Donnie Darko Camera and Editing

Donnie Darko Camera and Editing

The Establishing shot - is of a male student coming out of the school bus the shot is upside down however it slowly moves back to its normal position. It is then followed by a wide shot of students going up the stairs to enter the school. The camera then starts tracking to the left side as more students enter the scene from the left. The shot then changes to the camera being in front of the school door and a male student opening the door and entering the school whilst his two friends are behind him. The camera then tracks forward as they are walking through the corridors. The camera then pans to the right very quickly and we get the shot in his perspective of a male student walking towards him and smirking. The camera then tracks backwards and we see the other male student walking down the corridor. The student snirrs and the camera pans and the shot is in his perspective of the teacher. She looks grim as he passes by in front of the camera and she watches him pass. We then get a fast motion of her walking down the corridor and the scene slows down to its normal pace and we get a pan to a girl looking at the mirror on her locker door. the shot is wide as she closes her locker door and we get a pan of her walking round and down the corridor. The shot is wide and we can see two male students around a locker and one is sniffing on something we assume is drugs. We then get the headmaster entering the scene looking round and then walking down the corridor here we get a fast motion of him walking down and coming out of the school through the doors. We then get a shot of a statue in the school premise / playground.
The camera then tilts down the statue and we can see students reading. The shot then tracks a girl walking in the playground. This is then followed by two teachers having a conversation and another one joining in. The camera then tracks the teachers as they walk together towards the school building and another two adults enter the scene and they shake hands wide shot.
A have noticed that the lack of editing and cuts in some shots. they often exceed 2 minutes and are slow and solemn which could illustrate the boring and dull atmosphere of the school. However there are some shots which are sped up e.g. when the teacher or male student walks down the corridor and some slow motions of the rebel walking down.