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.