Blue Velvet: A Polaroid Diary Published by Reel Art Press.
Edited by Tony Nourmand. Text by Jeff Goodwin. Go behind the scenes of David Lynch’s 1986 cult classic with on-set Polaroids taken by makeup artist Jeff Goodwin Crack open a Pabst Blue Ribbon and revisit the uncanny world of Blue Velvet, David Lynch’s neo-noir thriller starring Kyle MacLachan, Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern and Dennis Hopper playing against type as the unforgettable, nitrite-sucking drug kingpin Frank Booth. Here, the film’s makeup artist, Jeff Goodwin, shares hundreds of never-before-published Polaroids documenting the movie’s genesis and production.
Goodwin was already taking dozens of pictures to test and document different actors’ looks across multiple scenes, from Dern’s introduction as sweetheart Sandy to Rossellini’s bewitching chanteuse look as she croons the film’s eponymous song. It was only natural that he would turn his camera outward, toward other areas of the set, to unknowingly create a visual anthology of the making of Blue Velvet. Goodwin was also responsible for the film’s gory prostheses—brain injuries, gunshot wounds and, most famously, severed ears. He originally modeled the latter after his own, but when he deposited them on Lynch’s desk the director exclaimed, “These are great! But we need to make them adult ears.”
Bound in blue velvet (nothing else would do), this Polaroid Diary arrives just in time for the 40th anniversary of the inimitable film. Goodwin’s snapshots, spanning from pre- to post-production, invite us behind the scenes of life on set: from field tests of “Mr. Ear” to goof-offs between takes. Annotated with technical notes and anecdotes, these Polaroids serve as record of both a commitment to craft and the admiration held by the cast and crew for David Lynch, a director whose singular vision will never be seen again.
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