Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Drive



According to its Wikipedia page, Drive is a 2011 American neo-noir arthouse crime thriller film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn (who is coincidentally one of my favourite directors). The film centres around a protagonist simply named "Driver" or "Kid". He is a stunt man by day and a getaway driver by night.

Costumes:
The protagonist wears a white driving jacket, black driving gloves, jeans and a white shirt.

Lighting:
Low key lighting. A vast amount of the light sources are artificial due to the fac tthat the film prodiminantly takes place outside at night. Thus, streetlights, car headlights and neon strobing give the film a dream-like, synthetic atmospheric, similarly seen in films such as American Gigolo and Taxi Driver.

Titles/Credits:
Pink text similar again to American Gigolo, possibly due to the fact that it's trying to emanate an 80s action thriller sort of movie. The font is mistral and looks hand-written. This is an odd choice for a modern action thriller, which will usually use bold, capital letters with a simple Arial style.

Camera Angles:
--Establishing shot of the Miami Skyline, slow sweep, possibly achieved with a helicopter or drone, much like The Shining.
--Low angle shot of Ryan Gosling in the car, looking out the window: a camera man may be holding the camera towards him on one of the seats. The shot shows him to be powerful.
--Over the shoulder whilst the protagonist is driving, scanning the streets as he does so.
--POV shot of The Driver driving, a clear view of the dashboard, rear-view mirror and his arm steering the wheel. The street whizzes by.
--Mid-shot of the protagonist's side profile
--Bird's eye view of the car being tracked as it moves.
--Pan right of car being driven into the car park
--Low over the shoulder mid shot of protagonist walking towards the lift, followed by camera. Perhaps a steadicam used to stabilise the shot.
--Deep shot of girl walking out elevator and the Driver walking into his apartment.
--Tracking shot of the back of driver's head as he walks into room.
--Pan left as he moves back towards the door

Cuts:
No effects are used for transitions. The cutting is clean and follows on from one another in a narrative fashion. Each cut changes in key with the music.

Technical Specs:
Sound - Dolby Digital
Cameras - Arri Alexa, Cooke S4, Zeiss Master Prime and Angenieux Optimo Lenses

Sound:
Soundtrack - Nightcall by Kavinsky

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