Donnie Darko - Analysis

In the first shot of the scene we see a mid shot of the teacher. This shot sets the location for us as behind the teacher we can a chalk board which are normally used in schools. The women also looks like a teacher with her glasses hanging down from her neck. The mise en scene here is the teacher in smart cloths, with a chalk board behind her. We can also see a picture to her left. In this shot we her the teacher ask a question to Donnie Darko, this shows us a bit about Donnie. The teacher is framed in the center which shows her importance. It also looks like it is a slight low angle which gives her a bit more status as she is the teacher. We then cut to the next shot of Donnie answering the question.

Once we have cut to Donnie answering the question we start with a mid shot of him but as the shot gets longer the camera starts to slowly track in on Donnie making the final shot a close up of him. The close up of Donnie shows his facial expressions which could tell the audience that he doesn't look interested in this lesson and that when he is answering he has a grin on his face making it seem that he is joking a little. In the shot we can clearly see Donnie at his desk in the foreground but can see other members of the class in the background all looking at Donnie answering the questions.

This is a long shot of the new girl entering the room. The long shot makes it hard for the audience to see the girls face so we cant make it out as well as we would like to. She is framed in the center this makes her the most important person in the shot. We can see most of the class all looking around at the girl coming in which shows that they might not have been expecting her to come in, therefore telling the audience she is new. We can hear some muttering in this shot but also we hear the teacher ask who she is and what she wants. We then cut to the next shot of this girl. 

This is a mid close up of the new girl, this shot is used to show the new girl talking, we also get this shot to show what she looks like. We cant see much background in this shot all we see is a door, and a poster to the left of her. This shot could be a point of view from one of the class members as it is coming from the direction of where the class was sitting. We hear the girl talk back to the teacher in this shot and we also hear a little muttering from the class in the background. Then we cut to the next shot. 

A pan is used in the next shot, this is a point of view shot of the new girl, it is showing the whole class in one shot that is why a pan is needed. We start off with this guy on a close up of him. He is the main focus in the shot as he is in the foreground and it is a close up of him. We finish with a mid close up of Donnie, this shows us that the girl has looked through every one in the class and has finished on Donnie. Now music starts, the music is soft and romantic, his shows that she likes Donnie and has chose to sit next to him. 

We cut to this shot which is a very long shot as we see the new girl walk from the back of the class room to the front and sit down and then look over to Donnie. The camera first tilts up to the new girl to show her walking, then we tilt down which shows us her sitting down and then we pan left to show the new girl and Donnie looking at each. In this shot the new girl in centered to the right and Donnie to the left. This shows the audience that they are both as important as each other. We then cut to the last shot of the teacher before we fade to black and the clip ends.