Donnie Darko Second Film Analysis

Director: Richard Kelly
Year: 2001

IDENTS

• Pandora
• New Market presents
• A Flowerfilms production

The opening begins with an establishing shot, the weather is dark which could be pathetic fallacy of setting the 'mood' in the opening.
Low noted dark music is played continuously possibly denoting that the film will be a horror and signifying that it will not be comedy/romance etc.
A long take shot of the camera following a road, coming closer to an object in the middle of the road is shown, this denotes tension and makes the audience think 'what is in the middle of the road?'
As the shot gets closer to the object, it becomes obvious that the figure is a teenage boy, unconcious, possibly denoting that he is dead. There is a bike next to the boy, which could signify that he has been on a journey.
A long high angle shot of the view from the camera shows hillside which could anchors that he is in a secluded, rural area.
A medium close up shot of the boy is shown waking up, he starts laughing which could be connoting that he is mentally ill, but also signifies that he is not confused as to his where abouts like this event happens regularly.
The boy is wearing pyjamas which signifies that he lives in civilisation.
A transition is used to jump into the future of long shots of the protagonist on his bike.
A long shot of a sign is shown saying 'Middlesex Halloween Carnival OCTOBER 26TH = 30TH HALLOWS EVE'' which implies anchorage as to where the film is set, what month it is, and what event is occuring (Halloween).
Long shots of the protagonist are shown again, the mis en scene is now very suburban, with pathways, houses, trees and cars (which denote the time era).
'Pop' music begins to play, possibly music from 2001 which denotes the time era.
The shot moves to a 2 person shot of a middle aged male and female, there could be polysemy that the protagonist is related to this couple who are in a garden, which could also denote that he lives in the same house as them .
A long shot of the protagonist is shown walking into the kitchen from outside, he is out of breath, signifying that he has cycled home. The protagonist moves to the fridge and opens the fridge door, on the door of the fridge is a whiteboard with handwritten text on it saying 'wheres donnie?' denoting that the protagonist's name is donnie, and also showing anchorage that he has been missing, yet adds comedy which could signify that the protagonist, or 'donnie' goes missing regularly and it is not an irregular event.
A group shot of the family around a table is shown, the same 2 middle aged couple, donnie, and 2 teenage girls.  The pop music fades away.
The family interacts in normal conversation, the children then begin to throw harmless insults at eachother e.g. 'will you still be working at the yard barn?', it then gets out of hand and builds tension when the oldest teenage girl says 'ok, do you want to tell mum and dad why you stopped taking your medication?' which builds tension and  provides exposition, signifying that donnie is ill, yet the audience do not know why.
A long shot of the boy is shown, he is in bed reading a book, denoting the time of day, and also possibly signifying that he is a smart child.
Donnies mother walks into his room, she asks 'where do you go at night?' which shows anchorage that he dissapears regularly, and only at night.
Donnie gets adgitated at his mother, he says 'well then why dont you start taking the god damn pills, Bitch?' which denotes that he does not like taking his pills and that he does not have a healthy relationship with his mother.
A close up shot of a bathroom  cupboard being open is shown, an orange tub is shown, which anchors that the tub is for perscribed pills from the doctors. On the tub, the text says 'Donald Darko' and '3/24/86' which is exposition, showing his full name and his age (Where he would have been 15 years old)
TRANSITION to signify that the opening of the film has ended.
THE OPENING OF DONNIE DARKO LASTS 7 MINUTES AND 23 SECONDS.