Memento (Nolan, 2000, US) Opening Sequence Analysis

The score at the beginning of the opening sequence uses string instruments such as violins to create a saddening, mellow, sombre atmosphere. As the audience is given not much visual aid as to what the theme of the scene is, they initially assume it is lonely and depressing. The diegetic sound of the photo shutter acts as a transition for the music to turn from sad to mysterious.  This mysterious score shows that the character isn’t mourning over the dead man and instead may have killed him.

The editing of the shots is very unconventional, as all the shots in the first scene are played backwards. This works well to slowly reveal to the character what has just happened and climaxes with showing that Pierce killed the dead character.

The pace of the shots start extremely slow, and eventually speed up at the end of the scene to build tension for the climax. This slow pace adds to the initial mood of sadness. The very long first shot of the picture developing backwards also gives the audience time to realise that the shot is being played in reverse. This prepares them for the style of the film editing. 

The cinematography works well to demonstrate the status of the two characters in the scene. It does this by portraying Pierce in a high angle shot when he throws the gun.

This demonstrates that he is more powerful than the dead character and implies he may have killed him. The many extreme close ups of objects around the room lets the audience piece together the crime scene and figure out what happened for themselves. This makes the audience actively think about the scene.

Many elements of mise-en-scene in the sequence demonstrate the theme of murder. For example, the blood all around the walls shows a graphic death from a gunshot.

The dead character’s glasses imply that he is a vulnerable person as people general stereotype people with glasses to be smart content people who are not violent.