Editing Donnie Darko (section)

===Filming===
[[File:AngelesCrestHighway-002.jpg|thumb|right|The Angeles Crest Highway]]
[[File:Donnie Darko house northwest view.JPG|thumb|right|The Darko family home in [[Los Cerritos, Long Beach, California|Los Cerritos]] in Long Beach]]
Filming was completed in 28 days, the same length of time as the film's events, in July and August 2000.<ref name="DCDVD" /> Most of the film was shot in [[Long Beach]], California; Kelly was uninterested in shooting elsewhere because he wanted to portray a strong suburban feel. The ongoing [[2000 commercial actors strike|commercial actors strike]] had created a shortage of work, so additional actors and crew members willing to work for scale were hired for the film.<ref name=FMM2017/> The golf course scenes were filmed at Virginia Country Club and the school scenes were shot at [[Loyola High School (Los Angeles)|Loyola High School]]. The opening scene with Donnie waking up was the first to be filmed; it was shot at sunrise on the [[Angeles Crest Highway]].<ref>{{Cite AV media |people=Poster, Steven (Cinematographer) |title=Donnie Darko Production Diary |medium=DVD |publisher=[[20th Century Fox]] |date=2004}}</ref> The theatre marquee was shot at the [[Aero Theatre]] in Santa Monica.<ref name=FMM2017/> Kelly lost 20&nbsp;lbs from the stress of filming to a tight schedule, plus the pressure of justifying himself to others that he could direct the film.<ref name=TG20161212/> He openly stated to the actors that he was inexperienced and had no idea how to address them properly, so he talked to them like they were his friends.{{sfn|Kelly|2003|p=xli}}

Production designer Alex Hammond bought the jet engine used in the film for $10,000. The scene where it falls onto Donnie's bedroom was done in one shot. The shell of it was rigged above the set and sent through using an air pressure gun.<ref name=TR21/> Poster remembered people telling Kelly that jet engines do not fall off planes, but during production a "dishwasher-sized engine part" fell from the engine of a [[Boeing 747]] and landed on a beach.<ref name=TR21/> Swayze [[Frosted tips|frosted]] his hair specifically for his part and the infomercial clips were filmed at his ranch.<ref name=LA18/>

Kelly's goal was to "seduce the audience" from the film's opening shot.<ref name=BFI16/> He was attentive to details and spoke to his transportation coordinator to ensure all cars in the film were era-specific. He wanted to avoid going "too kitsch" with the style and costumes and retain a conservative style of the Virginia suburb.<ref name=COS17/> The long shots at the school with "Head Over Heels" playing angered the production and line managers at first, who thought it was "an indulgent music video" that lacked dialogue and did nothing to advance the story. Upon viewing the finished sequence, they had changed their minds. Kelly choreographed the scene's action to the song before the rights to use it had been acquired.<ref name=TG20161212/> Sparkle Motion's performance scene was one of the more difficult shots for Poster, who used smoke to give the appearance that light is there and to achieve silhouettes of the girls on stage.<ref name=IW14/>

The film was shot with a [[Panavision cameras#Panastar|Panavision Panastar]] camera<ref name=IW14/> and in [[anamorphic format]], which involves filming in widescreen onto standard 35&nbsp;mm film. Despite its setbacks and the need to have twice as much light, Kelly was adamant.<ref name=TR21/> Poster suggested using Kodak 800 ASA film stock, which people said looked "terrible and grainy", but he convinced the producers that anamorphic would reduce the amount of work with low ceiling lights that were common in the locations used for filming as they would be cut from the shot.<ref name=IW14/> The anamorphic process required Swayze to kneel down for some scenes so he could fit in the image.<ref name=IW14/> Early on Kelly made a promise to Sam Bauer that he would edit his first feature film when he had the opportunity, but Pandora Cinema disagreed with the choice initially. Kelly recalled he and McKittrick had to "fight like hell" to get Bauer onboard, and eventually Pandora agreed.{{sfn|Kelly|2003|p=xxii}} The water barrier effects were produced by Kelly Carlton for $5,000.{{sfn|Kelly|2003|p=xliv}}