Reading/Perusing:Blair Witch website
Donnie Darko website
Salon.com: "Everything You Were Afraid to Ask About Donnie Darko"
Donnie Darko Frequently Asked Questions @ Stainless Steel Rat
Question:
Discuss your experience navigating the Blair Witch and Donnie Darko websites. How do they add to your experience/understanding of the films?
19 comments:
The websites were really cool first of all. They sort of put a whole new spin on the movie making them seem more real, with the news excerpts and found footage from Donnie Darko's and The Blair Witch's websites respectively. I also found Donnie Darko's website very fascinating, the way that it is setup is very experimental and surreal. It was very fun to go through and play around with the website. I think both websites furthered my understanding of the films. I mean on one hand the Blair Witch is supposed to be as real as possible and the different photos and news articles and histories on the web page add to that feeling immensely. Donnie Darko's website on the other hand I think is meant to be more visceral. There are the news articles and such but I think the point of the website is the experience itself, of navigating the different, deep menus and figuring out the passwords.
As a side note I just have to say that this film was absolutely fantastic. It is one of the most emotional movies I have ever seen. This is by far my favorite scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QijM3k4jiAg
The websites for Donnie Darko and The Blair Witch Project i felt were put together in away that was very interesting in a visceral since but also in the context of the films in which they are based. The Blair Witch project was a really interestingly made website which capitalize and help to grow attention off of the lie that the movie actually watched was real. I can still remember going to the theater seeing that movie because of this website and all of the media saying it was real documented event, o the lies of television. I really liked the Donnie Darko one more because it not only tied in the original movie but it almost acted like a twisted sequel to the events of the film. I mean there is sections depicting Donnie's life when he escaped a ward and stuff and i'm not sure if that was before the film took place or if that is what happened at the end of the film. And then all of the ways the website was designed was a choose your own adventure which i always find interesting. I also felt that these two sites might have been the gold standard for the way many new movies are marketed on the internet. It is just another means to a end, get the audience excited to see the film by generating an interest or a mystery around it.
I though that both websites were very creative. Much like the films that inspired them. I really enjoyed watching Donnie Darko. It was an interesting story, but it was hard to follow in some places. The other two websites\readings really helped to fully understand what was going on. But when I went to the Donnie Darko website I had a really hard time navigating the site and figuring out what was going on. I thought that it was a very entertaining site and had a lot of cool effects. But I’m not quite sure what the point of the site was. I spent a half an hour just clicking and reading things that I did not feel were relevant to a Film website. I asked my fiancé if he had ever watched this film and he said that he had and that he wasn’t a huge fan of it. But he said a lot of his friends were obsessed with the film and that the film has almost like a cult following. Then the confusing website finally made some sense to me. I’m sure that the people that love this movie are fascinated and intrigued by this website. The Donnie Darko website didn’t add to my film experience it just confused me. But the Blair website was much easier to navigate and I thought that it was interesting to learn some of the history of the film and the people that made it. So Blair website added to my experience and understanding of the film.
I was way more impressed with the Donnie Darko website than the Blair Witch Project. I may be biased because I think the story is much more intriguing, however, I believe the DD website really stuck to the formula that made the movie such a cult phenomenon. In the Blair Witch project's website, a browser is given a bunch of background information to give more understanding about what the Blair Witch could have been. In the Donnie Darko website, you are taken on a journey. We become like Donnie, forced to see how our every choice will bring up new choices and eventually lead us on this set path of occurrences. Just like Donnie talked about in the film, we are all following along a set path and seeing that destiny manifest itself is a form of time travel. The Donnie Darko website did a fantastic job of staying true to form and keeping the viewer suspenseful, even though we know how the story has to end. We know the ending, but we can't avoid it. And I guess the Blair Witch's website stays true to form too. It talks about legend and all the crazy crap that happened, which is basically what the movie was, except with more running. I just like Donnie Darko a lot more.
Both websites I found really brought to life everything about the movies. I first got onto the Donnie Darko website and it was really weird. The music was strange and the way things moved around and words following my curser just made everything a little strange. The way there were random little facts stuff that pulled the movie one more step towards it being real make it seem really cool. I thought it was really smart of them to do the website this way so that the audience could really feel part of the action and feel like what they had just watched was really real and kind of gave me an almost chilling feeling as I went through the site.
The Blair witch project site was also really cool. With the interviews of the people in the movie and pictures of evidence on the site really made this movie come to life too. The movie itself started out more real so in that sense I think it helped that much more. Both sites have really cool setups and are in no way shape or form like any normal movie website. I give props to those people that set these up because it’s definitely a think that pulls people into the movie and if they haven’t seen the movie it would for sure make me want to see it.
In my opinion, the "Donnie Darko" website was just like the movie - confusing and frustrating. I did not know how to navigate the site and all text that I was able to read did not make any sense to me. I do admit that the graphics and the concept behind the website are rather impressive, but after watching the film, I felt like I needed more background or substance. I wanted to somehow justify “Donnie Darko,” but the website is obviously not the place to do it. I guess if someone has the time and the patience to work through the site, they might be able to come up with a rhyme or reason. For me, I did not wish to continue further.
The "Blair Witch" website was more along my lines. I have always been fascinated by this film, yet I have never explored the film’s website. I really loved what they did and how it correlates to "The Blair Witch Project." The website seemed very “bare bones” – as if some tech-savvy and obsessed fan put together a collage of everything he knew about the Blair Witch investigation. The background and mythology behind the Blair Witch are great. All artifacts found after the disappearance look genuine and the historical timeline only adds to the film’s realism. The website is easy to follow and provided exactly what I needed for such a mysterious film – more information! The “Donnie Darko” website did the exact opposite; it only baffled me more.
--Anne Snyder
Ever since 2002 when Donnie Darko came out and I'd seen it for the first time I've been trying to figure out that damn website. I DO get a little further each time I go to it though. I think the website accompanies the film well in that it has a lot of the same kind of mystery and depth that the film is composed of. However some of the information it gives I feel is just more detail to the story that's uneccessary, such as Donnie's Mental Hospital records and the obituary for Mr. Monnitoff. The story is fine the way it is, it doesnt need anymore back story.
On the other hand, I've always enjoyed the back story and evidence that supported The Blair Witch Project, but thats because it's an entirely different spectacle. Blair Witch was intended to be as real as possible, everything just short of an actual event. I remember when the film came out and there was all this hype as to whether or not it was real or that it was based on real events. ahh to be young and gullible. great stuff.
The first thing that I noticed and understood about the films after navigating their website was that the website complemented how each film was marketed. For example, it is difficult to make a print advertisement in which your text used does not complement the picture or is not related to the picture. The websites really complemented the movie but added special features to make the movie appear more real. The websites definitely generated interest and at one point personal confusion. The Blair Witch’s website is fantastic! It gives history or insight into the film, as well as providing an “updates” section and “newly released photos.” This makes the film seem so realistic, which is how the film was marketed as I recall. Many of my friends actually thought the story was real when it first created buzz. There is news text when you first enter the sight, which makes the page and movie seem newsworthy (which generates huge attention)!
The Donnie Darko site, however, boggled my mind. I was a bit confused, and unsure as to whether the site was actually functioning properly. However, like Donnie Darko navigates through a mysterious world, the website readers are forced to attempt to navigate through cluttered and confusing space—and solve the mystery that is this website.
I was very happy there was a site dedicated to Donnie Darko frequently asked questions (and I love that “Mulholland Drive” was mentioned on the website)! It goes to show that there really is a fan base for independent films, and people are willing to delve into unsolved or unsettling films.
I found that both of the websites were very interesting. I think that the Blair Witch Project’s website was better though because I could actually find my way through the website. I liked the part of the website where I could click on background info for example and it would take me right to it. I enjoyed watching the interviews with the cast and crew. On Donnie Darko’s website, I had to put in passwords and read the little memo before I could continue and that really isn’t my style. I thought that when I moved my mouse around, there was a sentence that follows wherever the cursor goes. I probably spent at least 45 minutes trying to figure out most of the answers to the questions, but every time I would get one right, another would pop up and it would be more time consuming. The designers of that website did a very good job of keeping the viewer entertained though.
I then visited other movie sites to see if any of them were like either of these sites and none of the ones that I looked at had anything similar to these two sites. I really enjoyed the two sites and trying to navigate through them too.
Navigating the two sites, I was taken back several years. I remember quite well when Blair Witch came out...it was an event that friends and I attended. The hype surrounding the movie was intense and the effort they went to in order to create a sense of realism about the film was impressive. The site reinforces that quite well, better than the film itself, in my opinion.
The Darko website was even more fascinating to me. Though I understood the story of the film, the site engaged me in a fashion that I enjoyed. The interactive nature, the quality of the flash animations and the "vibe" of the site were all top notch. It reminded me heavily of adventure games such as Myst. Making users feel that they were unlocking parts of the website was a great technique and the background and character stories presented helped give the feeling that the film existed in a fleshed out universe, much like a graphic novel or comic book series.
I have actually explored the Donnie Darko website before this class, I believe about two or three years ago when I had first seen the film. I love that they have something that interactive, for both films, to continue the experience after the film is over. Donnie Darko is one of the most difficult plots to understand, because there is so much going on it, and so much that requires outside reading to comprehend. To be honest, I am still not sure if I 100% understand what is going on in the film. The entire paradox of Donnie knowing what is going to happen, and in the end sacrificing himself for the one's he loves is not understandable. And I love that they have newspaper articles on the site, trying to explain plot points, and treating this as though it were real.
For the Blair Witch Project, I understand that it was all fiction, but the fact that they keep even the website to make it seem like fact is fantastic. It just shows that such a thing could potentially happen, and people have disappear in the woods before. However, I can understand Blair Witch better than Donnie Darko. But the plots are perfect for having websites continues the story on.
I definitely feel as though the websites provide somewhat of a cult-type feeling ha. Because they are both very well put together and they make you more curious and into these movies. For instance the Donnie Darko website actually continues on past the end of the movie and gives out more information as to what happened to many of the people in the movie. For instance the very smart teacher who Darko would talk to a lot after class is supposedly killed in a hit and run, which we obviously never were shown or told in the movie. Both of these websites have a certain charisma about them that makes you want to stay there and become more involved in the information. I think that this is only possible with these types of movies. For instance these types of websites would never work for a movie like Mission Impossible or a Hollywood type movie such as that simply because the plot is to fictional and not believable at all. The thing about Donnie Darko and The Blair Witch Project is that both of these films talk about scenarios that are fun to believe in. One involves an "urban legend" and the other involves time travel. These are both subjects that people have actually been debating about since the beginning of time. The websites have an ability to carry what you felt in the movie to this website, so that you can delve even further into the information of both movies and pretend that they are real, although of course they are not, they are just movies.
Both websites were really interesting. While the Blair Which Project website was more simplistic than Donnie Darko's (probably as a result of when it was made) I appreciated the lack of flash. The website was very focused on creating an experience similar to the movie referencing the filmmakers who made the film as if they actually disappeared. I enjoyed looking at the film canisters "found" near the site where the students disappeared and reading about the mythology. It was also interesting to read entries from the old diary that was “found” and look at pictures of the “missing” students. It was fun to look at the site in conjunction with the film as sort of a continuation.
The Donnie Darko website was more flashy. I was kind of impressed how this film was marketed on the website. I thought it was pretty risky to make a website that was that experimental, especially for the time. At times it was hard to figure out how to navigate which was kind of fun, instead of a typical website where there isn't any "exploring" to do. While I was a bit confused by certain aspects of the website it nice to learn some additional information about the film through the site. I also felt that the site made references to Darko’s sleepwalking which made the site more relatable to the film. In the film (at least the original, not the director’s cut) the audience is left in the dark in the beginning of the film not quite understanding how certain events are happening and why. This is similar to navigating through the site as it’s not completely clear why the site is designed the way it is and the point of certain links that don’t lead anywhere. The whole site feels very surreal and dreamlike similar to the film. And initially I didn't quite know how I got from point a to point b.
Both websites were appreciated as a way to think about the films once I was done watching them and to contemplate the stories and ideas conveyed in them. While today interactive websites are the norm in the film industry, both The Blair Witch and Donnie Darko website seem pretty cutting edge for the time in their ability to convey the mythology and or continue the stories seen in the films.
Both websites were quite interesting. I really was not expecting, especially in what the Donnie Darko website. It’s no big surprise as to why both these films became cult phenomenon. It’s also not a big surprise as to why people thought The Blair Witch Project was a real documentary. The website, which contributed to the huge awareness and successes of the film, leads you to believe that it really is a real documentary. They were able to do this by showing their recovered cameras, film, and diary as evidence with fake police reports. The Donnie Darko website was a mind fuck same as the movie. It was interesting to see the information from the prison. I still don’t know if that is what happened before the movie or not. The Donnie Darko website is set up almost like a game. You need to gather information and use passwords to get on to different levels, this I found interesting. Both websites are very different from you typical official website of a film. It’s as if the websites are a continuation of the movies themselves.
The Blair Witch Project website gives a better insight as to what happened in the film, what happened after the event of the tape. This comparison with the reality outside of the film world brings the story to life. It creates the idea that the film is not a film but an incident that actually happened in real life. Donnie Darko also creates this feeling. Through its website we are given news articles telling the lives of characters after the context of the film. Does this extended information of the aftermath of the story actually enhance the viewers understanding of the film or is it simply a marketing skeem to get people more interested and willing to purchase or buy other merchandise? It seems to create the cult. However, it also is created from the cult. The movie came before the website so it can be looked at as a supplement. An it is free!
Navigating through these websites was pretty fun except for the Donny Darko website. It was very confusing and I had spent a good chuck of time trying to get further in the website when I finally had to stop. The actual movie was very weird and the website I thought went nicely with it and it was interactive which was awesome compared to just a normal web page. That enjoyment went away when I spent about a half an hour trying to figure out more and more on the website. Meanwhile the website for The Blair Witch Project was more straight forward. Reading through it brought back the memories from when it first came out hearing all of the hype about it and thinking it might have been a real documentary, only to later find out it actually wasn’t, which kind of ruined the movie for me. It was still interesting reading all of the little “facts” and news articles that supported all of the hype for the movie. I think the website for blair witch was more interesting to read than watching the film itself.
-Dustin
Being a fan of Donnie Darko for quite some time and navigating the site years ago, I remember this being fascinated by the site, the film, and the story. I think it can be attributed to the attention to detail Kelly takes in writing and directing his projects. In a system where films are pumped out with a formula and no real deep underlying themes or messages, Kelly takes the high road, or the "independent" road by weaving a very complex story and making a film that could only shed light to part of his idea. The initial Donnie Darko cut seemed to perpetuate confusion and was more mysterious, which could've lead to people seeking out more answers. The director's cut takes snippets from the tangent book "Philosophy of Time Travel" and inserts them in sections of the film to reveal more plot complexities. One characteristic often linked to independent films is this idea of intelligent story lines and the architecture of Donnie Darko and all that surrounds it holds it up to this form of intelligence by Kelly building a plot with many nuances, compelling complexities and a strict attention to detail that can't be found in many "Hollywood" films. I always find it an interesting game to picture films in the vein of the independent and place them in the realm of a mainstream Hollywood film. I can imagine it already, a glossy website with barely any info about the film, gaudy posters pinned up in far to many places, a slick score, the list goes on and on. Let us just be thankful artists like Richard Kelly exist to make compelling and interesting films that could only be the product of independent cinema.
I thought it was really cool going through those websites. I had actually never heard of the websites until we had this assignment. I thought it added more of a background on the Blair Witch and made it seem a lot more real. The website made the film seem even more convincing. I liked the Blair Witch one a lot more because it had so much information. I liked watching the interviews and I thought it was really interesting reading Heather's journal.It gives you a lot of insight as to how she was feeling throughout the film. The Donnie Darko sight was very interesting but was different in the sense that it was more of an epilogue. I liked the newspaper articles, like about how the teacher had died and the pervert had committed suicide. I thought both websites were unnecessary to the films but they added a lot of cool information to them.
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