Elleah Stanton

Institutions

New market films is an independent film company which is privately run. It is a fairly small company and has not been associated with many major block-buster films.It strives to produce a diverse range 0f genres and films.Pandora Cinema is a very small company. It is a foreign theatrical film distribution company.

New Market produced Donnie Darko and Pandora Distributed it.

Audience ad Genre

The film is aimed at the younger generation, aging around 15-18 years old. I know this because the central character is a young teenager himself, and he is stereotypically attractive therefore it primarily attracts a large young female audience.

There is a more frightening element to the film and therefore could be aimed at teenagers who like jump-scare films and eerie supernatural themes

This film is a supernatural drama as it contains elements of science and myth that would not be found in the real world.

Over the top of the institution logos, there is the sound of heavy wind and thunder. These weather conditions connote danger and foreshadow that something bad will happen at some point in the film.Storms ,on a supernatural scale, also connote a higher force changing its mind or becoming angry and therefore introduces the supernatural theme to the film.

During the sound of the storm, a credit to Flower Films is shown. This is a privately owned American production company founded by Drew Barrymore, who also stars in this film.This company is more well-known than the other institutions credited.This company contributed in editing the film so it is credited amongst the other institutions.

Then, the sound of a cricket or some kind of insect is played along with the sound of birds chirping in the distance. This immerses the viewer and makes them aware that the first shot will be held outside. The noises (and lack of industrial noises) signify that the narrative is currently in the woods or another type of rural, woodland area.

The opening shot is a pan shot of an early morning overlooking a valley full of grass which is slightly blocked by protruding trees. By this point the sound of the storm has left and the sound of the woodland creatures stays. This suggests that the night before this shot was troublesome and therefore makes the reader worried and intrigued to find out what happened.The shot moves left, revealing more of the view. From the screenshots I can see that the more the pan turns to the left the lighter the sky becomes which shows the camera is turning towards the sunrise. Sunrises connote beginnings and could suggest that this piece of the narrative is something that happens often.The level of light is at its highest when the pan reaches a concrete road on which a body is lying .The viewer is deeply confused and wants to discover the reason why this boy is lying in the middle of the road and has remained unmoved /unharmed.

The pan shot begins to become a steadicam shot as the camera moves forward towards the boy on the road. This is a steadicam shot, not a tracking shot as later on the shot reveals the part of the location that the rails for a tracking shot would have been.

There is still the diegetic sound of the birds and insects, however a deep non diegetic humming sound becomes more prominent and intense. This gives a spiritual/eerie tone to the shot, along with a serious, concerning tone.

With regards to mise-en-scene here, a bike is now in shot, shown to be carelessly flung on the ground right next to where the boy is lying down. This then tells the viewer that the boy got to this location on a bike however they are left to wonder why he is there.

In the same shot, the camera reaches the boy, who is then seen to start sitting up. A piano then begins to play, note at a time which again brings a more concerning tone as it sounds dramatic and serious; this connotes the dramatic genre.

The shot is carried on and reaches the back of the character and shows him staring out into the valley. The camera then moves left again to circle round him, reaching the left side of his face. The camera remains here to show the confused expression on his face.

Mise-en-scene – CostumeThe character is wearing a white long-sleeved top with baggy checkered trousers, which appear to be pyjamas. This then gives the audience another piece of the narrative as it signifies that the character sleepwalked( or sleepcycled in this case). The fact that his sleepwalking is shown to be so extreme introduces a psychological theme to the film and could further signify the supernatural/spiritual nature of the narrative.

This first shot finishes here. The use of a range of camera shots within one shot is extremely effective as it holds the audiences attention; it doesn’t allow the viewer to think that nothing significant will occur and thus keeps them hooked. This type of shot is typical of Richard Kelly (director) and is one that I aim to use in my own title sequence project.

The camera then returns to a pan shot of the valley, which then shows the character standing up and looking out onto the horizon. This again emphasises the characters confused state. Also, with the character facing the same way as the viewer it makes then feel involved and as though they can see what the character sees.The sound of the deep humming is extremely intense now which could disorientate the reader or make them feel slightly uncomfortable, reflecting the feelings of the character.The boy then turns around to the camera to reveal his confused expression which again involves the reader as they feel he is telling them his feelings.

Then the concerning music becomes some-what contrapuntal as unexpectedly, the character begins to giggle quietly. He laughs in a way that would make the viewer think that he has realised what has happened after being so confused. It suggests that this event occurs often in his life and portrays the character to be mentally unstable as he is shown to be prone to extreme sleepwalking and then finding it amusing.

The Title

The title is then shown in the same shot. The text flashes in then increases in size slightly which makes it look like it has intruded the shot unexpectedly. The font used looks some-what mythical and the lighting here makes the sky look lilac instead of blue or gray, introducing the supernatural genre.A flash of light then appears behind part of the text, which then becomes blinding for the viewer as the screen becomes rapidly white. The viewer was accustomed to the dark, gloomy colours and lighting of the previous shots and therefore is disorientated, giving them a feel for that the character is feeling.With regards to sound here the thunder/stormy sounds from the beginning of the sequence returns and becomes quite intense again. This, when matched with the characters name on the screen signifies that the Donnie will experience a negative power.The soundtrack used up until this point is called Carpathian Ridge.

Credits

In this title sequence, there is no credits shown apart from the ones at the beginning regarding institutions.

The director is credited at the beginning of the title sequence

This is not an element that I will be adopting for my own title sequence.

Genre – Supernatural Drama

The title sequence gives the viewer subtle hints to the genre of the film.

The lighting is a key give away of the genre, the mystical colours of lilac, purple and black all connote spirituality.

The music also brings some of the genre’s element as it is eerie and slow which both signifies the supernatural part of the genre, and the drama part as it creates a very tense atmosphere, building up tension for a dramatic narrative timeline.

Representations

The social group that is represented in this title sequence is young teenage males. This boy looks stereotypically male as he has dark short hair and is wearing plain clothes that are expected from a teenage boy.

However this character cannot be reliably representative of teenage males. He is the only character shown therefore the viewer does not see how he acts around other characters