Donnie Darko Camera & Editing

Throughout the opening clip of the film Donnie Darko a variety of camera shots and editing techniques are used in order to establish the different persona's of the alternative characters/groups and to capture different locations.

Slow motion 

Slow motion is used when the bully makes his first appearance in the clip. Slow motion helps us to understand that this character is the bully as the audience focus more on his actions. The bully makes an unpleasant and intimidating face at the three "handsome boys" whilst walking straight through the middle of their group rather than politely moving out of the way. The slow motion also strengthened our understanding that he is quite superior in high school as the three boys suddenly departed when he walked through the corridor. In addition, slow motion is also used to emphasize a shocking point in the clip where the bully casually sniffs cocaine in the corridor and the teachers spotted him but didn't do anything. Maybe this was slightly exaggerated but it certainly represents teenagers in high school as it's likely a small minority of people in high school will take drugs with friends.

Whip Pan 
Whip pan used occasionally used  in the clip to quickly move from one social group or character to another. This speeds up the pace of the clip to keep the audience constantly entertained and to help us to instantly apprehend the difference in characters and social groups.

Tilted Movement
A titled movement is effectively used in order to display the outcast in high school. The camera slowly tilts down from the statue to a chubby girl who is reading by herself. The audience have an impression that she hasn't got any friends due to her chubby appearance and this is probably why she is isolated and reading. Sadly, this is an accurate representation of outcasts in secondary school as nobody wants to hang around with "chubby" people as it would ruin their "cool" image that they are trying to portray.

Wide Shot 

Towards the beginning of the clip a wide shot is used to establish the main location of the film which high school. The mise en scene revealed in this shot such as school kids and the school children give the audience an impression that the film will be based in high school.