How does Nolan covey memento as a psychological thriller?

  

Nolan conveys memento as a psychological thriller by the way he sets out the film. The film its self is not set out as usual films, it’s unconventional in the way that it is cut up and put back together. This makes the viewer think constantly on what parts of the film go where. Its all about piecing it together, that’s why it’s such a clever film.

 

Mise-en-scene

The title is blue on black, it’s an impact title, grabs the immediate attention of the viewer. There are weary sounds all threw the start of the film this adds mystery and suspense in the film already. The mise-en-scene is already portraying dark things. As a viewer you pick up signifiers already with the music and the open sequence of the murder being replayed backwards. I think this is relevant to the fact that his memory has to be replayed over and over in his mind. The main actor is a very dark and complex character. As the film continues on we find out he is a very violent man, strange representation for a man like that, it’s almost unconventional. The whole film is very non linear, in the way that it is laid out.    

Sound

The music all the way threw the film is pensive, this means it slow and very dark music, things that you would normally associate with death, mystery, just generally bad things these are all things you would associate with this genre, very conventional. Yet more signifiers. At the beginning of the film the tension is building the music, it all builds up to a crescendo where the title comes into view over a photo. The music slows down to a halt and the talking in his head takes over. The talking in his head carries on throughout the film in little snippets, where there are mysterious parts in the film a fitting music tone drifts into the background to add suspense.

Narrative

The film is non linear. This means that it is not set out as a normal film, it is split up into different parts. All the way threw the film you as the viewer has to try and piece it all together, which makes it non linear because it’s not what you expect. The film can be very deceptive and confusing for the viewer, I believe that this is a very cleverly made film because the way you find out things that you have already seen earlier on in the film.

     

Editing

The title is an impact title, it comes into view and is put in front of a photo of a dead man. This is a very powerful shot because your looking at the title as usual nd then something horrible grabs your attention immediately after, this why it is such a powerful shot. The title then fads out, which I believe is very symbolic to his memory, in the fact that nothing last for that long and it just fads away in his mind. The powerful shot is a point of view shot of the photograph then there is a close up of the blood on the floor, then a scene unfolds to what seems to be a murder. It is played backwards so you see what happens at the start. This is very clever editing. Gun noise made louder for affect.

Representation

The representation for the main character ‘Leonard’ is that he is an anit-hero. I believe he is and anti-hero because he is doing the right things but going the wrong way about it. For example he is doing the honourable thing of avenging his wife’s death but he is taking no prisoners in doing so. Murder, theft, kidnapping and more crimes to have his revenge. It takes a lot of the movie to discover out who he really is and that’s why the character is very mysterious and violent.  

The Happening Analysis

By Ryan Fleming

How does shyamalan create a sense of tension in the mise-en-scene which could be linked to the psychological thriller genre?

The happening is a thriller movie that was released to the UK in 2008, it was directed by m. night shyamalan. It Stars Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel and more. The film follows the genre very well, there is mysticism, action and a struggle for life for the main characters. I’m going to be answering the question ‘’how does shyamalan create a sense of tension in the mis-en-scene which could be linked to the psychological thriller genre?’’ I will be looking at the first 6 minutes of footage and analysing it.

 The Opening sequence is made up of the clouds moving across the sky with very eerie sounds. The opening sequence is mostly violins it’s almost like there building up to something, by getting louder and more intense building up to a crescendo. During the opening sequence the title ‘’the happening’’ comes into view by using a slow fading in technique. We normally associate violins with sadness, so this automatically links our mind set to sadness or terrible thoughts. The sinister sounds of the violins fit in well with genre.

The next shot is an establishing shot of a park that is filled with people. It’s a very busy setting. There is a non dijetic wind sound again which is another signifier. There is a vulnerable two shot of these girls sitting on a bench, with some trees in the background. The angle of the shot is slightly above them which does show them as vulnerable or maybe weak. Everything is fine and seems all is going well, and then there is an unconventional scream in the background. The scream is quickly followed by a reaction shot of one of the girls. It is done quickly I think to again build tension. It then goes to a point of view shot of the same blonde women of lots of people standing still down the park, all in different places. This adds immediate suspicion, it makes the viewer think what is happening why are they doing that. There then is another scream but from a different place. Another reaction shot quickly follows again, using the same technique as before to add tension. It almost like things are being built up now. There is still the wind in the background building tension and building up to something. After the music being built up for a while the other women stares into space and seems not to be all there, almost blank. The woman takes out a sharp object from the back of her hair and slowly stabs herself with it in the neck. This adds lots of things tension, mysticism and it is starting to confuse the viewers why she has done this.

From that shot in the park it cuts to a suburban shot of the city. It is very busy in the streets, plenty of noise. Police cars come into view with there lights flashing and speeding which adds to the mis-en-scene of this shot, tension and wondering if there reacting to the park incident that we have just scene. Keeps the viewer thinking. Equilibrium disruptive ‘’a complicating has occurred in the narrative’’ because this is all different to a normal day already.       

Hitlist of anilytical improvements.

• Write in sectioned paragraphs
• Don't waffle to much
• keep it relevant to the section you are talking about.
• Use analytical words better
• Identify conventions