Drive (Opening) - Editing

In the opening of ‘Drive’, editing is used to compress time, in which editing removes unnecessary things that slow the plot/narrative down from progressing, as editing helps the film flow.

The opening of ‘Drive’ starts with a shot of a map, which then leads to Driver (Ryan Gosling) speaking on the phone. This then leads us to seeing Driver in the car driving, these editing techniques are called jump cuts. Jump cuts should be noticeable because of the scene/setting we jump from, and the scene/setting we jump to, for example when Driver is in the apartment speaking on the phone, and then the scene jumps to when Driver is in the car driving.

Shot-reverse-shot editing is used in the opening of ‘Drive’, which shows two or more characters talking between each other, or sometimes a person looking at a building/place, for example when Driver is talking to the other characters in the car, we see a series of shot-reverse-shots, and also when Driver is looking at the building waiting outside for the other characters to get into the car, in which we see a series of shot-reverse-shots from the car to the building.

In the opening of ‘Drive’, continuity editing is used to help the film flow, however, continuity is a form of invisible editing, in which the audience focus on the narrative/plot of the film, for example from one shot/scene to another, in which what happens in between those shots/scenes aren’t shown in film.