page_title: Episode 6 (Twin Peaks)
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: Episode 6 (Twin Peaks) / Production
caption_attribution_description: English: I took this photo of Caleb Deschanel while he was in San Diego promoting the play he was directing. Please acknowledge "Phil Konstantin" as the creator of this photograph.
context_page_description: "Episode 6", also known as "Realization Time", is the seventh episode of the first season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by Harley Peyton, and directed by Caleb Deschanel. "Episode 6" features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Sherilyn Fenn and Eric Da Re, with guest appearances by Chris Mulkey and David Patrick Kelly.
  Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Dale Cooper and Twin Peaks sheriff Harry Truman continue to investigate a murder in the small mountain town of Twin Peaks; while local businessman Benjamin Horne schemes to burn down the town's sawmill to further his property empire.
  Deschanel has noted that the episode, like most in the series, was filmed from a relatively short teleplay; he feels that this has contributed to its ability to develop characterization and subtextual inferences in addition to advancing its narrative. Peyton has described writing dialogue for MacLachlan's character Dale Cooper as being particularly tricky, though he found Fenn's character Audrey Horne to be enjoyable to write for.
context_section_description: "Episode 6" was the second of the series to be written by Harley Peyton, who had previously scripted "Episode 3"; Peyton returned to pen a number of other episodes across both seasons. The episode was directed by noted cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, who later helmed two episodes in the second season.
  Each episode of Twin Peaks was written sequentially; this allowed the overall plot to gather momentum as it progressed but allowed for the organic process of adding new elements as the writers thought of them; a process favored by series co-creator David Lynch. It also allowed Mark Frost, Lynch's partner in creating the series, to plan ahead to ensure plot details and threads would be revisited as necessary. Deschanel recalls the teleplay for the episode being approximately 40–45 pages long, which he felt offered the show a "leisurely" pace compared to modern television episode, which are filmed from teleplays of up to 120 pages. This allowed the series to dwell on its subtext and unexpressed desires of its characters, rather than focusing solely on narrative action. Deschanel and Peyton have described the episode as exemplifying the need to "be a fan" of the series to fully enjoy it, as the progression and development of the characters occurs over multiple episodes and rewards the attention of a regular viewer.
  Peyton has noted that the distinct personalities of the series' characters meant that he considered some of them much more difficult to convincingly write for than others. He found Cooper to be particularly tricky to write for, as the character had an idiosyncratic view of the world which needed to be maintained; but found Audrey Horne to be his favourite to work on as he considered the character—and actress Sherilyn Fenn—to be both sexy and smart, and to have developed substantially as the series progressed. The character of Madeline Ferguson was named for characters in Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 film Vertigo—Kim Novak's Madeleine Elster and James Stewart's Scottie Ferguson. Ferguson's cousin, the murdered schoolgirl Laura Palmer, was similarly named after the titular character in Otto Preminger's 1944 film Laura; while other characters in the series would also be named for film noir characters.
  The popular "cherry stem" scene was inspired by an incident in Peyton's life; he had been dining with friends during the time he was writing the script when a female friend demonstrated to the group that she could knot a cherry stem with her tongue. Peyton immediately added this to the script, finding it fascinating that he could witness something on one day, write it the next, and two weeks later see newspapers discussing his version of it. Fenn has admitted that she was unable to actually perform the trick, simply switching the stem for a tied one already hidden in her mouth; however, co-star Mädchen Amick has since demonstrated it during television interviews.
  Scenes filmed in the One Eyed Jacks casino and brothel were shot on location at a house on the shore of California's Malibou Lake; footage for several episodes were shot on the same day by different directors so as to scatter the scenes throughout the episodes that required them. Deschanel has expressed regret over the use of a "house style" in the series' direction and cinematography, feeling that he lit certain scenes in this episode in a way he would not usually have done; preferring to have employed a chiaroscuro use of shadow as opposed to the reddish tints used throughout.
caption: "Episode 6" was the first of three episodes directed by Caleb Deschanel (pictured 2009).
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