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Analytical interpretation of film
Analytical interpretation of film
Analyzing film techniques
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To view the film Donnie Darko is to constantly ask one important question, “What if?” From the beginning, the audience wonders, “what will happen if Donnie doesn’t take his meds?” (Or maybe, from the very beginning, “what if a car drove over poor Donnie sleeping the middle of the road?”). At the inciting incident, we wonder “what if Frank hadn’t called Donnie out of bed?” (Would we even have a movie?) As Act II begins, the audience must ask, “what if the school hadn’t closed down?” (Would Donnie and Gretchen ever had a chance to fall in love?) Later on we’re invited to ask, “what if Dr. Monnitoff and Karen Pomeroy were really given the freedom that they need to help Donnie?” (What if Donnie never had burned down Jim Cunningham’s house, exposing his kiddie porn dungeon? What if Sparkle Motion hadn’t impressed the Star Search scout? What if Jim’s trial hadn’t forced Kitty to hand over chaperone duties to Rose? What if Elizabeth hadn’t gotten into Harvard? What if Frank hadn’t gone on a beer run? What if Karen Pomeroy had written something less poetic than “Cellar Door” on her chalkboard? And so on…) These pivotal moments represent the causal links that form the narrative structure of the film—the choices that Donnie makes (or are made in his behalf) that propel him towards his goal. If one were to diagram the story on a flow diagram, we would see how each pivotal point moves the story from one clear direction to another. We would also see that at one of these pivotal points, the decision tree grows a funny little branch that somehow finds its way back up to the beginning of the diagram—essentially creating a whole new universe of possibilities. It is this “multiverse” concept that has blown more than its fair share of minds in the y...
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... better for having experienced Donnie Darko, even if it never happened.
Works Cited
Campbell, Joseph, and Bill Moyers. "Myths-Dreams-Symbols: Dreams and Myth." Myths-Dreams-Symbols- The Psychology of Dreams. Web. 31 Jan. 2011.
Cowgill, Linda J. Secrets of Screenplay Structure: How to Recognize and Emulate the Structural Frameworks of Great Films. Los Angeles, CA: Lone Eagle Pub., 1999. Print.
Donnie Darko. Dir. Richard Kelly. Perf. Jake Gyllenhaal. Newmarket Films, 2001. DVD.
Huggins, Nik, and Mark Salter. "Directors Spotlight Interview: Richard Kelly, Writer & Director of Donnie Darko." Future Movies. 10 Apr. 2003. Web. 30 Jan. 2011.
McKee, Robert. Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting. New York: Regan, 1997. Print.
Tobias, Scott. "The New Cult Canon: Donnie Darko." The A.V. Club. The Onion, 21 Feb. 2008. Web. 30 Jan. 2011.
The only real way to truly understand a story is to understand all aspects of a story and their meanings. The same goes for movies, as they are all just stories being acted out. In Thomas Foster's book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, Foster explains in detail the numerous ingredients of a story. He discusses almost everything that can be found in any given piece of literature. The devices discussed in Foster's book can be found in most movies as well, including in Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic, “Pulp Fiction”. This movie is a complicated tale that follows numerous characters involved in intertwining stories. Tarantino utilizes many devices to make “Pulp Fiction” into an excellent film. In this essay, I will demonstrate how several literary devices described in Foster's book are put to use in Tarantino’s film, “Pulp Fiction”, including quests, archetypes, food, and violence.
The change from differing mediums, novel and film, reveal characteristics and possibilities of narratives. Through the advancement of technology, modern writers
Every film has elements of good and evil, two opposing forces with a decisive winner. Order and chaos works in a different manner; protagonist and antagonist can play the part of order and chaos while remaining either good or evil. However, it is not only the character that acts according to the principles of order and chaos, external elements such as history and social ideologies craft character perceptions of a disaster or paradigm shift. There are many examples of order and chaos being used to define what is "good" and other times defining what is "bad". Classic examples in Hollywood cinema of order and chaos in films are Bonnie and Clyde and Gun Crazy, where the protagonists play both sides of good and evil elements while staying true to the elements of order and chaos. The purpose of this essay is to explore elements of order and chaos in Bonnie and Clyde and Gun Crazy by analyzing: the lead couples and social-historical contexts.
There have been countless numbers of films produced and directed in the past decade that could be labeled as weird or bizarre, however, one of the most head-scratching and unusual films to hit the big screen in the past decade was Donnie Darko (2001), directed by Richard Kelly. The film depicts a troubled adolescent named Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal), who after surviving a near death experience, finds himself at the center of numerous acts of violence and vandalism in his community, possibly due to his growing insanity. Arguably, one of the highlights of the film, if not the main highlight, occurs during Donnie’s first day back at school since his close brush with death. This dreamlike and hyper amplified school-entrance montage that Kelly takes the viewer through has a major contribution to the film in its entirety because it gives a much deeper meaning to the film in terms of the audio-visual style.
What would you do if a six-foot tall bunny rabbit named Frank came, and said that the world will end in exactly 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds. In the movie Donnie Darko directed by Richard Kelly. The main protagonist Donald Darko, also known as Donnie. Is sent on a mental journey through space and time, all while trying to figure out exactly what happens at the end of the countdown. After watching this film for the first time, it left me with many unanswered questions. I felt as though this movie was one that forced you to use your own interpretation, and imagination. It made me think about otherworldly possibilities, ideas, and if the concepts of time travel were actually possible. I turned to the novel How to Read Literature
John Gibbs and Douglas Pye (2005) Style and meaning : studies in the detailed analysis of film. Engalnd: Manchester University Press, pp 42-52.
Arnheim’s body of theory suggests that the necessity of human intervention to implement plot, tropes, and culturally legible symbols raises a film to a higher level than a mere copy of reality, and that this interpretation and expression of meaning is “a question of feeling” or intuition on the part of the filmmaker. (“Film Theory and Criticism” 283) One consequence of effective directorial intervention is that differences in speed, stops and starts, and what would otherwise be jarring gaps in continuity can be accepted by viewers, because if the essentials of reality are present, th...
One of the first conversations that Gretchen had with Donnie was that she thought that his name, Donnie Darko, sounded like a super hero. Donnie relies, “What makes you think I am not?” Because of the events in the first fifteen minutes, Donnie is now the living receiver, which means he has been given four supernatural ...
Knelman, Martin. "Ben Affleck Changes Argo Postscript for Ken Taylor." The Star. N.p., 19 Sept. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
Wilson, K. (2005). Introduction to Sigmund Freud’s Theory on Dreams. Retrieved November 4, 2013, from http://dreams.insomnium.co.uk/dream-theory/introduction-freud-theory-on-dreams
The film’s story does not simply shines forth, but is also the foundation of the plot. The film’s plot makes the traditional guidelines applicable...
Barsam, R. M., Monahan, D., & Gocsik, K. M. (2012). Looking at movies: an introduction to film (4th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co..
“Entertainment has to come hand in hand with a little bit of medicine, some people go to the movies to be reminded that everything’s okay. I don’t make those kinds of movies. That, to me, is a lie. Everything’s not okay.” - David Fincher. David Fincher is the director that I am choosing to homage for a number of reasons. I personally find his movies to be some of the deepest, most well made, and beautiful films in recent memory. However it is Fincher’s take on story telling and filmmaking in general that causes me to admire his films so much. This quote exemplifies that, and is something that I whole-heartedly agree with. I am and have always been extremely opinionated and open about my views on the world and I believe that artists have a responsibility to do what they can with their art to help improve the culture that they are helping to create. In this paper I will try to outline exactly how Fincher creates the masterpieces that he does and what I can take from that and apply to my films.
Another interesting deleted scene is also in Donnie's Consoler's office. This is when the Consoler tells Donnie the medication she has been prescribing him where nothing more than Placebo's, which are pills made of water. This means Donnie is not crazy, and anything he thought he visualized is really from the parallel world.
The Ancient Greeks had surprise dream encounters with their gods. Native Americans turned to their dreams for guidance in life. Shamans dreamed in order to gather information from the spirits. Sleep and dreams define eras, cultures, and individuals. Sigmund Freud’s interpretation of dreams revolutionized twentieth-century thought.