Lost in the Movies: Journey Through Twin Peaks: Part 1 - Harmony of the Dark Woods

Journey Through Twin Peaks: Part 1 - Harmony of the Dark Woods


"Harmony of the Dark Woods" kicks off a 4-part video series analyzing the narrative cycle of Twin Peaks from the pilot through Fire Walk With Me. This first entry introduces the hybrid tone/style of the series and focuses on the essential triptych of Laura Palmer, the town of Twin Peaks, and Agent Cooper. It covers the pilot through the season two premiere (with no spoilers for subsequent episodes, so I don't reveal the killer in this entry). The entire video runs for thirty minutes (my longest video essay yet) - but you can also watch it in five separate, short video chapters for easier viewing. Taken together, the entire video series will be feature-length.

Each month's video opens with a musical montage set to a different Julee Cruise song not featured on the Twin Peaks soundtrack (although contemporaneous with the show and film), provides a larger context for the upcoming material, and then closely - and chronologically - examines the subtle twists and turns in David Lynch's and Mark Frost's storytelling. Hopefully viewers will find this approach insightful; my goal is not simply to reiterate the events of the show but to present them in an illuminating, informative light so that when the series is finished the often bewildering saga will appear as a messy but cohesive whole.

This is my first narrated video essay in nearly two years, and I have written, narrated, and edited the project myself. [Originally this post contained a schedule that has been obsolete as each video takes longer than expected for me to complete. Regardless, you can now watch Part 2 and Part 3, as well as the first two chapters (Introduction & 7 Facts About Fire Walk With Me) of Part 4. Will update as necessary.] These will be my video posts for the coming months (this one just barely made it up in time for September). The first three entries are also a part of this blog's Six Weeks of Twin Peaks.

Hope you enjoy my "Journey Through Twin Peaks." Share your own thoughts on season one and the season two premiere (and hell, anything else that comes to mind) below.



You can watch "Harmony of the Dark Woods" as a full, thirty-minute video (on Vimeo), or break it up into smaller, four-to-eight-minute chapters (on YouTube).

Here is the full video of Part 1 on Vimeo:


And here are the individual chapters on YouTube (which went up a day later).

Chapter 1 - The Show About Everything

Chapter 2 - The Girl, The Town, The FBI Agent (the pilot)

Chapter 3 - Coffee Without Closure (episodes 1 - 3)



Chapter 4 - Everyone is a Detective (episodes 4 - 7)



Chapter 5 - A Very Interesting Experience (season 2 premiere)


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