After our discussion today, and the realization that for art to be art it has to at least allow some sort of audience in I just wanted to raise up a few things from Blue Velvet I think are evidence that David Lynch is recognizing his audience.
I close-read the final scene, which has a few elements in it that are directed directly at us, the viewers. Right up until Frank dies there is this great build up of tension, and action and then that abrupt gun shot that relieves all of that. The audience has been caught up in this and completely consumed and then David Lynch does something strange. If you can remember, it zooms in on a light bulb which quickly grows in intensity and "explodes." A parallel could be drawn between the action that just happened and the action of the light bulb, but more importantly, it was a sort of shot at the viewer, that purposefully takes you out of the scene. Then the screen goes black and you have a moment to sort of gather yourself.
When the movie resumes Lynch goes back to the same camera technique he used in the very first scene, that slow pan down onto (in this case) Dorothy's apartment complex. It is an attempt to re-settle the audience, get you back into the movie, but eases you into it after being a part of the violence that just happened. (Just like in the first scene where he is acquainting you with the "set" that is this little town)
There are a few scenes like this where Lynch manipulates the audience and how it views the movie beyond just telling a story, which I think only add to the experience.
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