Anaylis of Donnie Darko

 To be able to understand the use of the camera, sound, mise-en-scene and editing in films we started to watch the opening few minutes of Donnie Darko.
Part 1:

Camera and Editing
The film starts off by giving us a dark background. This dark background then fades into a bright shot in the daytime. We see that the film starts off with the use of tracking. This then leads into an extreme long shot. This shot shows us the location of where this film is set. We then see the camera tracking the man character in the middle of the road. The camera goes from being an extreme long shot to being a close-up shot with no cuts in-between. By there being no cuts in-between it shows how the pace of the opening is very slow.  We also see that the camera uses a medium close shot. This allowed us to see the man's facial expressions. Furthermore when the man character gets upon his bike we see the use of panning being used. This is when the camera swivel to follow a moving subject. This happened when we saw the man character getting upon his bike, and riding it. Here we also see a lot of a lot of shots being shown. This makes the pace of the film seem a lot faster compared to the beginning when it was quite slow. After this we then see many jump cuts of him on his way home. This keeps the pace of the movie quite fast.

Sound

When the titles are playing we firstly here a thunder sound. This thunder sound is non-diegetic. Non-diegetic sound is where the sound isn't visible on screen, but you can hear it. In films this is usually done for dramatic effect. This thunder continues on through when the first scene starts. Here we here the birds coming in. This is also a Non-diegetic sound as you can't actually see the birds at all.  An introduction of music starts and replaces the sound of the thunder. This music starts when we see the boy lying on the floor just about the get up. Here the music is deep in sound and is ominous and dark. By is being ominous it makes us as the audience that something bad has happened. This makes us wonder why the boy is lying on the floor. This music then changes as we see the camera moving closer toward the man character, we hear the sound of a piano. This music is calm and peaceful. However it is quite a dwelling sound. This give us a slow opening and shows a melancholy. This is when we have a deep and long lasting sadness. This portrays to us that the man character could be trying to think back on what happened.

When the character stands up we here some music being played. This music is very angelic. This symbolises kindness and innocence. We see that when the boy picks back up his bike and gets on it the music tempo increases. This is much more upbeat than before. At this point we see many camera shots. This makes the film a much faster in pace. The music that we hear is called 'Killing Time'.  The word 'Killing' connotes to us that the film is a thriller. This relates back to the genre of the film.

Mise-en-scene
The opening title sequence of the film starts off by having a black background. On this black background we see some white text. Around this text is lots of negative space. The white text looks quite old and as if it has been hand-written. This makes us believe that the film is a thriller because of the way the letters have been formatted.

When we first see the man in the middle of the road with his bike next to him, it instantly makes you believe that he has just fallen off from his bike. However we don't actually know if he has or not. One reason for this is because when the man wakes up he is in his pyjamas. Here his facial expression convey to us that he is very confused.  We then see man getting up from the ground. Although, strangely he has a smile on his face and is laughing This gives us the impression that he is finding this amusing. This raises more questions as we wonder why as the audience he is finding it so amusing.
We then see the boy riding back to his neighbourhood. Instantly you can tell that  the location is in an American Suburb. This is recognised by the big houses which are all detached and the wide streets.  When he gets to the neighbourhood we are shown a Halloween sign. This sign shows us the place, time and event date of when this event is on. This sign suggests the aspect of Halloween. It also suggest to us as the audience that it could be a thriller/horror genre. This is suggested by the sign being Halloween themed which makes you think of Halloween related character for example witches and demons.

Later on we see a sign on the fridge door saying 'Where is Donnie'. This sign is for Donnie but more importantly it is for us as the audience as Donnie is missing physically and mentally.
Lastly we also see a women in her front garden reading a novel by Stephen King. Stephen King was very famous for writing horror movies. This again relates to the genre and backs up the point that it's a horror thriller.

 
Part 2:
 Camera: 
 We see that the camera zooms in towards the door and then zooms to the Chandelier and then back to the door again. By the camera doing this it makes the audience wonder why the camera is zooming from the Chandelier to the door. This portrays to use that this could be a sign to what is going to happen later. Later on in the clip we see Donnie walking down the pathway outside. Here the camera uses the technique of a Long shot. This is effective as we are able to see Donnie walking and also the surrounding around Donnie. We also see a close up shot of Donnie and the rabbits head. This happens when the editing technique of dissolving is being used.

Editing:
At the beginning of part 2 we see Donnie walking down the stairs. Here all cuts have been used. This speeds up Donnie going down the stairs as it is completely unnecessary to see Donnie walking about of the bedroom, onto the landing and then down the stairs. We as the audience can presume this has happened.  Here continuity editing has been used. This type of editing gives the film a quicker pace. This type of editing can also be referred to as a cheat cut- cheating time. We also see the editing technique of cross dissolve being used. This happens when we see the figure of the bunny and Donnie head. This creates the effect that either Donnie and the bunny have some sort of link/connection or that the bunny figure is in Donnie's head. Cross dissolving can also create a moment of super imposition. This makes us ask questions as we wonder why this has been done. Here we see a shot- reverse-shot sequence. Here we believe that director wants us to dwell on what is happening.

Sound:
The opening of part two starts off with some the chime of a clock. This acts as a signifier of time travel and also time. When Donnie is walking down the stairs we hear some background sounds. These background sounds are of someone talking. It is an Non-Diegetic sound, as we can't see where it is coming from on the screen. This sound is scary, deep in tone and distorted.  It also sounds like it's a voice from the future, as if it's not even current yet.  The voice could be of the antagonist. This reinforces the genre of the text and continues to create a sense of mystery and is sinister. At this point in film the voice is in his head. This is an assumption as we haven't seen the rabbit yet so we do not know.

Mise-en-scene:
The clip of the second part opens with Donnie in pyjamas as he has just got out of bed. We then see him walk down the stairs. Here the camera focuses on the Chandelier so that we can't see him go through the door when he's down the stairs.
The first time we see the rabbit is outside. We see that the rabbit is standing behind some brushes on the golf course and Donnie is walking up the pathway. Here we see a link between Donnie and the Rabbit as if they could be the same person and share the same life or are linked in some sort of way. This makes us question the possibilities.
The lighting is very low key throughout. By the lighting being low key it creates an atmosphere of darkness, and it also make you believe that when Donnie opens us the door that someone else is going to be there. We also see that low key lighting has been used on the bunny. This builds up the atmosphere of darkness. It also adds a sinister aspect. By using low key lighting it also makes it seem unknowing to the audience of what is happening. The use of non-diegetic music helps to add to the atmosphere that the low key lighting is creating.
The bunnies suit looks as if it is for Halloween. This relates back to the genre of the film being a horror as you expect to see scary and frightening outfits on Halloween.


Evaluation
From watching the opening few minutes of this film, I have learnt that the openings of a thriller can include so many different things that portray many different meanings and feelings to use as the audience. This will help me and my group when creating our opening two minutes of a thriller as we now know how the little things can make a big impact on the way we view the movie and what interpretations that we get. I have also learnt that by adding in non-diegetic music is creates a dramatic atmosphere. One aspect that I think when making the film we will benefit from is the use of low key lighting. This would be effective as it really builds up the atmosphere and gets the tension raised right from the beginning. This will be helpful when planning and making our thriller opening as this is something we can consider including.