Drive - Opening

The film ‘Drive’ is about a secretive/suspicious getaway driver, who gets himself into trouble by helping out his friends (committing a crime). The opening of ‘Drive’ is extremely effective as it focuses on one main character in the film (Ryan Gosling), in which it is mostly set in the dark, and keeps the audience watching and asking questions of what is going to happen next (as there isn’t a lot of dialogue in the opening of the film, to give anything away).

In the opening of ‘Drive’, sound, mise-en-scene, camera and editing are used.

Sound is used to create tension/suspense and to get the audience thinking of what is going to happen next, as the non-diegetic fast tempo and incidental music is used to create tension and suspense. Furthermore, there isn’t a lot of dialogue used in the opening of ‘Drive’, which doesn’t give too much away to the audience watching. Also, there are many diegetic sounds used in the opening of ‘Drive’, such as the car engine, the car radio, the opening and closing of the car doors, the opening of the gate (of the warehouse) and the helicopter and police sirens.

Mise-en-scene is used to create a sense of realism and to show the characters in the opening of ‘Drive’ are associated with realistic settings. In the opening of ‘Drive’, there are many different locations used to create a sense of realism, such as the interior of a domestic setting (flat), the interior of a garage, and the exterior of a warehouse. There are also many props and costumes used which are associated with everyday life, such as bags and watches (props), and dark clothing and gloves (costumes).

The different camera angles/shots used in the opening of ‘Drive’ show the main characters (Driver – Ryan Gosling) presence and importance in the film (as many close-ups and low angle shots are used, which show his importance in the film). Moreover, establishing shots are used to show the location that the characters are in.

Editing is used in the opening of ‘Drive’ to help the film flow, in which jump cuts (for example, when Driver is in the flat, then the scene jumps to when Driver is in the car driving), shot-reverse-shots (for example, from one character to the other, and from the car to the building when Driver is waiting outside the building for the other characters) and continuity editing (from one shot to another) is used.