Memento: Mini review

Memento: Christopher Nolan

One of the things I found really interesting about Memento is the journey we must take with the main character. Not just as a story but  the feelings we have towards him. Upon closely following and engaging with the character's motifs, I really began to root for him in hope that he'd find the right killer. You almost begin to feel sorry for him as he is doing everything he can to reach his goal, However, after discovering that he indeed intended to kill his partner to continue his hunt, I no longer felt sorry for him. Instead my feelings shifted against him slightly.

 In my opinion, having the ability to shift an entire point of view of a character is a powerful technique that not every director/ producer knows how to execute as well.  This is definitely something that I would like to take on board for my screenplay as I also want to have the audience build a rapport with the characters only to then shift it around. 

The Shots
Another element of Memento that I will definitely be taking on board is the flashes of shots which (at times) give hints to where the film could go, as well as illustrating the past and present. I really enjoyed how this was done because it changed the viewing pace. Instead of just having a long, static shot which would keep the feel of the movie very monotonous, Christopher Nolan has inserted the sudden flashes of sometimes unpleasant shots, creates a very jumpy and interesting sequence.



Presented on the left is a few examples of close ups/ extreme close ups which I found to contribute to the dark, mystery thriller theme of the film. By having the audience up close and personal with the gruesome events which occurred, really continues to engage the audience even further. Therefore being another aspect for me to take on board as I also want the audience to feel as if they are witnessing the event themselves.

Christopher Nolan
C. Nolan is a successful writer, director and producer. Winning over 100 film awards and over nominations, Nolan has definitely become one of the most influential directors of today in my opinion. 
His work has definitely inspired me for a multitude of reasons. I took a look at his first short film 'Doodlebug'(1997). It is clear to see that Nolan has always carried the psychological thriller motif since the very start of his career. Doodlebug starts off with a very frantic man searching for a bug, it is later revealed that the bug he is chasing is in fact himself. Upon finally swatting it, he is then relieved until another bigger version of himself then swats him, creating a repetitive pattern. This is such a fantastic twist because even after the film has ended, for that split second the viewer could imagine that even the last character seen will almost certainly end up like the one he swatted. This simple theme of repetition creates a dynamic impact on how we view C nolan as these same themes are later illustrated and expressed within his other movies. On example of this would be inception. 'A dream within a dream'. Christopher Nolan definitely thinks outside the box and makes the audience think. This is an important trait which I hope to develop within my short film because I want to make my audience think. 

 Another trademark of Nolan's would be the way he ends his films with the possibility of open interpretation of the character's fate. This is demonstrated in Momento, Inception and    even in  The dark knight. With the dark knight, it is open for interpretation because you do not know whether it is Alfred's imagination or if bruce actually got away. 

Nolan also starts his films mid action with a close up of the face or hands doing something- just like in momento, and doodlebug. I think this is a great trait to have because the audience is automatically thrown into the action and no time is wasted. I also want to have my audience immersed into my video so I think Christopher Nolan is a great director to look at.   

Comments

  1. SimonWelsford28 September 2015 at 13:26

    some great comments here...well done. anything else that might influence you from Nolan? has HE made a short? check our doodlebug... what about other similar writers, or films... dig a little more. good work though!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Directions: Drama: SFX make up

Image
For my production I wanted to create prosthetics to heighten the believability and the quality of my zombies. I watched a lot of youtube tutorials and I realised that there is a technique to creating such pieces but I was really willing to try it out. Usually you would need to make a a cast for the persons face but I decided to simplify it for myself and just use  plate. I learnt that this could be just as good after watching someone create a brilliant prosthetic that way.  In the video here you can see that she has moulded the clay in to the desired shape and preps it for the covering of the liquid latex. I then proceeded to doing the same.   I was using coloured, oil based clay for mine. I was then required to sprinkle flour over mine to thicken the layer of the latex. I would repeat that until I was happy with the thickness. In the same tutorial, she moulded teeth for her zombie and I thought it would've been cool to do the same. For this, I had to bite d
Read more

Directions: Self Portrait: The Development of the idea and Test Footage

Image
I had an idea of how I wanted my self portrait to look, I wanted to incorporate nice imagery from a collection of places that I have been and I wanted it to have a double exposure effect, almost like it was imprinting on me. I learned that in order to get that effect, I would need to be in front of a plain background, green screen would be best. I watched a few tutorial on this;   But I later found another tutorial where I learned that you can also achieve this look without a green screen, the background just had to be plain. After learning about this, I was relieved because it would be easier for me to do it on a white background, especially when I realised that the studios had plain white walls with good lighting after a workshop. I wanted to conduct some test footage and try out the design to see if it was actually plausible. Here are some stills of the test footage. After shooting this I realised that the only shots I could practice on were the ones wh
Read more

Major Project: Table Read with actors

Image
What the meeting consisted of;  This part of the unit was really important as it required me to take my directing skills to the next step. the official definition for a 'Table Read" is described as " A table read is when actors sit around tables in a large room (or sometimes your living room!) and read through the script aloud.  " - Backstage.com (2014) I knew it would really require me to know exactly how I wanted my actors to portray their characters.  This table read consisted of me arriving at my actress Sigourney's house and Moses would meet me there. Both actors where able to meet each other for the first time so that was really good. We then sat around the table and read through the script but most importantly we focussed on scenes that needed to evoke the most emotion or scenes that required a certain emphasis. I took some recordings to allow me to listen back if I ever wanted  I had to make sure I was listening carefully to every word and pronunciati
Read more