Gondry Film Analysis

Lighting

Gondry’s use of lighting is one of the most important filmic techniques employed to successfully construct the abstract memory scenes. As seen in figure 2, in the present time (in terms of narrative) lighting is usually natural or realistic. However, in memory shots Gondry creatively modifies this in order to distinctly differentiate the change in narrative. Darkness and low-key lighting are often used in these shots as seen in figure 3, with lights fading into black or turning off to represent Joel’s loss of these memories. Although in my opinion, the most captivating use of lightning is the circular spotlight that follows Joel around during the erasing procedure.

Serving two purposes, firstly, the spotlight embodies the intrusive,

Continuity, which is the process that "generates the illusion of a smooth, unbroken continuity across cuts by focusing our attention on story and characters and away from style," (Budd, Craig and Steinman, 112) is noticeably diverse in the film. However, certain memory scenes and most present scenes conform to the conventions of this style. For example, the scene where Clementine and Joel are eating out, Joel’s monotone voice over says they are like the “dinning dead” then a series of shot-reverse shots and eye-line matches are used to depict the rigidness of their dinner date whilst creating a continuous flow between shots. However, during the memory scenes continuity is drastically altered. An example being when Joel is attempting to identify Patrick in the bookstore however, a series of quick jump cuts repeatedly prevents the action. The use of jump cutting is also extensively used to change the locations of the memory scenes, or to erase characters from Joel’s memory, especially Clementine. Aside from diminishing the logical flow of the sequences to manifest a surreal-like mood, I believe Gondry employed the use of jump cuts to show how unnatural and relentless the erasing procedure is. Furthermore, later in the film a montage is applied to siphon a large quantity of information to the audience in a short time period; the scene where Joel goes home to collect his Clementine-related belongings as part of the requirements preceding the lacuna procedure. I believe Gondry did this to portray the significant role clementine played in his usually dull life. Through the montage, audiences are visually stimulated to internally map the memories these two characters have shared thus evoking a feeling of pathos towards them both. Hence the use of the montage not only facilitated a surreal mood but also simulated