Analysis of Film Openings: Drive

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The opening sequence of this film doesn't have a production company logo. This was probably a deliberate choice by the director, in order to make sure the audience don't take particularly interest or disinterest in the film, which they might do if they were to know it was made by an independent or mainstream production company. The rest of the opening is always ambiguous about the type of company it was made by - I will analyse this more when I talk about the titles in this opening.

The genre of this opening initially seems like it is going to be a romantic drama. The pink colour and handwritten font of the titles connote femininity, despite the only character who is seen in the opening being male. However, when the protagonist starts to drive the car at speed, his intentions appear to become more malcicious, as he looks worried. This connotes that he is about to commit a crime, and the idea of this film being a crime genre is reinforced by the low key lighting when he is indoors at the end. The low key lighting connotes the dark subject matter which is going to make up the rest of the film. 

The only character who the audience get to examine in detail within this opening We see a man driving a car quickly - this immediately connotes foolishness and recklessness. However, the driver later appears to be quiet and collected throughout the majority of the film, which means that the director has used the opening of the film in order to give the audience varying impressions about him. This is a common feature of a drama film, as by giving the audience multiple impressions, they don't get to attached to a character, although this can sometimes backfire and they will begin to like all their impressions of him. He appears to be quite youthful and looks as if he lives in a world far detached from crime - his blonde hair and bomber jacket connote university student rather than hardened criminal. The only other character seen in this clip is the waitress he walks past whilst walking to the lift. The waitress outfit connotes youthfulness which makes the audience question why it is that he is ignoring her. However, it could also be seen to connote foolishness, which immediately presents her as being somebody that the audience would rather the protagonist avoided. Additinonally, the large scorpion logo on the back of his jacket,

The narrative of this opening is deliberately ambiguous, although all of the things which are shown in the opening go on to be key parts of the narrative later on in the film. The aforementioned interaction between the driver and the waitress is key to the rest of the film, yet is easy to miss whilst watching the opening. This is the only real piece of narrative which is seen in the clip, and even then it asks more questions than it answers. This is a crucial idea of the narrative structure of a film opening, and something which I hope to be able to do when making my own film. By showing him driving quickly, the audience wonder whether he is just enjoying his youthfulness, or if he is trying to escape from something or someone. It is unanswered narrative points like this, and wondering why there is so little interaction between the only two people seen in the clip, that encourage the audience to carry on watching the film in order to see if their questions get answered.

The atmosphere within the opening sequence seems to be one of disappointment, and possibly tension. This is shown by the filter which has been applied to the sequence, which has tinges of blue in it. The colour blue connotes sadness and disappointment, so has probably been chosen in order to reflect the solum emotions of the protagonist, who is clearly hiding a lot of secrets in his blank expression, which never changes throughout the opening. The tense atmosphere in the opening is built up by the lack of interaction between the two characters - this shows that perhaps they do know each other, but due to a tension between them feel unable to speak.

The non-diegetic background music is the most important piece of sound which we hear in the opening. The song is called Nightcall, so even the name matches the action which we are seeing, as we see a man, who it could be assumed is a criminal, speeding through the night. One of the lyrics is "I want to drive you through the night, down the hills". This connotes that the lead character has nothing stable in his life but his car and his ability to drive it. This idea could be one of the reasons why his facial expressions appear to be so disappointed and dissatisfied. Additionally, the female vocal in the song could easily be the female character talking about the male one, when she sings "there's something inside you, it's hard to explain". This adds even more depth to the scene where the two of them ignore each other, as it connotes that they are two characters which cannot understand each other. The car engine in the clip doesn't make a sound, or if it does then it is next to inaudible. This connotes the idea of a criminal who is trying to hide from someone by ensuring they are not detected, so this lack of sound could show that the film is verging towards the crime side of the crime-drama genre.

The use of a handwritten font in this title could
connote a number of things

The titles within the opening have a unique handwritten style to them - this initially connotes that the film is going to contain elements of romance, which is only exemplified by the pink font, as both of these are key conventions of the romantic-drama genre. However, these are a contrast to the action which is happening on screen, which seems to be a world away from this genre of romance. Additionally, the titles are interesting because they are relatively simple (especially compared to the title sequence of, say, Casino Royale), yet list the names of A-list actors such as Ryan Gosling, Bryan Cranson and Carey Mulligan. The simple titles are a signifier that the film has been produced by an independent company, although the names of the actors connote that the film had a large budget. The simple titles were probably chosen as to not detract from the cinematography too much, as this is far more important than the actual titles within this opening.

LA skyline at the beginning connotes a lot more
than initially meets the eye

The setting of this opening, and subsequently the rest of the film is confirmed in the first shot as being in Los Angeles. This is because the first shot is an arial of the skyline of this city, which is key iconography of any thriving American city. The setting of Los Angeles has probably been chosen because its name connotes a mixture of crime (the majority of the city is populated by warring gang factions), and glamor, because it is home to Beverly Hills and Hollywood. This mixture of crime and glamour is exactly what the film opening is about - it shows a man who looks nothing like the stereotypical criminal, yet he is running away from something. This use of location is one of the most clever parts about this film opening, as when the audience think into why it has been chosen, lots more about each character is revealed to them.

Studying this film opening will help with the production of my film opening because it has shown me how important soundtrack and setting are when it comes to building the audience's knowledge about the characters. If I was able to write a piece of music which sums up the themes of my film opening as well as the song does in this opening, then this would be one of the most important parts of my opening.