Donnie Darko

Camera – distance, angle, movement –Panning was used to show a remote view of the mountains. The we see a pan of a road, this is an object on the floor the director then zooms in to show it is a human. The director uses a mid shot of the human, as he gets up of the floor, the camera then still tracks around the camera allowing the audiences too see the character. This makes the audience think that he is important to the film, perhaps a main character but it also confuses the audience as to why he is in such a remote destination and how has the situation come about. It is then cut to a POV of the character riding the bike. Furthermore, the variety of shots, also show the characters facial expression, which connects him with the audience, and reinforces the audiences confusion. The camera work is good as it makes the audience guess keeping and pay attention when they watch the first few minutes of the film.

Editing – speed, style –
Slow pace editing links in with the music. Cuts 
from characters expression to view, to emphasis confusion. After title is introduced, screen fades out through light. Pace quickens as character rides bike, this is also reinforced through the non-diegetic music. 

The slow pace keeps the audience guessing and also allows the audience to take in the view, and what the character could be seeing furthermore this puts the audience in the character shoes. Overall the editing has been done to show that the man could be confused, as the editing is slow and so it the non diegetic music, this allows the audience to connect with the character. Furthermore the title of the film is brought to the centre of the screen directly after a close of the character this connotes that the character is Donnie Darko. There is a change in expression as the man begins to ride the bikes, showing he’s trying to escape the situation. The editing builds up tension as we are not sure what has happened to the character and why he has found himself in the situation.

Sound – effects, musical score –
Diegetic sounds start of the film, then when the camera pans, we find that the music switches to Non diegetic, this connotes a change in atmosphere, as he starts to realise what has happened to him. The pace of the music quickens again when he is riding the bike. But there is change in the speed and pace of the sounds, but there is not tension of yet. In fact it could be thought of a soothing lace hearing the noises of the atmosphere as the titles are shown. There is no dialogue, but the character does express humour as he looks around, which connects him with the audience and shows a side of his personality- suggesting it is something he is familiar with. When on the bike, the music changes which links in with the pace again, and also connotes a change in atmosphere. 



Mise-en-scene – props, costume, setting, lighting, colour – The lighting is dark to show early morning. The character seems to be sleepy or confused at the director slowly zooms in drawing our attention to the character, we see that he is dressed in pyjamas. The bike is also visible in the background of the shot. We then see a smile, as he realsies where he is and that thing are okay. Then new characteristics are seen like cars, houses etc, implying he is back in reality. When the character fist awakes he seems to be sleepy unsure of his surroundings, but slowly as he comes down the mountain it seems he slowly becoming more and more aware. Finally when he is back ro normal surrounding’s, you could say that he is back to reality. This is done very well as it makes the audience think that something bad and strange is happening to the character, making the audience want to carry on watching and find out.