Sequencing Images – Unconventional Sequence Narrative of Memento

There’s going to be a spoiler for ‘Memento’, so…
if you haven’t seen it.
Go see it.

I remember 3 years ago, my friend told me “hey, you like Inception, right? Go see Memento – same guy who made Inception made memento“. I was never really a non-blockbuster watcher of films but since he really wanted me to I guess I gave it a shot.

Perhaps one of the most memorable element of the film was the ending and how it tied up the unconventional non-linear storytelling that was present in the film. The sequence was not just a gimmick in the film, it was defined by the story itself. Through this technique we are constantly discovering truths with the protagonist and encountering obstacles in real time. This constant jump back and forth was done in a way that is exciting, unique and surprisingly, comprehensible.

What he describes the structure as a ‘hairpin narration’, where two linear storylines run concurrently throughout the film and jumps between the backward sequence done in color and forward sequence done in monochrome. The two storylines tie together at the end completing the loop and everything just seem to tie in together.

But if this is a little confusing, here’s Christopher Nolan explaining it himself.

Watch from: 4:33 – 6:33

I was intrigued by this technique of storytelling and I looked into incorporating this unconventional structure into my next assignment

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