Memento

 

notes on the film Memento (2000)

Memento

Dir: Christopher Nolan

·         This confuses the audience so that it makes the audience want to know more

·         Quick cut flashbacks

·         Flashbacks in black and white

·         Trailer resets like his memory

·         Captions show audience his confusion about who people are

·         Reversal adds to confusion

·         Polaroid used for memory like a memento

·         Music/sound is dissonance

·         Words on screen shows what he doesn’t know

·         Sound increases in speed to build tension

The trailer confuses the audience so that it makes the audience want to watch it so they can figure it out this is achieved by the use of editing and sound, for example the flashbacks are quick cut which increases the audiences tension, they are also in black and white which signifies that they are flashbacks. The non-diegetic sound/music builds suspense because it is unnerving and gets faster and faster which shows us that he gets more confused throughout the film, then the sound/music resets at the end to show us the resetting of his memory. The words coming up on screen are words he doesn’t know who to pin to. The polaroid photos represent his memory’s, and they are literally the mementos. The reversal scenes adds to the confusion of the trailer, and it is reversing an important memory which he is trying to figure out and the reversal shows that he hasn’t figured it out yet.