The opening credits of drive start with an establishing shot of a city with a

thumping electronic soundtrack. This shows the setting of the film but also the
urban themes and tone of the film. The soundtrack has a steady and heavy beat
with a recurring electronic motif, and the heaviness of the soundtrack provides a
bleakness adding to the dark colours, but the lively sounds of the synth give a
more romantic and exciting sound to the film, like the city lights. The city fades
into a mid-shot of the driver sitting in silence in his car, he has a toothpick in his
mouth. This shows us that he is isolated and secretive, but collected and
compelled and sets him up as the protagonist. The next shot is a close up from
behind the driver as he drives through the streets. The lighting on half his face
and pulling of focus from the action on the road show that the film centres on
him as a character and the not the driving, and portray him as questionable, with
the dark lighting foreshadowing the character doing something evil. The shot of
his hand on the wheel controlling the car connotes him moving forward into his
destiny, but having control over his direction. This is further emphasised by the
lyric Im gonna tell ya something you, dont want to hear suggesting the forth
coming events are not pleasant for the driver, and finalised by the cut back to
the driver looking sullen as he drives under an orange glow, which connotes
deceit and distrust.
As a synth chord cuts through the shot cuts to a rotating shot of a highway,
which is a match on action from the driver in his car to the aerial shot of his car
continuing on its journey. The female singer singing theres something inside
you, its hard to explain represent the driver as special but in a twisted sense, as
his talents for driving are used for criminal means in the film. The shot cuts to a
wide shot of a car pulling into a car park show the drivers forward moving
slowdown in his personal space. There is a mid-shot from behind the drivers back
showing his scorpion jacket. The scorpion is a deadly creature that attacks
unsuspectedly, which is the representation of the driver. The scorpion is gold
which connotes glory and heroism, showing that his fierceness is a positive
feature. As he walks to the elevator a woman leaves and walks past him. The
woman is shorter than him and walks with her hands in front fidgeting, she is
also looking down at the floor which contrasts to the driver who walks with his
head up and hands in his pocket. This shows that he is confident and headstrong
whereas she is shy and more domestic. She walks under a white light, which
represents her as angelic and pure. The shot from inside the elevator of her
walking away emphasises her importance to the story, the doors closing
represents the separation from her and the driver
As the driver enters his apartment the music dulls to just the lyrics, this use of
soundtrack shows that the drivers personal life is unimportant which is reflected
by the short amount of time that he spends in the apartment. The apartment is
very bare, with just a bed and tv in it, with the window view looking out onto the
roof. The blue light from the windows shining onto the driver represent his
mystery as he is coming out from the shadows. From this scene we can tell that
the driver does not like to be stationary as he stands for a moment before
leaving, showing that he lives for the drive and cant be held down. As he leaves
he flicks the light of to the beat of the music, which gives a rapid feel to the
character, with a fast cut to an aerial shot of him driving, which slowly zooms in,
then cuts into the car with him, this final shot shows the importance of driving to
the driver.