Memento (Nolan, 2000, USA)

In this opening sequence, we as a viewer, can initially see a hand holding up a Polaroid photograph of a dead man, occasionally shaking the photo which shows more obscurity as time progresses. Once the photograph becomes more or less entirely obscure, the change of the camera focuses from the photograph to Leonard, the man who's holding the photo. The music changes also, from exuding sorrow and sadness when the photograph was in view to becoming quite chilling and intimidating when the camera gains focus of Leonard. It is now clear that the footage has been shown in reverse order as a number of seconds later, a gun literally flies into Leonard's hand and the glasses fly onto the face of Teddy (the dead man in the Polaroid photograph) before he gets shot by Leonard (as seen in the clip below).



Through the opening sequence, there are multiple questions that the audience should feel inclined to ask after they had witnessed the murder of Teddy. Some questions would include why Leonard had killed Teddy (seeing as how the audience only know that Teddy has died whilst a reason hasn't been given as of yet), why was the editing shown in reverse (which becomes more and more evident as the sequence moves onward) and who out of Leonard and Teddy is the protagonist and antagonist (the audience will assume Leonard to be the antagonist due to shooting Teddy, but the reasoning for doing so may be justifiable to them and make them switch perceptive by placing Leonard as the protagonist and Teddy as the antagonist).

Another question that the audience are left asking is where is the location of the two characters, as there are only vague glimpses of the location in the opening sequence. However, from what the audience can see of the location, it appears to be an abandoned and confined area, since Leonard and Teddy are the only two characters in the location and the colours of the venue are predominantly dull. The mise-en-scene also shows us the facial features of Leonard, who appears to look quite scruffy due to his facial stubble, which makes a different contrast to his outfit due to the formal looking blue shirt and brown jacket he is wearing. This could perhaps show that he has tried as hard as he possibly could to track down Teddy, due to not having enough time to shave his stubble so he can look fully presentable as he was tracking down Teddy.



The two separate uses of non-diegetic music that are audible throughout the entire opening sequence also gives the viewer something to base their assumptions on regarding the character of Leonard, specifically when they can hear the second piece of non-diegetic music being played as they get a view of Leonard's physical appearance. Whilst the first piece of non-diegetic music has quite a depressing, sombre tone, the incidental music audible once we see Leonard's appearance takes a dramatic turn by changing from being sorrowful and solemn to being chilling and intimidating, which is what Leonard exudes from the audience's first glimpse of him. From the chilling and intimidating music that is playing during the camera's focus on Leonard, it makes the audience feel quite fearful about him if not just due to the non-diegetic incidental music that is playing, which is supported not much longer by the gun that flies into his hand, showing the viewer that he has used a gun and generates a certain amount of trepidation as they fear that he could use that gun towards a character that they may potentially like or feel sympathetic towards.

Interestingly enough, the only shots we see of Leonard are a range of close-ups, giving the audience glimpses of him but not long nor wide enough to display a full view of Leonard's appearance. This intrigues the audience, as they have so far yet to see what the whole of Leonard looks like, garnering enough interest from the audience to see Leonard's appearance in entirety so they can produce a better assumption of his character through his full appearance rather than the glimpses that they have seen of him. However, it is not just with Leonard in the opening sequence that the audience are restricted to strictly viewing close-ups, as the entire opening sequence presents a variety of close-ups (minus a mid-shot of Leonard when he crouches down), which gives the members of the audience very little hints and clues to work with when attempting to answer the questions that they have been given by the opening sequence.

Differences between a trailer and an opening sequence

This post will explain the differences between the trailer and an opening sequence.

Trailers

A trailer is essentially a montage of scenes and clips that have been carefully picked out to produce an 'enticing' trailer for a film/TV programme that aims to allure viewers into seeing the whole of the film/TV programme so they can gain more of an understanding of what is happening, as trailers are usually at a much shorter length than opening sequences, which only allows the viewer to take in small hints and indications so they only know very little about the plot in the film/TV programme. The trailers below have been produced to entice viewers into watching their advertised product.

 

The trailer for 'SMILEY' gives short snippets of SMILEY (the main antagonist of the film) in action, by promoting his antagonistic status in order to garner more fear from the audience, yet also garner enough intrigue from them so they feel compelled to find out more about this 'SMILEY' character, which is a good reaction for a horror movie.

 

The trailer for 'The Dark Knight Rises' often mentions the product being advertised to reach it's 'epic conclusion'. The use of the word 'epic' builds up the amount of anticipation the audience will have for the film, thus tempting them to pay and watch the movie so they can see how the conclusion is as 'epic' as it is labelled to be.

Opening Sequences

An opening sequence is different to a trailer as the former of the two has a much longer length than the latter, and features only the beginning of the film/TV programme. Whereas trailers solely display the dramatic peak of the plot for the film/TV programme that they are advertising, opening sequences either show the normality of the characters and the setting, so the audience can get a good grasp of how to perceive the characters, or opening sequences will build-up towards that dramatic peak, which as a result, also building up the anticipation of the viewer and atmosphere for the characters. Opening sequences will also most likely feature the roles that people will have been given for the film (actors/actresses, director, editor, producer, etc.).



The opening sequence for 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' features the opening credits to the film (something that I have observed from this opening sequence is that the credits display unique titles such as 'Costume Designer' and 'Co-Producers') and also features a nightmare Lisbeth has, which shows part of her 'damaged' past. The nightmare sequence shows hints as to what Lisbeth has been through, that become much clearer as the film progresses.



Like the opening sequence of 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', the opening sequence for 'Panic Room' features the opening credits to the film (including the actors/actresses, costume designer, film editors, production designers as well as other titles), whilst also showing establishing shots of the location, to give the audience a better grasp of where the film is set, and the normality of the citizens that reside in this location.

Brief for Coursework

- Titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.

- All the video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s) with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.

Preliminary Task

Donnie Dark Annotations

This video shows the annotations I have made and how I have analysed them.