FILM OPENING ANALYSIS

Hadley Stones

THE CLIP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ7Fz3m485s&safe=active

INTRODUCTIONThe film I will be doing is Donnie Darko which is a film starring Jake Gyllenhaal which shows trouble child Donnie having to be faced with the task of saving the world but having to put his life at risk at the same time. For this task however we are only using the introduction. This film was made in 2001 and won 11 awards and was nominated for a further 12.

STAND OUT MOMENTS Donnie waking up on the side of a hill

which is really strange. He wakes up laughing because of where

he is which adds to the enigma. When we notice how far he is from

home in his pyjamas on a bike. When he arrives home and checks his

fridge on the front of it on the whiteboard there's the question where's Donnie ?

Film title is clearly displayed after we are introduced to this character of Donnie Darko (2 minutes 21 seconds in)

The title here is shown in a different font to how it was originally set up to be , at first it was a more Arabic type but as this film was released in 2001 they changed it due to religious reasons and so they don’t offend those affected by 9/11

Both film company logos of both Pandora and Newmarket films are shown to give the viewer a sense of who made the film and if they have seen any of those companies films before

MAIN CAST AND DIRECTORS NAME This film opening does not show the

main cast in the 4 minutes of opening scene which is quite strange and gets us to guess who the actors are for ourselves.

We find out quite early however that the film is directed by Richard Kelly as shown below which shows that he is more dominant and takes a bigger piece in this film that the actors.

ENIGMA This film opening is full of mystery and

enigma which is the reason I believe it’s a really good piece to use.

The questions asked and raised in this 4 minute clip are: Where is he and how did he get there? Why is he in his pyjamas Why does he not seem wierded out by

the fact that he woke up there? Is it a regular occurrence?

EDITING The editing used in this intro is mainly

cuts but there are not many used because most of the shots are revolving around camera work where minimal editing is needed which makes this opening very unique.

The fact that there is minimal editing shows that they want the film to run smoothly and be more natural

There are many slow motion scenes used to make it more effective towards us as well as the use of long takes and slow cuts

CONVENTIONS The conventions met of this

drama/mystery/sci-fi film are that he is already perceived as quite a strange character who has that certain something about him but we don’t know quite what it is and makes us want to know.

The sci-fi elements and the drama elements have not been quite met yet but they do appear later in the film.

CAMERA There are a lot of tracking shots used in

the opening to this film mostly because they follow Donnie biking home.

It also has an establishing shot at the start to show the main character Donnie.

The camera shots are zooming in and following quite slow and patiently at the start because it at mystery/enigma.

Medium shot of Donnie gives us an idea of what he looks like first off

CLAMPSCOSTUME The costume used is Donnie in his

pyjamas which adds the enigma to this scene because it makes us wonder why he is in his pyjamas even though it is the morning however he Is in the middle of a road.

CLAMPSLIGHTING The first shot we see of Donnie is him on a

dusky hill side overlooking a scene which is showing light however is still quite aery. Although as we transition into the rest of the scene we notice it get brighter and a lot more natural light is used because its early morning time which makes us wonder why he is out at night ?

Also the first real shot we see of Donnie its quite dark surroundings but Donnie is highlighted by very weak low lighting but it still makes Donnie the centre piece and noticeable.

LOW KEY LIGHTING

The low key lighting is used in the shot but focuses slight high key on Donnie making him the centre piece and the focus of it

CLAMPSACTORS The actors used in this film are quite

young and the actor who plays Donnie is not a big and confident character so he suits the role very well.

The first facial expressions we see of Donnie is him laughing and smiling quite sadistically which shows he is quite troubled and isn't all there which we go on on to find later in the film

CLAMPSMIS-EN-SCENE The way in which the scene is set out is

that Donnie is always the vocal point and main focus of the shot even when others are in it.

This makes us know right from the off that he is the main character.

PROPS The is only one really important and

noticeable prop in this scene which is the bike which Donnie rides home.

This adds back to the mystery I brought up earlier of how did Donnie get there with the bike , did he sleep ride ?

SETTING The setting used in this clip starts of on a

hill side at dusk which is a road which not many seem to use because there are no cars on it at this time.

The setting as the scene goes on brings him back into his town which signifies hi coming back into normality from waking up in such a beautiful but some yet morbid surrounding.

SOUND The sound used for this piece is all non

diegetic there is no music coming from the scene the song ‘never tear us apart’ by INXS plays throughout until Donnie goes to open the fridge which signifies the end of the scene.

Also the sound never tear us apart is sort of ironic because it shows that no matter what Donnie does he will always keep his family whole even when there is a slight chance he is missing.

There were two versions of this film made the original and the directors cut which was 20 minutes longer and has different things compared to the original opening.

Also the directors cut opening is shot slower than the original taking its time with the shots and also both films have separate non diegetic soundtracks to them when Donnie is riding the bike.

CONVENTIONS MET AND CHALLENGED The conventions met of the drama/sci-

fi/mystery genre are:The use of enigma which makes us ask questions.The factors of this enigma which are : Costume Setting Props Camera lighting

WHY I LIKE IT I like this film opening and film in

general because its very enigmatic and made me want to watch more of the film.

However I would prefer to lean more about Donnie's character as a whole but that may ruin the mystery.