Analysis on Memento opening

The opening sequence starts up with emotional non-diegetic audio, it's a soft melody which connects the audience with the sequence. It makes the audience feel deep emotion (sad) due to the instruments being played (violin). This gives an idea to the audience of what genre the film is 'Thriller' due to the tension being played by the non-diegetic soundtrack, which is most probably a score.



The first camera shot is of a males hand holding onto a Polaroid image. The shot is at a high angle and is a close-up. This is done on purpose to show two things.
1) What gender the character is
2) What's on the Polaroid image (blood)





It also gives the audience a rough idea of what genre the movie is from the first ten seconds; once putting together the visuals and the audio the audience should manage to work out that this movie is a thriller (Psychological).

There's opening credits during this film opening, they're placed in the middle of the frame. The text is in a simple font and is in a baby blue colour. The first credit shows the audience what the title of the film is, 'M E M E N T O' all the letters are in capitals and go across the middle of the frame, from the left section of the frame across to the right. I noticed there's a lot of space left between each letter, this is to make it appeal to the audience and to show its importance. The following credits are all in the same font and colour though they are in smaller sizes compared to the credit with the film title.

Although they take less space of the frame though this doesn't mean they are less important. In a following credit 'Co-Producer Elaine Dysinger' i noticed that the producers name is in a bigger font then the word above 'Co-Producer'. This brakes the conventions of giving power to the things/people above; it may also be a deep disguised message questioning authority and the power of the higher.

The shot cuts into a medium shot of a male actor, he has cuts on his face & seems very bruised. He's holding a Polaroid camera (prop) and he's wearing a suit. This will show the audience that this character has been through a rough time. His facial expression looks very serious, giving the impression that he is a dangerous character; making the audience keep a third eye open for him.


Diegetic sounds start to occur from the instant the Polaroid camera flashes, a close-up shot appears of blood dripping down a wall. There's male glasses on the floor along with a damaged bullet shell, giving the impression it has been used. The camera shot then changes into a medium-shot from behind a male at a high angle, he seems to be dead.

At this very moment complexed editing skills are used. The film is played backwards; this is shown by the glasses going back onto the dead males face, the bullet going back into the chrome gun and the dead man coming back to life. This maybe very complexed to carry out though when viewed by the audience it may look very simple, it's very effective as it adds uniqueness to the opening sequence and really makes the sequence more concrete.



To conclude Memento has a very solid opening sequence. They involve good camera shots & angles which is then blended with suitable non-diegetic sound track creating tension within the audience. Good editing skills is shown by adding uniqueness to the narrative by playing the story backwards. The film producers definitely got their targeted audience where they want them to be (the edge of their seats).