Opening Sequence Analysis

Memento

The opening sequence starts off with the film production company’s logo which is ‘Newmarket’ films. The distribution company has been involved in movies such as Cruel Intentions, Donnie Darko and The Usual Suspects which follow the same genre of Neo-Noir, Mystery and Psychological Thriller and Crime which link in with Memento which has elements of all the genres listed before.

The next scene is the credits scene which shows the production company again and also the international distribution company which is ‘Summit Entertainment’. Then another production credit is shown to show who produced the movie, Suzanne Todd has produced Predator 2, Die Hard 2 and Lethal Weapon 2 which have some similar aspects to Memento.

The credits are against a plain black background with a light blue colour to contrast against and stand out. The main actor ‘Guy Pearce’ hadn’t done much work in the genre of thriller or mystery prior to Memento so it shows that the movie’s purpose is focused on the narrative and not which big star is portrayed in it. The main credits only show 3 names to show who the main characters are in the movie.

The title of the movie is then showed, all in caps and matching the previous credits as it’s all blue.  The background of the scene which is black cross fades into the footage from the movie of a man holding up a Polaroid picture of bloody tiles and a dead body. The scene in the picture seems to contrast the scene happening around him. Whilst this occurs the title of the movie stays on over the background.  Credits for the other characters, casting and music appear as the protagonist continues to stare at the image.

The actor then shakes the Polaroid picture and stares at it again to get a clearer image of what its showing. The colours of the picture continue to change as he repeatedly shakes the image. The once clear and red image has now turned to something similar to a blank slate which represents the narrative and the aspect that the main character has anterograde amnesia who can’t remember the recent past so the clear image going blank is a metaphor for that.

The shot then changes in a reverse shot from him taking the picture out of his pocket to placing it back into a camera. This shows that the previous events were all in a reversed order and link into the narrative structure.  The protagonist is then shown for the first time and his face is covered in blood streaks and sweat to show he’s been in some sort of fight.

The shot then continues to go in a reverse order with the main character putting the gun away (getting his gun out), a close up of his face is shown subtly taking a breath in to show his shock of something and that it’s over now. He’s wearing a suit which stands out of place against the scenario. An extreme close up is then shown of blood but it’s falling in the reverse way and back up the wall. An extreme shot is then shown of a bullet on the ground; the simplicity of the shot adds emphasis to the object. A similar shot of an extreme close up is shown of a pair of glasses hinted to link to the victim, the glasses are all bloody and surrounded by blood streaked tiles.

 The shot of the victim face down is shown covered in blood next to the glasses. His head is centre stage in the shot to show that the blood is his and from a high angle to show he’s on the ground and that this may be from the perspective of the protagonist. A shot of the gun flying upwards to the main character’s hands is shown to illustrate clearly that the events occurring are in a reversed order.

The camera then follows the actor downwards and zooms in to show his slightly angry facial expressions and his crouched body language over the victim.  The previous shots of the glasses and bullet are shown again but in reverse order to show they both are important to the events that occurred. A shot of the victim reversing from the ground to sitting up is shown, the blood also reverses back into nothing and the bullet goes into the protagonist’s gun.

The editing so far has been slow paced but the moment the gun is put into its compartment which as it’s in reverse order is the bullet being fired. The editing pace quickens drastically and we catch a glimpse of the victim’s face as he’s being shot.  

The music during the credits is instrumental and very dramatic; as the Polaroid image is shaken and taken there is its emphasis on the noise – all the protagonist’s actions have been highly emphasised to compare it to the background music. The shot then ends with the victim shouting something.