Drive Driving Scene

The first scene of Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011), has the audience following the main character on a fast paced, high suspense getaway scene. This first scene introduces the main character and his job as a getaway driver and creates a suspenseful hook to bring the audience into the film’s world. The scene starts out with a black screen. A man’s voice is heard in the background. The shot fades in to a map of downtown Los Angeles with words and annotations scrawled all over the page. The audience’s view is directed showing an over the shoulder shot of the main character. The viewer is given no personal details about him, not even a name. We simply know him as the Driver. His blurred reflection can be seen in the window creating an air
Throughout this scene the audience rarely sees a direct clear shot of the driver. Often in this scene he is shown reflected in a mirror or a window. This creates the effect of mystery surrounding the Driver. He parks the car on the side of the road next to a building and an eye-line match from the drivers point-of-view follows two men wearing ski masks as they break into the building. The Driver tunes in to the police radio signal while simultaneously turning up the radio volume to listen to a sports game. A police officer is heard reporting shots fired at the location over the radio. The first robber makes it out and jumps into the backseat of the car. Panic and suspense ensue as they wait for the second robber to make it back. A police officer reports that he is 2 minutes away from the location. The camera zooms in on the Driver’s face, he appears passive and unfazed. Throughout the film the Driver has an air of passiveness and almost melancholy. This is illustrated especially in this scene as the Driver doesn't panic even in a high stress situation. An eye-line match shot shows the Driver looking at the door for the second robber. He still isn’t there causing the suspense to climb for viewers. The second robber is seen fleeing the scene and