Analysis of opening sequence:

'Memento'... how does it appear?:

The way that the word Memento appears is very clever in many ways. In picture 1, you can only see the word Memento in one, colour, but the title of the film changes from a dark blue to a light blue. This is clever, as the colour blue, may suggest the cold, sinister mood of the film, and may also express the confusion of the character, which will portray this to the audience, and also make them feel confused. At first, this blue title appears on a black background so that the title clearly stands out. The title then appears over a picture (picture 1) this is clever as because the title of the film is memento, (which could be a physical memory) instead the film is about a man who cannot make memory's so he takes pictures. so this is clever because it contradicts the name of the film.

Setting:

The setting is not revealed very clearly in the opening sequence as for the majority of the time on the screen iss just a guy's hand holding a photo, and writing over the top of it. However towards the end of the opening sequence you briefly see someone getting shot in what looks like a very dark and dingy basemant. This is cleverly chosen as it is a secluded area, which would be perfect for a murder. We also see a close up of 2 characters, which this hardly reveals them, to keep the audience on the end of their seats.

Key Props:

There are not many props that are used in the opening sequence, however the ones that are used are very important. In picture 6 you can clearly see a bullet, this is a very important prop as it potrays how serious the film is, and foreshadows death to the audience. Possible the most important prop is the photo (picture 2) this is of high importance as it portrays to the audience that the title of the film, has something to do with the props. Also the blood is used (picture 5) as a very important prop as it shows to the audience again hat something very serious has happened. A camera is shown and this is also very important as it portrays where all the individual photo's have come from.

Camera work and editing:

The use of the camera in the opening sequence is very important as it helps to set the mood of the film. Picture 5 is a perfect example, because the camera is on it's side, this portrays to the audience that something is not right, and to reiterate this is the blood running along the floor. A lot of close ups are used in the opening sequence to show the man holding the photo in his hand, this portrays to the audience that the photos are of great importance to the film, and to the man holding the photo. A close up of a man with blood on his face suggests to the audience that he is the victim, or wants the audience to think that he deserved what he got, as it was a more gruesome death, rather than a sad clean one. The pace of the shots is very important aswell, because the majority of the shots are slow paced and quite steady, the last shot of the man being shot comes to a surprise to the audience as they do not expect it to come out of the blue, fast and loud like it is. This is edited cleverly in this way to keep the audience gripped and forcing them to find out who and why this man was killed.

How does the opening sequence relate to the rest of the film:

The opening sequence is very useful for the start of many films as it is there to set the tone, pace and to give the audience some brief information. However, in Momento, it is cleverly used to portray props to the audience like the photo, gun and camera. These props are shown purposely to the audience to show that they are used for the rest of the film. Also the use of violence in the opening sequence also helps to reflect on the film as there is a lot of violence used in the film.