Continuity Editing in the Opening Scene of Drive

N.B. the scene I am referring to can be found here - http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqei6w_drive-opening-scene-gateway_shortfilms

“Editing supported by specific cinematic strategies and mise-en-scene, was used to ensure narrative continuity” (Bordwell 1993 p 15). The influence of editing on the narrative continuity is seen in the opening sequence of Drive, which eshews the typical bombastic car chase scene, for an altogether more focused and character centric take on a getaway scene.

During the opening scenes of the film Drive, the audience is given an instant insight into the focus of the entire film, the mysterious character of the Driver, who throughout the piece, is in total control.

Rythmically, the editing emphasizes the character’s control. In terms of the overall rhythm of the piece Bordwell argues that a steady metrical pace can be obtained by making all of the shots approximately the same length” (Bordwell 1993, p10). This is certainly true of the opening scene of Drive, which sees two distinct rhythmic patterns deployed effectively with shots in the 2mins 40 typically lasting around 4 seconds (with slightly longer added to the facial close ups). This pacing significantly changes when the helicopter appears and the driver applies the accelerator, leading to a number of fast 1-2 second cuts. In this case, the rhythm of the editing is matched by the action on screen, and the character’s control over it (through the car).

Although the opening sequence is told in a linear fashion, so that the editing does not jump in terms of temporality, it involves a complex use of shots. Unlikely fairly run of the mill getaway scenes where the main focus is on the action of the car chase shot from outside of the car, this has a highly personalized feel to it, with the main focus being the cold, mysterious protagonist, showing a total mastery of his own emotions in the face of stress, in a modern day example of how the Kuleshov effect may be employed. This is done through the repeated use of hyper close up shots of the protagonist in the car, focusing on his emotions (or lack thereof), and the frequent use of gaze matching shots. Furthermore, the use of shots showing the protagonist through the rear view mirror, emphasise the “mutation from seeing subject to seen object”, in that the protagonist is watched by others (the police).

In terms of action, we can perhaps split the scene into two broad sections, the section where the car is stationary, and the section after the car begins to move, and with this in mind we see the use of extreme close ups and POV shots which suggest

During the opening minute we are presented with a great deal of close up shots of the driver in profile looking off screen, followed by eyeline matches of the Driver to establish a sense of place. This is employed 4 times in the opening minute. Certainly one could say that through the sequence of close ups and gaze matching, the Kuleshov effect could easily be applied. The Kuleshov effect argues that only through the editing can the audience infer a sense of spatial locale, particularly when there is an absence of an establishing shot (Bordwell 1993, p12).  The protagonist in question rarely shows any discernible emotion, giving very little indication to what is going on in the sequence on there own, however, in the context of other shots, we are aware of what is going on. Furthermore, there is not real sense of an establishing shot in the sequence until the 8^th shot in the sequence, which is from the character’s POV, establishing that we are outside of a compound.

Although Noel Carroll argues that the Kuleshov experiment is not coherent with POV editing, as “the Character’s face is not …emotionally amorphous, merely awaiting emotive shaping from ensuing shots”, (Orpen 2003, p29) there is an argument to say that the principle of the Kuleshov effect – “that POV shots do not necessarily reveal what the character is thinking” (Orpen 2003, p30).  Certainly we can see that an interest is piqued in the driver, but emotionally, the film seems to be at pains to say that this is a person who is mysterious, cold, and lacking emotion. In that sense, it is difficult to see how the Kuleshov effect could not work in this situation.

Once the car has moved the editing moves towards an even greater use of close ups and gaze matching shots. Frequently we see close ups of the Driver’s emotionless face concentrating on the road ahead, to the right of the frame, often followed by a point of view shot looking out onto the road through the windscreen. This is used a total of 16 times once the car has started moving. As we see the police helicopter come into view, the close ups begin to change angle, preferring a more front on angle followed by a point of view shot of the driver, to perhaps give emphasis to the fact that he is the man under surveillance, he is being pursued, and perhaps framed as the police might frame a suspect in an issued photo.

Again the use of extreme close up shots does not exactly follow conventional patterns of continuity editing in terms of the pacing of the shots. One might expect a wide establishing shot to be lingered on for a great length of time and close up shots to be for shorter spaces of time (Bordwell 1993 p16), however, in the Drive sequence the hyper close up shots are frequently lingered on for a number of seconds longer than one might normally expect, again emphasizing the driver as the focus of the on screen action.  The editing here, as discussed previously, provides our frame of reference for what is happening in the scene, with the close ups followed by eyeline match/POV shots that ‘create’ the narrative, which otherwise would be unclear.

One final key aspect of this opening sequence is the aspect of graphic matching between cuts. In adapting an almost film noir take on mise-en-scene composition (particularly in the use of mirror and low lighting), between all shots, as an audience the editors have ensured the narrative continuity as mentioned by Bordwell.

References

David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, 'The Relation of Shot to Shot: Editing' in David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction 4th ed. (New York: University of Wisconsin Press/McGraw Inc., 1993)

Extract from Valerie Orpen, Film Editing: The Art of the Expressive (London: Wallflower, 2003)