1. Analysis of film
openings

2. DONNIE DARKO

3. Donnie Darko
 Genre: Drama, Mystery, thriller film
 Plot: A troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large
bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of
crimes, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident.
 The film is a classic cult film and his based on a scientific
concept of tangent universes.

4.  The first 40 seconds are of company credits.
 There is an audio bridge of a thunderstorm into opening shot (picture
above) thunderstorm generally connotes the feel of horror films.
However the sound is a contrast with the shot as in the shot there is no
storm present, this could be connoting the time shifts of the film and
also confusing the audience.
 The camera pans the scenery, establishing the setting and with the use
of lighting adds a hint of darkness to the film. The tense slow music
builds the tension. How the camera pans the scenery, I get the sense it
could be a point of view shot like it is something or someone searching
the scenery for something possibly.

5. • Again the lighting adds a hint of darkness to the film because apart form the sky the
rest is very dark almost looks like silhouettes.
• This is the first shot we see of the protagonist, the tense music and the panning of
the camera creates the sense of mystery as well as the onscreen play.
• The camera then zooms into the protagonist, the introduction of the keyboard it
added an element of sadness to the character, which is added by the camera
panning the scenery again which could be a POV shot from Donnie’s point of view
• Donnie then faces the camera in a close up of his face and laughs which signifies
the strange side to this film. The boy is also wear what appears to be pajamas
suggesting which is creates a sense of mystery and unease for the audience.

6. • After Donnie’s smiles he walks off and the title of the film appears (shown in the
picture above). The title appears in the this simplistic font, the font then expands and
fades to white before entering the next scene.
• The keyboard is still playing up till this point. Now however the sound of the thunder is
back with the title name. Again like the beginning there establishing shots show no
sign of a storm which creates ambiguity and confusion for the audience.
• At 2;20 it fades from white into a medium shot zooming out of Donnie (the
protagonist) riding his bike down the hill in his pajamas. We also have the introduction
of a different song called ‘The Killing Moon’ this song also links to the genre, the
music and lyrics connote horror movie. Also the use of this 80’s song also suggests
the time the film is set.

7. • Picture above= in this establishing
shot we can see that the Donnie
doesn’t come from a poor
background he clearly comes from
a well off family so it doesn't’t
explain why he was sleeping in the
middle of the road, this again adds
to the element of confusion for the
audience and the sense of
mystery.
• Picture top right= here we see a
medium shot of Donnie’s mother
reading the book ‘IT’ by Stephen
King. Using devices like this can
hint to the audience the genre of
the film.
Picture above= we see another medium shot of
Donnie going straight the fridge without saying
good-morning so it creates immediate tension
between him and the other character’s. we also
see a sign of the fridge saying ‘Where is
Donnie’ which also adds to the mysteriousness
of Donnie’s whereabouts. Also the lighting has
become a lot brighter with contrast to earlier
establishing a later point in the day.

8. THE SHINING

9. THE SHINING
 Genre- horror and mystery film
 Plot- a family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter
where an evil and spiritual presence influences the
father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific
forebodings from the past and of the future.

10. TITLES
• The colour of the font is sky blue
which a primary colour. For some
people blue could be referred to
sadness as it is related to rain or
storms. However this colour is
mostly associated with calmness
however with the eerie nondiegetic music and the
screaming women, Kubrick
creates a mysterious
atmosphere. The title also come
up every 5 seconds which
creates a pattern.

11. Camera and
editing analysis
next page

12. Analysis
 Camera movement
 This is a continuous tracking shot from high angle looking down on
the car, the shots are not jumpy, the tracking shot is smooth and
steady. This makes it easier for the audience to concentrate on the
object, scene and the setting.
 Framing of shots
 In this opening scene they are long shots and extreme long shots
with are very clear establishing shots so it is clear to the audience
that this really is in the middle of no where. Also the picture 1 and
picture 2 however the second screen shot is the shot a slight tilt
which creates an sense of ambiguity. Also you could suggest that
the mirror reflection is foreshadowing the double meaning of the
film or that the story isn’t transparent. Also the locations is
misleading as it isn’t your typical locations shots for a stereotypical
horror film and it creates a contrast with the sound.

13. Editing
 A shortening cutting rhythm is used to so that cuts
between shots slow down to draw attention to the
viewer to each detail in the scene. Also the titles have 5
seconds between them which also creates a pattern.
You could suggest these patterns are foreshadowing
the patterns of the caretakers going crazy and killing
their family.

14. Mise-en-Scene and Sound
 In the opening scene the film is set in the mountains and we
can see wide roads, which suggest this is very big and the
one small car makes it look very lonely and deserted. Lonely
tells the audience that this place is empty and unwanted: it is
barely visited by anyone which is shown to be correct in the
following scenes.
 The sound technique used is non-diegetic music. It is very
eerie with noises that sound like a screaming women which
also could be foreshadowing events later on in the story.
The music starts off quietly and gradually gets louder and
louder. By getting louder it suggests that dander is
approaching.

15. INSIDIOUS

16. INSIDIOUS
 Genre: Horror and thriller film
 Plot: A family looks to prevent evil spirits form trapping
their comatose child in a realm called The Further.

17. Titles
The titles for the film, main actors, directors
etc. is in a chilling red font.
First the titles appear in a harsh, unfriendly
font which links to the genre also with the
colour as well.
Then the words then fade upwards and the
writing becomes lighter.
The words then go into a pale and clouds
out, making it seem more ghostly which is a
connotation of the genre.
The writing left then fades out letter by
letter adding a sense of mysteriousness.

18. Sound
 The opening there is non-diegetic music. The music is
almost like a echoing ringing in your ear. The music
gets extremely loud when the title ‘INSIDIOUS’ shows
on screen which is after seeing the women, the music
becomes a high pitch violin being played fast.
 After the title the rest of the opening has a errie,
mysterious feel to the music to give a sense of unease.
It is very slow and quiet but is still high pitched.

19. THE TITLE
The title of the film is in the same
red font and the ends of the letters
look round off which gives it a
demon or devil like feel. In the film
opening we see that the title is
flickering and looks as if there could
be fire underneath it. You can also
see the shadow of the letters
behind it which all could link to hell,
devil and evil.

20. Camera
After the title we get an establishing shot at
the new location to set the scene, the
house looks very dark and mysterious and
because it is black and white it gives a
feeling of coldness and again like the title
gives the sense of unfriendliness.
There is a aerial shot looking down the
staircase and a shadow at the the bottom.
It looks like they are watching something
this gives a sense of tension because we
cant see their face.
The tilted shot of the clock gives a sense
of confusion and unease because it is at
an angle.

21. Editing
The editing is slow, which gives the
audience the chance to take everything in
shot in and a sense of enigma.
After every shot they fade out form one
shot into another, this makes it look more
mysterious, also when the shots are fading
in at first they are out of focus which
creates a sense of confusion.
The film opening is in black and white
giving a sense of unease. The
connotations of black is evil and mystery
and white are purity and goodness and
innocence giving the idea that in this film
there is a clash of good and evil.
There is a long shot of the grandfather
clock (top) and then they cut to a closer
shot of the clock. This is the third shot of
the same clock suggesting that it is
significance but we don’t know why at this
point.

22. Mise-en-scene
 The lighting throughout the opening is low key suggesting it
is mysterious. Also in certain shots parts of room is
highlighted while the rest is dark, showing the importance of
certain place but also suggesting something is hidden which
links to the genre of horror.
 The location of the opening is a family house, you see all the
different rooms but no actors and because the house is
shown in black and white it takes the life out of the shots and
makes it seem fairly spooky and uncomfortable. You can tell
the people have just moved in because there are moving
boxes in some scenes.