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Lynch鈥檚 first film was shot in black and white and at night over a five-year period, with a small production crew who worked in stables surrounding a mansion on the campus of the 聽(where Lynch聽was a student).

Lynch 鈥溾�� to the stables, empty structures he used for production and sets and where he lived for much of the filming, after receiving equipment and a small budget from the film school. 鈥淓raserhead鈥� features baffling visuals that are arresting and grotesque in this hyper-surreal, science-fiction tale that belies conventional storytelling in its presentation of Henry, whose partner has a baby鈥攁 deformed, bizarro, oozing creature. In his memoir聽鈥淩oom to Dream,鈥� Lynch writes that his first plan for the ending was to have 鈥淗enry being devoured by the demonic baby.鈥�

The cult film is famously puzzling, and Lynch has claimed its most popular interpretations (fears around domesticity and fatherhood) have not aligned with . Instead, he offers it was inspired by the industrial, smokestack character of Philadelphia, or what he calls 鈥渢he fringelands.鈥� At the same time, he calls the strange work鈥攚hich also features an addled creature called聽The Man in the Planet who pulls levers from afar鈥攑rofoundly spiritual.

Lynch鈥檚 second feature secured Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and for Best Actor. John Hurt portrayed John Merrick, the Victorian-era man with severe physical deformities. The 聽before each day of shooting. 鈥淓lephant Man鈥� producers Jonathan Sanger and Stuart Cornfeld were drawn to Lynch鈥檚 鈥渨ild mind.鈥� Lynch was struggling to get his second project, 鈥淩onnie Rocket,鈥� off the ground when he was offered to direct 鈥淭he Elephant Man.鈥� That offer came聽based on the striking originality of 鈥淓raserhead鈥� that showed clear genius within its unconventionality. The producers felt Lynch鈥檚 weird style would merge well with a script based on a true story that followed a traditional narrative set in a historical time period.

鈥淩oom to Dream鈥� describes Lynch鈥檚 work creating the make-up for Merrick. He worked in a garage studio for 12 weeks as if a 鈥渕ad scientist鈥� to create the character鈥檚 look, but ultimately the masklike sculpture he devised couldn鈥檛 work. Lynch almost left the production out of devastation.

The big-budget 鈥淒une鈥� (adapted from Frank Herbert鈥檚 novel series) was famously lambasted by critics. Roger Ebert鈥檚 called it 鈥渁n incomprehensible, ugly, unstructured, pointless excursion,鈥� though it鈥檚 masterfully wacky when viewed from a .

鈥淒une鈥濃�檚 $40 million budget was matched by the immensity of the production, which included .聽As detailed in 鈥淩oom to Dream,鈥� there were 80 sets on eight soundstages, with desert locations shot in Mexico in 120-degree heat where a 300-person crew swept the sandy terrain in preparation.

Lynch鈥檚 auteurist style seemed to clash with the strictures of a Hollywood epic聽and he felt he鈥檇 sold out, eventually shaving a five-hour rough cut to two hours and 12 minutes. The film's strikingly original visuals collide with acting that was often stilted and聽vague voice-overs that confuse rather than illuminate the vast, multi-planet world of the year 10,191.

鈥淩oom to Dream鈥� describes Kyle MacLachlan, who was chosen from a pool of hundreds to star in "Dune,"聽as 鈥淟ynch鈥檚 onscreen alter ego.鈥� The film represents MacLachlan's first聽movie and first role for Lynch.

Lynch listened to Shostakovich鈥檚 鈥淣o. 15 in A Major鈥� while writing 鈥淏lue Velvet.鈥� His third film famously opens with shots of white picket fences, perfect gardens, and schoolchildren walking home before diving into the darkness underneath the seemingly ideal surface. This theme, a signature in Lynch鈥檚 work, gets emblematized by an early shot of a moldy, severed ear covered in crawling ants and hidden in tall grass that appears normal until taking a closer look.

Lynch describes : the Bobby Vinton song from which the film gets its title, the idea of sneaking into a girl鈥檚 room, and the image of a severed ear in a field. Lynch explains that 鈥渋t has to be an ear,鈥� one that becomes 鈥渁 ticket for the hero to go into another world.鈥� Such a journey is always a descent for Lynch鈥檚 characters. They venture into the unconscious, and also into the dark underbellies that lurk just beneath comforting appearances.

In "Room to Dream," Lynch describes how seeing "The Wizard of Oz" as a child stuck with him. The 1939 classic is one of the most-referenced films in history, and Lynch made it a strong influence in his fifth film, a road movie called "Wild at Heart" that follows the sultry and rowdily in love Sailor (Nicolas Cage) and Lula (Laura Dern).

"Wild at Heart" makes allusions to "Oz" throughout, in dialogue and imagery. The strongest quotation comes at the film's ending, when Sheryl Lee as Glinda the Good Witch descends from the sky in a pink bubble and gives Sailor advice on love. The Oz-inspired "happy ending" was added at the request of producers, worried about the film's darkly violent tone, and in particular, one scene that had played terribly with test audiences, causing hundreds of viewers to walk out. The scene was cut from the theatrical release, but its content (extreme violence linked to sexual ecstasy) remains a part of the film's interest in the allure of derangement.

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The 1990 鈥淭win Peaks鈥� television series created a cult following and a cultural catchphrase, 鈥淲ho Killed Laura Palmer?鈥� before it was canceled after two seasons. Lynch then wrote a feature film script to serve as a prequel to the series but had a hard time getting the project off the ground. The TV series had an eerie quirk, but the film was full-force sordid. Audiences at the . The film was plagued by production problems, including Lynch鈥檚 co-creator on the series dropping out early and casting snafus like the popular television actors not wanting to be a part of the motion picture ( most notably among them聽Lara Flynn Boyle and Kyle MacLachlan).

The without MacLachlan鈥檚 involvement since the script focused on his FBI agent character. Lynch rewrote the script with two new agent characters (played by Chris Isaak and Kiefer Sutherland.) Eventually, , but the film was considered a flop.

Since starring聽as the iconically haired Henry in 鈥淓raserhead,鈥� Jack Nance was in every Lynch movie except for 鈥淭he Elephant Man鈥� even though Lynch had wanted him for that film's leading role. The actor died while 鈥淟ost Highway鈥� was in post-production, devastating Lynch, who found in Nance a star charisma overlooked by conventional Hollywood. To this day, Lynch聽laments his favorite actor didn鈥檛 get to see the final version. Nance鈥檚 death was ruled a , though Lynch disputes that version of events,聽thinking it was accidental鈥攖here had been an altercation and Nance died much later.

Nance has a small role as a car mechanic in the neo-noir mystery, which is filled with聽Lynch signatures, namely a convoluted plot mixed with an arresting visual style and unusual soundtrack. Lynch found Nance to be a singular actor who gave off an unmatched feeling he hasn鈥檛 found since. He also noted that even if he鈥檇 had unlimited resources for 鈥淓raserhead,鈥� he鈥檇 have still cast Nance in the lead role.

David Lynch calls 鈥淭he Straight Story鈥濃�攁 G-rated, Disney Studios movie about an elderly man who rides a lawnmower 240 miles to visit his ailing brother鈥斺�� .鈥� Lynch鈥檚 frequent collaborator, Mary Sweeney, co-wrote the script.聽While Lynch seemed an unlikely director for a movie that was straightforward and sweet, the film has a tense dread underneath due to the serious health problems of both older brothers.

The ending sequence of "The Straight Story"聽fuses intense sadness with deep heart swell. In 鈥淩oom to Dream,鈥� Lynch calls this his favorite scene in the film and remarks on the naturalness of the performances between Richard Farnsworth (Alvin) and Harry Dean Stanton (Lyle) as the brothers. He also comments on the natural, outdoor lighting. Lynch remarks: 鈥淭he light was just beautiful and the sun was right on [Alvin] and he calls out to Lyle and the second after he did that the sun goes behind the mountain. If we鈥檇 been seconds later we would鈥檝e missed that completely. We were so lucky to get that.鈥�

The ending reunion between the two is a true tearjerker, but one that doesn鈥檛 feel unearned or sentimental, but rather natural and all too fleeting to capture.

The glorious, technicolor style of 鈥淢ulholland Drive鈥� infuses its mystery with nostalgia and references to classic Hollywood cinema. The film鈥檚 beautiful shot compositions and arresting visuals express the familiar Lynchian theme of darkness beneath surface glitz.

Billy Wilder鈥檚 1950 film noir, 鈥淪unset Boulevard鈥� was a major influence on Lynch鈥檚 story about a woman with amnesia and an aspiring actress caught in a surreal, labyrinthine nightmare. The film references 鈥淪unset Boulevard鈥濃�檚 scathing critique of the film industry, especially through the discarded actress Norma Desmond and displays of bleak decrepitude such as with its opening corpse in a pool and monkey funeral. 鈥淢ulholland Drive鈥� directly references a shot of Paramount Studios that was in the earlier film.

The film also references Rita Hayworth in the 鈥淕ilda鈥� film poster in its exploration of the harmful 鈥溾�� of Hollywood actresses. Hayworth鈥檚 was similar to the two at the center of 鈥淢ulholland Drive鈥欌�漵 complex and harrowing mystery.

In addition to feature films, Lynch is known for his short, experimental art films which often use innovative form and structure. "Inland Empire" stars Laura Dern as an actress immersed in the character she's playing in a film. Lynch shot the surreal, highly experimental film with a handheld digital camera and without a completed script over a three-year period.

The film is notable for incorporating Lynch's 2002 web series "Rabbits" as part of the narrative. Characters watch the show and interact with the set, and the "Rabbits" sequences are some of the most haunting and compelling in the larger film. The rabbits are played by actors (in heavy suits and masks) who were also in "Mulholland Drive," including Naomi Watts.

"Inland Empire" incorporates most footage from the original series but rearranges it by adding聽lines, and聽altering the聽timeline. The rabbits exist in a sitcom-like livingroom set and speak in cryptic, clipped dialogue accompanied by a canned laugh track. In "Room to Dream," Watts describes the experience of performing in the suit while being hot and unable to see due to the heavy rabbit headpiece. She says of Lynch: "I'd hear him saying, 'Okay, Naomi, finish your ironing and go out of the room.' I'd start walking and bump into a wall and he'd say through his bullhorn, 'Not that way, Naomi, turn right; go to your right, Naomi.' I said, 'David, I can do this voice later and you can get one of your assistants to actually wear the suit in the scene,' and he said, 'No, it has to be you in there.'"

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