Almost Famous

In the film Almost Famous, Cameron Crowe utilizes many different filming techniques throughout the movie.  First, when Elaine is on the phone with her son in Cleveland, Crowe uses a medium shot at eye level.  What this does to viewers is give them a sense of the worry in her eyes, while simultaneously making them aware of nobody in the background, showing she's alone, and most likely lonely.  Next, Crowe uses Dominant contrast in that same scene because Elaine is wearing a red/orange shirt in a dark room, symbolizing passion and longing for her son's return.  Russell's body language also changes throughout the conversation from dominant and enthusiastic, to dominated and apologetic. After that, Crowe uses panning and tracking shots while they are on stage.  This gives the viewer a recognition of the magnitude of their performance, and the crowd they perform to.  Without these shots, the set wouldn't seen as big or exiting, but rather somewhat stale.  Lastly, Crowe uses classical cross-cutting after each word in the conversation between Russell and Elaine.  Because of this each action/reaction can be examined to see who comes out on top of the conversation, which is obviously Elaine.  In the end, this whole movie is very well thought out and filmed with appropriate style to encompass an exiting true story.

Memento

 In the film Memento, Christopher Nolan uses one of the most complex editing schemes in film history to create a confusing and thrilling plot line.  He uses abstract cutting and false-parallel editing so that the viewer has trouble following where the story is at a certain point in time.  He alternates between two plot lines, one in reverse order, meeting in the middle of the movie.  The scenes don't match up with the scene the viewer previously watched, so no logical sequence can be drawn until the end, where it is still somewhat hazy.  The thing that throws off the truth and makes it questionable, is certain flashbacks that nobody knows if they are real or not.  For example, he remembers the story of Sammy Jenkins from before the accident occurred, and how he killed his own wife because he didn't know any better.  Late in the movie, Leonard has a quick flashback of his wife having diabetes, and him poking her with a needle.  In that case, Sammy Jenkins is made up, confirming the story Teddy tells Leonard.  This scene is filled with dialectical tension as Leonard presses Teddy to find out the truth, which he later disregards anyway.  The truth revealed to me is simple that Leonard consciously knows he is going after the wrong guy, and by the time he gets those new clued on his body, he thinks he's on the track of the correct killer once again.  He will do anything to avenge his wife(who may or may not have survived the attack) and that's why he makes the perfect killer for Teddy.  The reason Leonard does what he does isn't to avenge his wife, but rather give his life a purpose, because he knows he would have no reason to live with his condition otherwise.  In the end, Christopher Nolan still won't reveal the truth about the movie, so no matter how many conclusions are drawn up, nobody knows if they are right.