being forced to enter the unknown, and subsequently we are shown a man on whose face there seems to be blemishes and imperfections. He is shown comparatively small, occupying only a relatively small portion on the screen; the light shining on his face reveals his gaze, and the strange marks, previously mentioned. His position in relation to the camera means that the audience sees nothing more than his left cheek; maybe he is an important figure in relation to the film as a whole, perhaps God-like, as his gaze seems purposeful, and he appears to be looking downwards slightly, as if carefully watching something; or perhaps he is just simply a further glimpse into this strange world we are exploring at the beginning. Likewise with the worm that escapes Henry’s mouth; this is maybe just a potentially repulsive image, or it is symbolic of an inner corruption or other negative thought escaping, or both, depending on the viewer’s perception. The seated figure then turns more towards the camera, and we are given a greater insight into his facial characteristics.






When we meet Henry for the first time, it is implied that he has been watching all of this introduction, because his gaze travels above and past the camera in a way that would suggest he has just viewed something surreal; his gaze is one of mystification, and he rushes off quickly, the camera static. With Henry walking away from the camera, the viewer is able to look at the surroundings, and at Henry within these, thus contextualising his presence. The flat surroundings presented to the viewer are slightly unexciting at this early stage after the introduction, but the opening of the tunnel that occupies the centre of the shot and the dark, diagonal shadow, maintains the visual presence of the film.



We subsequently see Henry walking home through a variety of angles; tracking shots, point-of-view shots, long shots, which serve as an indication of the world to which he seems to be accustomed. The long shots in particular are used when he walks through more unwelcoming and gloomy parts, in order to emphasise these parts more than others. For this film, mise-en-scène is of great importance; when Henry enters his apartment, the atmosphere is dark and dismal, and once again the camera is stationary; the viewer gets to see the lobby of the apartment for a long enough period of time, before Henry enters, to acquire the feelings of unease about the place that Lynch desires; then, we enter Henry’s room.



Almost immediately after him entering his room, we get a clear picture of what sort of person Henry is; he stares at the radiator, the point-of-view shot used moves in a slow circular motion; his gaze, and therefore ours, is long and contemplative, as if perhaps he is looking at it whilst thinking of something else; the length of this shot also gives the viewer time to acquire a slight feeling of irritation at the radiator’s persistent whistle. The point-of-view shot continues across the floor, on which there seems to be straw, or something similar, before we are shown a close-up of Henry’s seemingly troubled, unhappy face. The next shot seen through his eyes is of the window, bricked up, further emphasising his isolation, which must be the cause of his despondency. It is with deliberate ambiguity also that he stares at the picture of the girl in the way he does; it is as if he likes looking at the picture, as he does so for some time, though he doesn’t smile whilst doing this; Lynch keeps the camera in the same position, focused on his face, enabling us to scrutinize any reactions to this picture. The interloping close up shot of the picture maybe gives us a chance to see what sort of girl Henry would want to keep a photograph of, and enable us to create first impressions of her, perhaps. It is interesting also that, firstly, the photograph is in two halves, with both the halves being in entirely different parts of the drawer, and secondly, Henry throws a coin into the bowl of water in his drawer; a superstitious act that encourages wishes to come true notice how many coins are in the bowl already. Like previously with the seated figure at the window, we see only the side of Henry’s face, though enough to notice any facial expressions he may show. The angle also enables us to see into his drawer, and gives the viewer a voyeuristic quality, as though we are intruding on him looking at his personal belongings.



In most of this film, the lighting pays homage to the style of chiaroscuro. This is shown to excellent effect when Henry visits his girlfriend Mary’s house, but the use of the camera is equally interesting. The first shot of Mrs. X gives a very ominous feel; she sits with a steely glare fixed on Henry, the lighting is greatly contrasted, embodying the rules of chiaroscuro. There is a certain unity and balance to the shots in Mr. And Mrs. X’s house, as if everything has been perfectly arranged to somehow look ‘normal’, that is difficult to find in most shots in Henry’s room. The house has been shown to be slightly contradictory in the sense that the untidiness of the kitchen, with the presence of the immobile old woman, can be contrasted to the atypical verisimilitude of the lounge and dining area which seem quite customary; if these were captured in a single frame, one could be forgiven for being ignorant to the family’s curious strangeness.



The use of the deep focus shot when Mr. X is handing Henry the piece of chicken and the carving knife, shows Lynch’s attention to shot construction; the dish of chicken in the foreground is important because it is their imminent meal, (we are not aware it will not get eaten), and by Mr. X reaching into it to hand a piece to Henry, the viewer’s gaze is directed towards it. Mr. X and Henry are important because the audience will look at each of them as they speak, and observe their actions, and the small shelf unit in the background, occupying the middle of the screen, gives depth to the shot; the scene would not have the same visual presence if the corner was bare. Likewise when Mary emerges from round the door frame crying, we see both her and her father, both in focus at once; Mary reveals to us, through her crying and apparent uneasiness, the implications of the conversation Mrs. X wants with Henry, and Mr. X displays an almost imbecilic quality with his frivolous grin. Even though the set-up of the shot is simple, there is still an element of visual presence too that maintains the interest of the viewer. The chiaroscuro-esque contrasts are used to good effect when Mrs. X has this conversation with Henry; by pushing them both up into the dark corner, toward which our gaze will be directed, it gives the sequence a heavier feel of bewilderment.



When the ‘baby’ finally arrives into the film, it is handled in a way that arouses curiosity for the viewer. Mary is shown feeding this creature from such a distance from the camera that we cannot properly see what it looks like, and it is interesting to ask oneself what initial feeling we are supposed to have towards it; the set-up of the frame means that we see the bricked up window in shot also; a reminder of the lonely world this creature has been brought into therefore, should we have sympathy for it, or be disdainful of its inhumanity? Lynch offers us quite a repulsive close-up of the creature after its initial scene in the film, and it is noticeable the way Lynch treats it from then on; either allowing the shot of it to linger, so the viewer watches in preparation for the cut to the next scene, or offers a close-up, or extreme close-up to present it to us explicitly.

The conclusion of this film, at first, offers little sense of closure. However, when we consider the final scene that Lynch gives us, of Henry embracing the peculiar chipmunk lady, the ‘Lady In The Radiator’, the meaning of the numerous point-of-view shots of the radiator throughout become clear. The closing scene has a certain heavenly, ethereal quality, which would suggest that Henry is dead perhaps, therefore the strange woman would symbolize death. When we watch the film a second or third time thereafter, the shots of the radiator have the larger implication of Henry contemplating death, even suicide. The latter would mean that when the shots of the radiator are viewed again, they communicate a stronger sense of loneliness than when first seen; we are also able to read more into, and indeed want to scrutinize more closely, all facial expressions Lynch directs the viewer to through the use of close-ups, and those we seek to notice ourselves, where Henry’s face is not fully shown, (when we watch him from the high angle looking through his drawer, for example).



The dream that Henry has could also be seen as, effectively, the final realisation of his loneliness, and Lynch handles it in an interesting way; the girl from next door with whom Henry gets intimate, is shown in nothing less than a mid-shot; the addition of the close-ups serve as a chance to examine the girl, the similar shots of Henry reveal his unease to the viewer and the audience is strangely drawn into this scene, invited to become part of the intimacy. The subsequent scenes of further contemplation of death (meeting with the chipmunk lady), the beheading of Henry, and the retrieval of his head by a small boy to be made into pencil erasers are all worthy of note because everything is emphasised, and placed in the scene in a way that generates the right level of initial confusion for the viewer.

Lynch is quoted as saying this film is a “dream of dark and troubling things”¹; Henry is a dark and troubled character, who we have the chance to investigate closely, and who, like the film may lack initial perspicuity. However, Lynch, first an artist, ensures the viewer is kept involved by the use of chiaroscuro, teamed with a mise-en-scène of consistent visual curiosity. Bibliography

James Pallot and the editors of Cinebooks, “The Fourth Virgin Film Guide”, Great Britain Virgin Books, 15, pp.1-.

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