Scott McCloud’s discussion of time in comics gives an interesting lens for readers when it comes to temporal manipulation and what actually goes on in-between panels in the medium. While reading through McCloud’s visual essay I noticed that everything they talked about I already knew in the back of my mind. It’s something that comes naturally when reading a well-made comic that you never really think about what actually is going on. This concept is also used in digital cinema, though in its own variation due to the medium’s differences with comics. When comes to examples of the concept in cinema, my mind instantly goes to some of Nolan’s works.
In Inception, time operates on multiple levels within dreams, with each deeper dream state moving at a slower pace than the one above it. This creates a layered narrative where different timelines unfold simultaneously, much like how a comic page displays multiple moments at once. The film’s climax, intercutting between various dream levels, forces the audience to track multiple temporalities, echoing McCloud’s idea of fragmented yet interconnected time perception.
Memento, a personal favorite of mine, takes a different approach by reversing traditional cinematic time. The film’s structure alternates between two timelines—one moving forward in chronological order and another unfolding in reverse. This creates a disorienting yet compelling experience, as viewers must piece together the narrative much like reading comic panels out of sequence. The film’s manipulation of time challenges the audience’s perception of causality, making it an example of cinema mirroring the nonlinear possibilities of comics.
Ultimately, McCloud’s insights on temporal manipulation in comics provide a useful framework for understanding how digital cinema can experiment with time. Through innovative editing, framing, and sequencing, films like Inception and Memento reshape traditional storytelling, offering audiences new ways to experience time on screen.
Seeing how this blog post is not about a specific movie, I’ll leave you all with a special double letterboxd review segment. My old ratings for Inception & Memento! Note: I haven’t watched either in a few years now so the letterboxd ratings are lacking 🙁
Inception
Memento