Memento Video Essay

1. MementoMemento
Kelechi Okorie

2. SoundSound
 During the opening scene of Memento the gun
sound is the main focus throughout the
sequence. Memento uses this sound to build
up the tension and suspense to signify that
the movie is a thriller. This is useful because
it makes the audience feel nervous and
uncomfortable as they don’t know what
going on during the scene. The gun in the
frame is part of the mise en scene. The noise
(sound) that the gun produces is diagetic.

3. CinematographyCinematography
This is a close up of the
protagonist (main character)
in the film. His face takes up
the whole frame in this shot.
He is also observing directly
at floor with a hopeless,
lifeless and tense expression.
This shot is effective as it
gives the audience a sense of
how he is feeling and what he
is thinking. This makes the
audience tense and
suspicious as there is blood
splattered across his face.
This expression tells us that
he is focusing on something
that he has that he may
regret later on. It also shows
us that this scene is a key
event in the film.

4. Cinematography 2Cinematography 2
This still is a low angle mid-shot
of the main character. This is
effective as this angle shows us
his significance, status and
power in the film. It shows us
how dominant he is over the
other character who is less
powerful. This still is also
effective for the audience
because we are in the
perspective of the person on
the floor. In this shot you can
see the area around him which
adds to the tension and
suspiciousness. This is effective
as it also shows he is
comfortable in his
surroundings. This adds to his
domination in this scene.

5. Editing 1Editing 1
In these shots there is an excessive use of blood. The glasses and the floor is
covered and surrounded by blood. This shot is extremely useful as it creates
tension and suspiciousness. The shot is also good because it makes the audience
feel unsettled and uncomfortable as we are eye level with the glasses so it
makes the audience feel vulnerable. This builds a lot of suspense as we don’t
know where the blood has come from. There are so many questions to be
answered as we don’t know why or how this has happened and we don’t know
who's blood it is. The other character hasn’t been identified.

6. Editing 2Editing 2
This is a close up of the Victim. The frame is mostly taken up his head
but has glasses and blood beside him. This shows us the power of the
main character “Guy Pearce”. This still connotes to us that it was clearly
a brutal attack as he is no longer in possession of his glasses. The blood
around his head shows the dominance of “Guy Pearce” as this portrays
that there was no mercy for the victim in this scene. The tension is also
built up by the close up shot as we still cant identify the person in the
shot.

7. SettingSetting
This picture shows the
setting of the place the
victim is being shot so this is
a key location in the film.
The place is very derelict,
small and cramped. The
lighting is very dark which
could reinforce the genre.
There is blood all over the
walls. The Location is in very
poor condition therefore it
could be abandoned.

8. CharactersCharacters
This shot is of the main
actor in the film who is
known as Guy Pearce. He
is a vey well known actor
as he has successfully
secured main roles in
many other films in the
past such as ‘Iron Man 3’,
‘The Kings Speech’,
‘Prometheus’ and much
more.

9. NarrativeNarrative
This picture gives the audience
a sense of what type of genre
the movie is going to be
because of the mise en scene.
The Props and the blood show
that the movie could be a
murder. The glasses are
shown flying off his face and
the gun is pointed directly at
him. There is also blood
splattered on the walls. This
shows the brutality of the
film . This movie could also be
a psychological thriller as the
main character could be
mental and a psycho. This
could lead him to murder
people and choose victims.

10. TitlesTitles
The Title is in a blue simple
font style and the
background is black. The
letters are spaced out which
makes the audience feel
unsettled and uneasy. The
colour blue and black have
connotations such as
authority. This could then
lead on to mean something
in the film. ‘Authority’ may
occur in the film so the
colours of the titles give us
a hint of what may happen
in the film. The BOLD blue
letters really make the title
stand out to the audience.
The definition of MEMENTO
is an object kept as a
reminder of a person or
event. This gives us an idea
of what we can expect in
the film.