Analysis of the opening scene of "Mememto"

I think that this is a fantastic opening sequence. it establishes most of the main themes of the film, with no dialogue, which is what i am trying to achieve with my own thriller project. It manages to set up the theme of going backwards in time with an enigmatic shot of a polariod photo developing, but in reverse. The fact that there is over a minute before anything even happens is effective, as it gives the audience long enough to consider why there is a polariod photo of a dead person (even the fact we don't know gender or age adds to the enigma) who has obviously been killed violently. It also is effective, as it gives enough time for a fair amount of opening credits.

The reversal effect adds even more enigma, where the character is shaking a polariod, but instead of the photo becoming more clear, it makes the photo less developed, which an audience wouldn't expect. It takes another 30 seconds for the photo to "undevelop". This is a very long shot, which gives the audience even more time to think, and take in the fact that time is reversing.

The time reversing theme only becomes totally apparent when the main character puts the photo into the polariod camera, then takes the photo, and we are given for the first time a shot of the protagonist's face. he has scars on his face, and looks slightly shaken, indicating that there may have been a struggle, and that he is probably either the murderer, or the discoverer of the body, the latter being more probable since he is taking a photo of the body.

He then puts the camera away, which is actually taking it out in real time, and looks at the body. There is then a shot of the blood dripping up, which anchors the fact that the body was only just recently killed, which shows that this man probably did, infact, do the killing.

there are then 3 very strong images of an empty bullet shell, a pair of glasses on the floor, and then the body, face down on the floor. It is only here that we can get a better look at the victim, and can tell that he is a 40-45 year old male, as he has a short haircut which has a few grey hairs in it. This adds even more enigma as it makes the audience wonder why he was killed in the first place.

The next shot reveals that he was definately shot by the main character, as the gun flies up into his hand, as if he had thrown it down. The bullet then leaps back into the gun, and the glasses start twitching, and The body "comes to life" and we get shown the killing of the victim.

The use of enigma codes is very important in the film, especially finding what happened before, and it sets up the importantness of seeing things in reverse order.

Applying Levi-strauss' Binary opposites to "Fight Club" (SPOILER WARNING)

Fight Club is a typical Action-Thriller hybrid, containing both the shocking elements and deep plot of a thriller with the high budget action scenes of an action film.

In the film, Levi-Strauss' theory of binary opposites is very noticeable, especially in the portrayal of the two main characters, Tyler Durden, and The Narrator, who's name we never really find out.

Just looking at an image of these two characters shows obvious binary opposites.

Although they are both wearing jackets with shirts, the character on the left is wearing a bright red leather jacket with a garish shirt as opposed to a dull grey suit jacket with a plain white shirt. This shows the opposite of sloppy vs smart dress.

The way they address each other is

another opposite, as Tyler Durden is standing more upright with his shoulders back and his head held high, addressing the other character with a confident expression on his face, making direct eye contact. The narrator character however is standing more defensively, with shouched shoulders, looking as if he is expecting something to happen, not looking Tyler in the face, but still at him.

These are obvious physical juxtapositions, but there are also pairs in their characterisation. The Tyler Durden character is a strong character, an obvious leader, who always pushes the boundaries of social norms. The narrator character, however, is more of a follower, who idolises Tyler and plays along with Tyler's schemes.

What is interesting about the film, is that in the end it is revealed that Tyler is just a projection of the narrator's imagination. Tyler is who he wants to be, and is himself a binary opposite of the narrator character, and it is therefore the binary opposites that drive the film.

i have had an idea for our dvd cover, it could be the first of a "thrillogy"


this idea is easily stealable, however, but if you check the posting times, i blogged it first.

This DVD cover has many things that make it a perfect cover for the film itself. The main striking image is of a polaroid photograph, or a polaroid, of a polaroid, infinately. this has connotations of obsession, as it goes on infinately, and also has the connotations of paranoia, as the main character is looking over his shoulder toward the infinate photos. The white edge of the frame is a stark contrast to the black background, making it stand out. The female character is on a shadowy background, while the main character has pale, warm colours. this instantly makes us think that he is the protagonist, and that there is something sinister about the female character. the fact that you can only see part of her face, as it is in the corner adds to this.

the name of the film is scrawled in bold letters on the bottom of the polaroid, something that happens in the film with polaroids, and as such makes us think that the polaroid photogrraphs are a main theme in the film, as the seemingly most important part of the film's identity, the title, is written on the photo. the fact that the title is written in black, on a white background, which in turn is written on a white background is significant, as it is a series of contrasts which can be quite shocking.

There are a number of enigma codes on the cover, mainly the title itself. "Memento" as a theme could represent many different things in the film; the photographs he takes, the tattoos he gets, or even the underlying memory of his wife, when all short term memory was lost.

The tagline is another enigma code on the cover. It makes the audience ask questions such as "what memories?" or "why are they best forgotten?"

The cover features all of the conventions that a dvd cover contains. it has the starring actor names at the top, the "DVD video" symbol at the bottom left, a certificate, in this case a 15 cert, at the bottom right, and a short 5 star review at the bottom centre.





looking further into the dvd cover of memento, i found 2 alternative covers:
This is the UK special edition of the cover.

it is the same photo as the regular edition, except it has been put into negative. this is more dramatic, and has connotations of photographs, as they are negative images before you get them develloped, and it also has the connotations of looking backwards, which the film definately does.

having put this cover into negative, i can see that it is not a complete negative of the other cover, but has had the contrast upped a bit.

this cover also has the "3 disc special edition" on the cover, just to show that it is the special edition.









This version of the cover is the USA release version. I think it is not as effective. the central image is larger, which decreases the impact, and has less of a connotation of isolation. the yellow text also decreases the effectiveness, as it is less harsh than the shocking scrawl of white on black.

An evoilutiuon to the previous idea, in the bit at the begining where she's killing the dude, instead of just cutting to black, it could to cut to the party downstairs where they are having the party, with shots of people dancing to some music. The music i have in mind is something by the prodigy, possibly firestarter, as all the music has the dance feeling with a majorly sinister edge.





another point to note about my idea for the opening, is that there is absolutely no dialogue. Looking at previous thriller openings by students, and from my trailer project for GCSE, i have seen that good quality sound is hard to sort out, especially with the technical constraints. It just would sound so bad and wouldn't add enough to the sequence to make the effort worthwile.

ok.. i'm not gonna storyboard quite yet, just post a synopsis of my idea.

just for the record, this is my idea so don't go stealing it !!!


It is a very visual opening, with very short clips cutting in and out of black, like a very slow strobe. in time with some heart-beatingly tense music, of a girl (has to be hot) killing someone in a bathroom, in a really bloody and violent way. these could even be stills, i think that that would have a very similar effect, and could possibly be better, as with a still it is easier to make a perfect composition. The colouir balance of these shots/clips would/could have that black 'n' red tint, like this photo, but obviously with the right subject matter, this is the best example i could find on google:



anyway, after the flashes of stills/clips of someone getting shanked multiple times, there would be a total change of mood, with the music and mise en scene, and the girl would wake up after some insane house party, where everyone's crashed out on someone's livingroom floor like that shot in skins after the party. Anyway, she'd wake up, maybe a blurry pov camera shot, and she'd look at her hands and see blood, and run to the bathroom to wash it off, finding there the body of the person she had killed, but which she doesn't remember killing, but peicing all the evidence together assumes she has. Then the scene would end.

There are two different ways the story could go after the opening, which although i won't have to plan/shoot/film/edit i still have to think about, so the opening can contain subtle hints. Either it could be a schitzo thing, where she just goes around killing people but doesn't remember it, like that character in Heroes (Niki Sanders), but i fear that it would go too far down the silence of the lambs road, or it could be about her trying to escape the law, she could go on the run, and it would involve far more character development of that one main character, kinda like in Psycho after Marion Crane steals the money and has to hide from that policeman.

nangest idea

I have had an incredible brainwave.

I have a sick idea, which i'll storyboard asap (aka, when i have a chance).


I've been thinking, and i've noticed that the past students' work has all been so complicated, compared with thrillers irl. Most openings have one striking concept, anchored with only a few images, just to set the scene, and this is the direction that i am going with my idea.


--peace out