Thriller analysis

Explain how sound and editing are used to establish what the characters are doing in an opening two minute sequence of a thriller.


The opening scene I am going to discuss is about the Christopher Nolan thriller Memento’ this film uses music and sound that are usually included in most thriller movies.

The sequence starts with the credits, very dark dramatic music is used even before any characters are revealed to the audience. The director has done to already set the scene for what kind of movie this is going to be and lets the audience get a general feel to the film.
The first image the audience actually sees is a Polaroid picture of a man who has been shot in the head. It is a very graphic image, at first you can just see the characters hand holding the picture and him shaking it. The first reaction of the audience is that it appears as though he is drying but then the audience can see that the sequence is being played backwards.

The shot then changes to see the sequence of what ‘Guy Pearces’ character was doing. It shows the sequence backwards, the Polaroid goes back into the camera. Then the flash goes showing when the photo was taken, the camera then cuts to his facial expression. Simple cuts are used to cut between each part of the room where he is in, the camera then cuts to the blood of who he shot. The n there are a series of fast cuts showing the empty bullet shell, the bloody glasses and then the dead person lying on the floor.

The camera shot then changes again and it is still clear that the sequence is being played backwards as the characters arm reaches out and the gun then flies up to it. It then shows the character kneeling down, another series of fast cuts showing the bullet shell moving on the floor and then cuts to the glasses moving back to the dead persons head then cuts back to the bullet going in the gun and then the character shouting.

The whole sequence is played backwards but if it was played forward would show him kneeling down he shoots the character then shows glasses then the bullet. He then takes the Polaroid picture.

The way in which editing is used is very clever in capturing the audiences attention as the backward sequence interests them in to what the sequence is showing. The audience realizes that this character has killed someone but is unsure why and wants to find out more. The music at the beginning begins very dramatic and loud but then as it cuts to the actual characters situation then the there is still that quit drone of orchestral dark music. The music is Non diegetic, which means that it is not in the world of the film and cannot be heard by the characters. The film is put together in Non-chronological order this has been done by the way in which has been edited which is clever you can tell this by when the scene that comes in next starts it is in black and white. This is done in film to show something in the world of the film that is past tense.
Also throughout the sequence it is kept very quite even with the orchestral music there is no dialogue. The sound effects of the camera and gun are kept loud to make them obvious to the audience, this reinforces the situation.

After watching the opening sequence the audience really can get a feel for what the film is going to be about.

By Tom Cox