Film Name: DriveDirector: Nicolas Winding Refn
Year of film: 2011
British Academy Film Award nomination:
Best Film
Best Director
Best Supporting Actress
Best Editing
Cannes Film Festival Award's Won:
Best Director
Overview:
The film opens with an initial scene of a get-away chase featuring the main character, a nameless driver depicted by Ryan Gosling. After two masked men break into a warehouse, Ryan Gosling waits and then begins the chase scene. The scene relies heavily on sound affects and and the voice over to build upon the tension of the intelligent low speed chase. The scene finishes with Ryan Gosling getting out of the car and walking out in front of the pursuing police after blending into the surrounding crowd at a baseball game.
Camera techniques (and what it adds):
How are the characters portrayed:
The Driver (Ryan Gosling):
Costume – A simple white quilted jacket with no detail other than a golden scorpion on the back. This acts as an analogy of the character that Ryan Gosling portrays; although his character of the driver appears to be a simple or shallow in depth, it has a secret meaning, just like the golden scorpion.
Location – The location of the movie was within downtown Los Angeles, as stated earlier this gives the movie an instant contemporary feel to the scenes.
Voice – Although the character of the unnamed driver has little to no voice, the lack of voice plays a large role in the character development. The fact that the driver does not speak a single word during the whole of the opening scene instantly creates a sense of mystery grabbing the audiences imagination and surrounding the character in mystery.
Gesture – Due to the character having little voice the gestures that the character chooses, both facial and physical, are what really pushes the characters development through the whole movie. Many of the gestures are not explicit and tend to be in plain site, such as when he places the wristwatch around the steering wheel of the car right at the start.
How does sound contribute to the opening:
Diegetic Sound – Used to show the action that is happening during the chase, for example the engine noise is used to give the idea of speed during the scene. The constant flow of the radio used during the scene makes the audience feel as though this is happening in real time and progresses within a set time frame. The use of ambient sounds, such as the initial sirens, gave the audience a sense of pressure upon the characters in this scene.
Score – The score has a steady and consistent beat repeat, only shifting volume to allow use of diegetic sounds within the opening. The score begins to crescendo as scene begins to move and ultimately acts almost as a heartbeat of the driver.
What made me think it was best:
Overall I think this movies is one of the best as it plays on raw emotion and feelings, by using simple but perfected techniques making this contemporary action movie, feel like a carefully crafted master piece.
Here is the opening sequence I have used to analyse the above (starts at 7:07):
The film opens with an initial scene of a get-away chase featuring the main character, a nameless driver depicted by Ryan Gosling. After two masked men break into a warehouse, Ryan Gosling waits and then begins the chase scene. The scene relies heavily on sound affects and and the voice over to build upon the tension of the intelligent low speed chase. The scene finishes with Ryan Gosling getting out of the car and walking out in front of the pursuing police after blending into the surrounding crowd at a baseball game.
Camera techniques (and what it adds):
- Very long shot of city to give location to the opening scene
- This gives the viewer an idea of where about the movie is taking place, which could be an indicator of the type of movie this is. In ‘Drive’ the very long shot of the city instantly gives the movie a contemporary vibe to the movie.
- Close up of the driver
- This introduces the character of the driver (played by Ryan Gosling) to the audience.
- Long shot of the car and it’s surroundings
- Like the very long shot of the city this camera technique is also used to further bring the viewer into the location that the movie is set.
- Focus pull
- This is used several times within the opening sequence, the first example of this is:
- With an over shoulder shot of the driver to draw attention to two masked men waiting adjacent to the previous long shot.
- Other examples include:
- The use of the rear view mirror to draw the audience onto the facial features of the driver begins to give ideas and develop thoughts of the driver without the need for dialogue.
- Looking room for the second masked man exiting the building
- The looking room technique is used in sequence between the driver and the first masked man. This is used to express the importance of time at the start of the movie and increases the tension just before the get-away pursuit.
- Low angle shot of the driver
- This camera angle is used shortly into the get-away. It has been used to give two affects on the viewer, the first is the lower vantage point is used to assert the power that the driver now holds over the two criminals; the second is to act as a point of view of someone crouched down and hiding, trying to elude capture, as the characters currently are, putting the audience in the place of someone in the car.
How are the characters portrayed:
The Driver (Ryan Gosling):
Costume – A simple white quilted jacket with no detail other than a golden scorpion on the back. This acts as an analogy of the character that Ryan Gosling portrays; although his character of the driver appears to be a simple or shallow in depth, it has a secret meaning, just like the golden scorpion.
Location – The location of the movie was within downtown Los Angeles, as stated earlier this gives the movie an instant contemporary feel to the scenes.
Voice – Although the character of the unnamed driver has little to no voice, the lack of voice plays a large role in the character development. The fact that the driver does not speak a single word during the whole of the opening scene instantly creates a sense of mystery grabbing the audiences imagination and surrounding the character in mystery.
Gesture – Due to the character having little voice the gestures that the character chooses, both facial and physical, are what really pushes the characters development through the whole movie. Many of the gestures are not explicit and tend to be in plain site, such as when he places the wristwatch around the steering wheel of the car right at the start.
How does sound contribute to the opening:
Diegetic Sound – Used to show the action that is happening during the chase, for example the engine noise is used to give the idea of speed during the scene. The constant flow of the radio used during the scene makes the audience feel as though this is happening in real time and progresses within a set time frame. The use of ambient sounds, such as the initial sirens, gave the audience a sense of pressure upon the characters in this scene.
Score – The score has a steady and consistent beat repeat, only shifting volume to allow use of diegetic sounds within the opening. The score begins to crescendo as scene begins to move and ultimately acts almost as a heartbeat of the driver.
What made me think it was best:
Overall I think this movies is one of the best as it plays on raw emotion and feelings, by using simple but perfected techniques making this contemporary action movie, feel like a carefully crafted master piece.
Here is the opening sequence I have used to analyse the above (starts at 7:07):
Again, this is very good. You demonstrate a strong understanding of conventional technical aspects in openings and can explain how meaning is created for audiences. Well done.
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