Analysis of Donnie Darco

Camera and Editing
In the film Donnie Darco it begins a fade in from a dark background to a light shot of the daytime. It starts with a tracking shot and then goes into an extreme long shot to show the location of where the film is set. The camera then starts to move towards the character when we see him lying in the middle of the road, it gets close to him and as the character is waking up the camera starts to track around the character in a medium shot so we can see the expression on his face. From the way the camera went from a  long shot to a close up without any cutting shows that it is quite a slow pace. However once the character is on his bike there is a lot of panning done and there are much more camera shots which picks up the pace of the film. It then jumps from one location to another, which shows that him on his way home has nothing to do with the story and keeps the fast pace of the film going.

Sound
First of all there is a thunder sound which is non diogetic which is where we hear the sound but it is not shown where it is coming from. The thunder continues as the shot goes into the first scene of the trees, when this happens the sound of birds enter which is also non diogetic. the introduction of music replaces the thunder when we see the boy lying on the floor from a distance, the music is quite deep and sounds quite ominous, which makes the audience wonder why the boy is lying in the road on the floor. When the camera gets closer to the boy the music is a piano and sounds much more calm, it is quite a dwelling sound, this could be because he is thinking back on what happened even though the audience dont know what this is yet. The same time the boy stands up there is very angelic music, which sounds much more happier than before. When the boy gets back on his bike the music is much more up beat with the tempo increased, with this music joining with the more camera shots it makes the film a much faster pace. The song that is used is called 'Killing time' which could of been used to connote that the film is a thriller.

Mis-en-scene
The title sequences of the film is with white text on a black background, the text looks quite old and gives the sense that the film is a thriller because the letters are not formed properly. Our first impression of the shot with the man laying on the floor is that he has fallen off his bike. However then the man wakes up in his pyjamas and his facial expression is quite confused. After this the boy then laughs to himself, which then raises alot more questions for the audience as we dont understand why the boy finds it amusing. When the boy then rides back into a neighbourhood, straight away we think that it is set in the American suburbs because it has wide streets and big houses. We then see a halloween sign which then shows the audience the time, place and events of when this film is set. The sign could also suggest that the genre could be a thriller as we know it is set around halloween which connotes scary things such as witches, demons etc. Another thing we see is a person reading a Stephen King novel which is famous for being horror stories which then backs up the idea that it could be a thriller film. When the boy goes into his house he opens the fridge and on it, it reads 'where is Donnie' which implies that he is always gone for some reason.


I have learnt from watching the first few minutes of Donnie Darco that thrillers do not always have to start off fast pace, they can start off slow paced with still the same effect. I have realised that there are many little things used in films that connotes different ideas to the audience making them think and feel the way the director wanted them too. This will help me in the actual making of my film.