Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Drive’ delivers some great cinematography; with an interesting colour palette and a defined lighting style contributing to the film’s ‘neo-noir-esque’ visuals and themes. While the whole film is shot/edited marvellously, I think that this opening sequence is near perfect in construction. There’s obviously a lot going on throughout this 7 minute introduction to ‘the Driver’, so I’ll try my best to deconstruct some of the major elements with as much detail as possible.
Lighting:
- The first thing that can be noticed is the distinct use of an orange & teal colour scheme: this has become a Hollywood lighting staple – and can be seen in almost every Hollywood production.
- Lighting is also ‘Low-Key’, keeping much of the frame in darkness & the light quality is hard
- For the most part, ‘Driver’ is lit with a key-light (lighting the off-side of his face) & a dim fill-light.
- The sequence is lit mostly with ‘motivated’ light sources, the car’s lights, streetlights, etc. I believe that in many cases, the lights being used to light the scene have been made deliberately visible in shots where we can see through the car’s windows.
- The combination of orange & teal colours as well as a dimmish green tone has given the film it’s neo-noir-ish look.
Camera:
- The camera has been kept locked off for most of the scene, we see it pan from ‘Driver’ to the thieves a few times but generally, it is mounted and locked down to some part of the car.
- The camera tends to place the viewer as a passenger, showing us perspectives from the passenger and back seats quite often. When placed in the back seat, the rear-view mirror has been used to show Driver’s thoughts and expressions – mimicking what a passenger would likely be doing in this getaway situation.
- The camera’s positioning on the passenger’s side of the ‘axis of action’ has also allowed the Driver to be lit primarily with lights from outside his window.
- The shots that look through the car’s windshield also show the Driver’s face in the rear-view mirror, these shots work amazingly well and I think it’s because they allow viewers to see both the action (outside the car) and the reactions (inside the car – the Driver’s expressions).
- A shallow depth of field has been used for the majority of the shots generally either the outside/inside of the car is soft. This has allowed for the creative use of bokeh effects, and also directs our attention to key aspects of each shot.
Sound:
- Music is used in a minimal sense throughout this sequence, and is kept at a low volume.
- The soundtrack is really detailed in it’s layers, with every sound providing some degree of information regarding the situation.
- The soundtrack also seems to be from the Driver’s perspective; sounds fade in and out as he directs his attention to them/focuses on other things. For instance when he fixes his watch to the steering wheel it’s ticking is quite dominant however as he sets up the police radio scanner the ticking fades off. The alarm bells also become more predominant as the Driver and Thief #1 become anxious regarding Thief #2’s whereabouts.
- The use of the police radio really increased the drama and intensity of the sequence as it allows us to hear what the police are doing in their attempts to locate the Driver. This provides us with the chance to anticipate what the Driver will have to do in order to escape the police. Suspense is created as we can foresee moments where the Driver and the police will become visible to each other.
- Dynamics in the soundtrack have also been used to manipulate viewer emotions – with moments of quiet and moments of loudness being juxtaposed to provide a more powerful and energetic experience. When the helicopter spots the Driver, the soundtrack becomes booming, and the helicopter’s sound effects in particular become very loud.
Performance:
- In this sequence, Gosling plays ‘Driver’ in a controlled and calm manner. This shows us that his character is highly confident in this aspect of his life and has done jobs such as this one many times before. We later learn of his skill as a driver, reaffirming this idea.
- Gosling performs the role in a very minimal way, with subtle movements and gestures, his facial expression remaining neutral for the majority of the sequence. The movement and direction of his gaze is the key provider of information here, and while minimal, this component of the performance is successful in conveying a lot of information.
- Ensuring that eye-lines match up would have been particularly challenging during this shoot as the car is continuously moving. The use of the rear-mirror is also a great effect however I’m sure that it would have made matching eye-lines even more difficult.