Editing.

How is editing used in the film Memento?

The film starts off using a close up of a hand holding a picture of a man dead on the floor with half his head missing, and blood all over the walls. After a short period of time, the character holding the photo then shakes it, as one would do when helping a picture to develop. When the photo is re shown to the audience the picture has faded. The action is repeated another 3 times and each time the picture fades a little more, this gives the impression of time rewinding itself, which is supported when the objects such as bullet case and glasses fly backwards, and the whole scene takes place in reverse.

There is then a smooth cut from the dead man's face, before he is shot, to a close up on the main characters face. However the scene has changed, the picture is now in black and white, and the main character is the only person in the room. The editing tells the audience that this scene is something separate from the main storyline that they just witnessed, which is confirmed when the main character, Leonard, starts to explain the condition he has. It allows the audience to receive more information in a simpler way, rather than leaving them confused for the rest of the film as to what is happening.

The scene then ends and is cut to a picture of the man who the audience had just seen Leonard shoot, Teddy. In the scene the editing is also used to cut between the two characters faces during their conversation, showing the audience how Leonard reacts to Teddy, and the expressions on the characters faces when they converse, giving an insight to what they are thinking. Editing can also give the audience more information in a different way, for example when Leonard leans into an abandoned car to see what's inside, and the shot changes to a close up of 4 bullets on the front seat of the car. At the same time it symbolises how important these bullets are, because they show that something isn't right with the situation, as the place is apparently 'abandoned'.

At the end of each scene, the edit used allows the film to cut between time frames, each 'coloured' scene goes back in time, showing the action that led to the consequence, therefore meaning each scene ends with what was the beginning of the scene before the one playing. Each shot also starts and ends with the same action, so the editing makes the transition of information smooth, the audience don't notice the edit, these can also be referred to as 'invisible cuts'.

Edits that lead to close ups of certain aspects in the film are used quite regularly, mainly to focus the audiences attention on important parts of the film. For example, everytime Leonard is given a new piece of information which he has had before but doesn't remember, the shot is edited to a close up shot in order to allow the audience to see this new information, and put together the clues along with him.

In conclusion, the editing used in Memento helps to give the film an original storyline, and a unique way of telling a story to the audience. It draws the audiences attention to the storyline, but it also doesn't leave them too confused, due to the use of 'invisible cuts' throughout the film which are used to make the audience feel like they are actually there in the film, it makes the film more realistic. The editing also allows the main character to suffer from his memory loss in a way, because using the idea of time going backwards shows the audience why he suffers from the memory loss, and why he is seen doing certain actions, like shooting Teddy in the head at the beginning of the film. On the whole though the editing is very disjointed, skipping between time frames, symbolising how confusing Leonard's life must be for him and how jumbled his day-to-day life must be.