Memento - Opening Sequence

This video is the opening sequence to the film 'Memento' which was directed by Christopher Nolan, and was made in 2002. I am now going to comment on how the opening sequence is produced and what is contained within it to make it such a successful piece of footage.

The title of the film:
The title of the film appears quite near the beginning of the opening sequence, as it firstly it shows who produced the film and who the famous actors are. But when the title ‘Memento’ appears it’s in a blue font and the letters are spaced out, almost making it easier for the audience to know that ‘Memento’ is the name of the film. Also, the title ‘Memento” appears on a black background but the words are fading in and out on the screen making the mood much more creepy.

Setting/Location:

The viewer gets to see the setting/location on the film about 30 seconds into it, and the first clip is faded in while the title of the film is on the screen, and once the word ‘Memento’ is gone we see a close up of a hand holding a Polaroid picture, and the scene that is set is almost a murder scene so the viewer is already asking questions and wanting the answers. This makes the opening successful, as the viewer doesn’t know what’s happening so they carry on watching to find out.

Key props in the opening:
In this particular opening sequence the key prop used is a Polaroid picture, as they viewer may see this as the prime prop because when we see the Polaroid picture it’s in a close up shot, showing that it has a lot of importance and that this is what makes the film so special. The Polaroid picture and the title of the film almost link because a memento is a physical reminder of a place or experience, and the character in the film shows that he always has images to keep a memento to remember things in his life, and we see this right from the first clip.

Titles, font, placement and style:
When we first see the opening its just a black screen but then we see names fading in and out of producers or actors, and their names are in a ‘Times New Roman’ font showing the simplistic style of the font maybe suggesting that nothing major is happening, almost calming the viewer before they watch the film. The names are placed central of the screen and the font is in a light blue colour, like before almost calming the viewer again. But when the clips start showing of the Polaroid picture names are still appearing in the same font and colour maybe trying to hold onto the calm mood before something bad happens.

Camerawork of opening sequence:
Within the opening sequence there isn’t a variety of camera angles/shots used, and this could because that the director Nolan wanted to keep the viewer interested so if he made the opening more creepy and secretive, the viewer would engage more and would want their questions to be answered about what’s going on and why. However, the use of the close up when we see the hand holding a Polaroid picture is used to a great advantage, as the viewer is asking questions like who’s holding the picture, why has it been taken or who’s the dead person within the picture, and this is successful as the audience will keep on watching to get the answers they want. Also, once the clips have started to play the scene has almost been reverse so as the viewer we may get to see the climax and why the person has been shot in the film.

Opening sequence on relation to rest of film:
I believe that the opening sequence relates a lot to the rest of the film because it is almost the end product shown at the beginning of the film, and that the rest of the film shows the climax of what happens to the characters. Also, in the opening sequence we see the prop of the Polaroid picture and this is then used throughout the film, and it is used like a ‘memento’ to help the main character remember things within his life.

Music in the opening sequence:
The music in the opening sequence starts off quite come and slow almost easing in the viewer making them feel safe and telling them that the film is ok. However, when the blood appears and we see bullets the music starts to go even quieter like it’s building up tension for the viewer as they don’t know what’s going to happen next, but then we hear a gunshot and it goes silence and then we hear a voiceover that is about to explain something within the story.