1. Past Student Analysis – DrIvE
The opening shot is a mid-shotof a man walking into frame with a weapon in
his right hand. While he is walking while simultaneously wielding this weapon,
there is a flash-forward to a man restrained in a chair with the man in the
beginning shotholding the weapon towards the restrained man. This flash-
forward instantly gets the audience wondering who the man is and why he has
somebody tied up. Furthermore, this opening clip displays the man as the
antagonist.
The following shotis a close-up of blood dripping on to the floor. Blood has
connotations of pain and death, which gets the audience speculating the
condition of the restrained man. They begin to question: is he alive? How hurt
is he? What has happened to him? All of these questions in the audience’s
mind add to the uneasy, tenseatmosphere -this follows thriller conventions.
After the close-up of the blood, there is a cut to another close-up of a name of
someone starring in the film. However, the name is displayed on a piece of
paper in the same setting as the blood dripping before. This technique allows
for the people taking part in the film to be credited without having to stray
away fromthe uneasy atmospherecreated. Alternatively, the name could have
been placed in the samelocation as the blood was dripping to show that the
actor in the restrained chair is played by the person on the paper, as the blood
dripping belongs to his injuries.
2. The next shot is of a light switching on in a flash-forward. When thelight
comes on it shows the man restrained in the chair, however, shortly after this
there is a cut back to a close-up of the car headlights turning on in the car the
antagonistis in. The flicker between these two scenes represents the
helplessness of the man tied up through the use of confusion in the lights. The
antagonistcan be away fromthe man tied up without worrying abouthim
escaping, amplifying the authority of the antagonist.
The constantcuts to the antagonistcarrying out certain actions demonstrate
the calmness of the character; for example, when the antagonist is carefully
putting leather gloves on before driving off. This calmness further amplifies the
antagonist’s authority and diminishes the protagonist’s ability. This follows
thriller conventions as it exhibits the struggle the protagonistfaces as the
intelligence and authority of the antagonist is arduous to overcome.
3. As the car drives off there is a close-up of a missing poster with the
protagonist’s facepresented on it. The wheels of the car driveover the paper,
which further shows the helplessness of the protagonistas nobody is going to
savehim. After this there is a fade to black where a production logo and
“presents” is displayed.
The car continues down a road while the screen cuts to black every couple
seconds. This coupled with the shot of the man struggling in the boot of the car
amplifies the tense atmosphere, which follows thriller conventions. The flashes
to black also demonstratethe helplessness of the protagonistas the black
represents death of the character.
4. Following this there is a POV shotof the protagonistas the antagonist opens
the boot of the car. The audience can immediately see the antagonisthas a
pickaxe in hand, which connotes digging and the burial of the protagonist. This
creates an apprehensiveatmospherefor the audience as they fear the worst
for the protagonist. Furthermore, as the boot begins to open, tense, heavy
beat music is being played alongsidethe heavy breathing of the protagonist,
which further adds to the apprehensiveatmosphere that the audience
experiences.
5. The last clip in the opening is the title of the film “DrIvE”. Theletters D, I, E
flash in a red colour, which could be to amplify the danger of the protagonist.
The red connotes blood and this puts the audience on edge. Moreover, the
capital letters spell out DIE, which all but confirms the fate of the protagonist.
This leaves the audience feeling incredibly tense and concerned for the
protagonist, a technique that follows thriller conventions.
OverallI would give this thriller opening a high level 4 as it displays a wide
range of shots implemented successfully and appropriately; it utilises sound
and music in the correct places to amplify suspenseand tension; and the
narrativeis particularly clear to the audience.
