Sound Analysis

In this scene from Memento, diegetic ambient sound is used to create suspense. As the main character, Leonard Shelby, enters the building, we hear his footsteps slowing down with the intervals between them increasing in each step. This pattern in his footsteps almost resembles the pattern in which we breath, so when he suddenly stops it almost makes the audience hold their breathe. This would make heighten the suspense and anticipation for the audience.

The non diegetic soundtrack is parallel to the narrative in the scene. We only hear it when suspense is being built. When Leonard reads the caption of the photo saying 'kill him', we hear a high, minor key chord crescendoing. This would create anticipation for the audience but might also be used to display Shelby's emotions and/or understanding of the narrative in the scene. It is clear that he doesn't know what he's doing due to memory problems, the sound used could suggest that he is realising the truth.

Throughout the extract, there are several moments where the diegetic sound has been enhanced, making pleonastic. Moments like these include: when Leonard punches Teddy, loading and shot from the gun, all of which are very violent. The use of these shots conveys an idea that these actions were quite spontaneous and not necessarily in the a nature of the character. By enhancing these sounds, an element of surprise is introduced creating a bigger impact as the audience wouldn't necessarily expect it.


The non-diegetic voice over, from our main character, is used to inform the audience about both the character(s) and the scenes narrative. The voice over alone provides information about the entire narrative and allows the audience to anticipate the coming events just because of a few seconds of voice over. The fact that our main character is

talking to himself, could connote that he is either mentally unstable or insecure. This provides the audience with enough information to understand the character but not give too much away so there is still some room for individual interpretation. 

The diegetic sounds used like grunting and panting is used to depict character status and create tension. It is mainly Teddy who we hear grunting and panting in fear as Leonard attacks me. This vocal struggle depicts Teddy to be quite a weak character when amongst Leonard and also quite morally strong as he refuses to let Leonard pursue his intentions for longer than expected.