JD - Analysing an Opening Sequence - 'Memento'

Genre

- Memento is a thriller (mystery thriller)

- The audience's expectations of a mystery thriller are to some extent fulfilled as the way that everything is going backwards makes the scenario more compelling to watch.

- I think that the text does conform to the characteristics of a mystery thriller as the introduction creates a very puzzling enigma for the rest of the film.

Film Language

- The mise-en-scene in the sequence conveys suspicion as we see that the man has taken a picture of the person he has just killed. The man with the camera is wearing more expensive clothes than the dead man and overall looks a lot cleaner even though he is bleeding, which could connote that the man he killed was poor and owed him something.

- The close up shots help to convey the mystery of the man that has been shot. The close up of the glasses look like it could be a POV shot from the view of the dead man if he was looking at them, as out eye is in line with the floor. Also the close up of the camera hidden underneath the jacket could convey suspicion.

- The diagetic sound in the sequence is all amplified so that we can tell it is being played backwards. The music in the sequence is very depressing and slow but has a mysterious feel to it so creates suspense during the titles.

- There isn't any dialogue in the sequence, but the NVL of the man with the camera suggests that he feels guilty and maybe shocked at his actions.

-The director has used made the sequence washed out to give it a depressing and mysterious look.

Narrative

- The narrative is non-linear.

- The audience is positioned with the man that takes the photograph and we get the view that he has been made to kill the person that he has taken the photograph of.

- Techniques used to identify characters are close-ups of belongings of the man that has been shot and 2 medium length close-ups of the other mans face allow us to get a good 'look' at his face and be able to recognise him later on in the film

- Tension is created by the use of dramatic music during the titles, this tension is then kept by playing the end of the film at the beginning and playing it backwards to turn it into a puzzle.

Representation and Ideology

- In this sequence we don't get a very good idea of the social groups of both of the men, but the man that takes the picture could be a hitman or detective as we see him take a photograph of the man he killed.

- The framework that is constructed through semiotics is shown through many denotational images and cuts. These all create different connotations and meanings and help to make the audience understand the situation.

Media Audience

- The target audience is probably the 16-45 thriller audience.

- A possible audience reading of the sequence is that the man that takes the photo is a hitman and he is taking the photograph of the man he kills as proof that he has killed him.

- As a British teenager I read the text as a suspiciously acting man taking a photograph of the man he killed as evidence that he has killed him. This makes me feel as if he is a 'bad' detective.

Institutional Context

- Guy Pearce is a bankable star. They have used a bankable star because people are more likely to go to watch the film if it has a well known actor in it and someone that they enjoy watching

- Newmarket Capital Group produced the film. This makes it an independant film as it has a fairly unusual opening that would not occur in an industrial production.

- I think that the instutional context is evident in the production values of the sequence as the shots used help to create an enigma. The shadows created show use of studio lighting as they are too strong to be made by natural light. Also the fact that it is played backwards show that there was some sort of editing to the sequence.