Memento (Nolan, 2000, US)

Memento - Identifying how elements of Media language are used to create meaning.

Cinematography

In the clip of Memento we see Cinematography being used effectively, as the camera movement is smooth and creates a variety of meaning. The first example is an over the shoulder shot, the over the shoulder shot is used when the mysterious man is looking down at an image, which is slowly being reversed and fading away. This creates meaning that the image relates to the man, that he has taken the photo and that it was fading away as the scene was in reverse, in the photo we saw a body, this gives us the first impression that he may be a police officer. We also never see the full scene, the majority of shots are close ups or mid shots, this means that the Director doesn't want us knowing what is fully happening, as it may give to much away creating a sense of mystery and wanting the audience to know more. This is shown when the man is putting the image back into the camera. We then see a low angle shot of the man who is shooting the elder man, this means the man with the gun has higher dominance, and over powering as he has the weapon in his hand.

 

Low angle shot showing dominance

 SOUND

In the clip Memento, sound is used to create an atmosphere of tension, at the start of the sequence the soundtrack is non-diegetic meaning that the actor are not able to hear it. The soundtrack is slow paced, meaning something sad has happened, the sound is also deep creating a sense of sadness. However when we see the mans face, the music instantly changing to a faster pace creating a sense of panic and worry, we do not yet know what is about to happening, this is meaning to make the scene more dramatic and putting the audience on edge. We then see the clip of the items flying back up into the gun, for example the bullet rolling on the floor, is hyperbolic sound, this means that it's exaggerated, the meaning for the bullet casing to be loud is for us to realise that something bad could occur. This again is done for the gun shot, it is exaggerated because the director is meaning to hook the audience in and create a dramatic atmosphere.

 

Editing

In the clip memento we can see that the pace of the editing is slow to begin with, this is meant to create a mysterious feel to the opening sequence, the shots have been edited slow so that the scene isn't fast paced and there is not of action. However when you continue watching the clip you see that the pace of editing increases, as the action is increasing, the faster the clips are shown, an example of this is when the man is about to be shot, the editing becomes faster, because it is reaching the climax of the scene, this is when the man is shot. The editing is purposely done so that we don't know too much about what is happening, and the clip is in reverse, this confusing the audience as we don't know how the two characters relate or why he has been killed. Creating a sense of mystery for the audience.

Mise-en-scene

mise-en-scene in the clip is used to show meaning by making a atmosphere. The low key lighting is used to make it seem as though something is not right and that the room is dark, this automatically creates a feeling that something isn't right. The props used are the bullet casing, the gun and the glasses, these few props create an instant meaning as the bullet casing is laying on the floor which shows that the gun has already been shot, however we don't know who done it. The glasses are circular which can represent an elderly person, who is weak and vulnerable to getting hurt and who is easy to hurt and the prop of the gun means that the scene was violent. We also see blood splatters on the wall, this automatically means that someone was getting hurt creating an eerie feel towards the whole scene and making us the audience more curious to find out what happened.The costume of the man is a brown jacket, which is normally representing someone who has high authority over the elderly man who has been shot. The prop of the image shows us a body meaning that someone has been killed creating a meaning of violence and death.

Close up of the image he is holding.