Reflection: Memento

This film required my full attention. I realized this after I tried for a week to start the movie and each time failed. I tried watching it while I was doing other work, or while I was with a friend, or even just while I had other things on my mind, and each time, I got frustrated. Finally, I sat down and made myself really watch Memento. I’m glad I did. I’m so intrigued by the complexity of everything. I spent the first half hour thoroughly confused. Then I thought I knew what was going on, only to have everything turned around on my in the last bit of the film. It was definitely an experience.

The part I most enjoyed were the visual cues that helped me understand the sequence. The black and white scenes were a good transition when the story jumped back in time. I think without those, it wouldn’t have been clear to the audience that the story was being picked up at a different time. I also really liked the feeling of anticipation as I could feel the scenes catching up to where the last one had started. Often, the scenes would start in a place that seems totally out of place or confusing, but later, you get to find out what brought the events there.

This method of confusing the audience is really interesting. As a graphic designer, I think a lot about how to make a message clear to an audience. However, making intentional choices to confuse the audience in order to keep them thinking is a really cool approach. I think as I approach this final project for the semester, I want to break out of my comfort zone a little and try and confuse my audience, rather than doing everything to explicitly tell them exactly what I want them to hear.