Donnie Darko Film Techniques
.... Non-diegetic sound is represented as coming from a source outside story space. Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the story space e.g., narrator's commentary, sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect or mood music. Another term for non-diegetic sound is commentary sound. A common form of non-diegetic sound which can have a great affect on viewers is background music, which can bring out a range of emotions from the scary horror types which make the hair on your back stand to the slow music with dissonance and minor chords which just makes you want to cry. The first clear non-diegetic sound is when metallic music is being played at the beginning of the film where its building sum sort of suspense as if it wants to show the viewers something. It builds to a climax as Donnie is slowly awakening with the beginning of a piano motif. Another well thought out non-diegetic in the film is the use of the song “Killing Moon” by Echo and the Bunnymen an 80’s hit which locates the film in that decade. It validates certain themes in the film such as “Fate & will” and “Giving yourself in”. “Fate up against your will, Through the thick and thin You will wait until You give yourself to him.” The film makers in Donnie Darko use the film device “text within a text” to further emphasize outlining themes in the film and in some cases to foreshadow events to come. While the novel The Destructors written by Graham Greene outlines themes in the film such as, ‘Destruction as a form of creation’, it is reasonably debatable whether or not Donnie was primarily influenced by Frank or the novel in his raving and ranting actions of destruction. The irony in it is that while you’re trying to figure out which is more real to Donnie? Frank talking to him, with a rabbits mask in some kind of deformed superior, demonic type voice, prompting these acts of destruction; flooding and arson, or the novel The Destructors in which the title is quite self explanatory. The truth is both are fictional, and yet have a huge influence on Donnie and his actions which, is also quite ironic knowing of Donnie’s intimidating intelligence. Roberta Sparrow’s book causes Donnie to investigate time travel. As with Greene’s story, her book places images in Donnie’s mind which also tells us that Donnie has a very unstable mind which can be easily manipulated in some sense in order for him to find meaning in this world and in this life and the situation in which he faces. Further influences and effects of ‘text within a text,’ is revealed when Donnie and Gretchen go to the movies. They are sitting there in the cinema while Gretchen is sleeping on his chest. Suddenly an image of a clock appears on the cinema screen which in some sense is speaking to Donnie as he reacts to this with confusion and much discomfort as a time portal comes out of the clock face. This could be the film-makers way of telling Donnie and symbolizing to the audience that time is running out. A big give-away with the setting of the film, although it is quite obvious that it is set in a middle-class suburban area which happens to be in the state of Texas, is the soundtrack. This evidence of s...