Blue velvet: In blue velvet the establishing shot shows a white picket fence, red flowers and a blue sky. This represents two things, the urban peace and tranquillity in 1950’s America and the American flag which sets the location. It is trying to show the ideal American life that we think about in the 50’s such as children having the safety to play in the street, quiet roads, friendly neighbours, and happy families, however there seems to be an oxymoron as latter in the film many of these ideologies are turned on their head. On top of this the colour red is mentioned and it is reoccurring in the rest of the opening, this could symbolise the spillage of blood through violence and possibly gang related incidents. In the next scene there is an extreme long shot of the man watering his flowers , yet he had but a box around a segment of space which is for grass to grow, this is also the position that he falls in so it makes it look as if he has an outline around his body, similar to the chalk line that is commonly drawn around a dead body so it may be foreboding for the future events, suggesting the man is either dead or dying and that possibly death is a reoccurring scene in the film. It also shows that death and danger can come from some strange places which is why it fits with the theme of the film so well because the film is set in a nice family environment but the film is about the crime and the fact what seems can equally be dangerous, much like the presumed heart attack the man has just suffered in this extreme long shot. In another scene there is also an insight to future events, in this case it is a gun on a screen in an over the shoulder shot. This suggests that crime may play a part in the rest of the film as it is clearly being idolised by the3 fact it is shown on television so may have an influence on others. The fact it is an over the shoulder shot can also suggest that it is symbolism that the people in the town must sometimes look over their shoulder when living there as it may not be the safest of environments. There is also a worm shot in the final scene which shows that even in a perfect world there is always a dark underworld as it shows under the grass there is a large amount of beetles, this to the man and his perspective would be a blemish on his lawn (similar to the way crime is a blemish on society) so it shows that the use of this worm eyes view shot at a low angle is acting as a metaphor for crime.