Noir Conventions in 'Drive'

In the film "drive" it also conveys typical Noir conventions, within the Characters, Narrative, Mise en scene and Technical codes.

In the first scene of of the 20 minute clip, we experience non-liner narrative. This is because they are all sitting around the dinner table, and suddenly it cuts to a flashback of the protagonist (Goslings character). This is a very typical convention, as Noir films are non-liner, and are not in chronological order of events.

The narrative theme of mistrust and paranoia is also a typical noir convention, which Drive also adheres to. For example, just after the robbery scene, and when they are in the hotel room mistrust and paranoia occurs. This is because, the protagonist Gosling, begins to question the red headed female on the events that had just happened. We begin to see backstabbing and corruption take place, and Goslings begins to believe that the women had set them up. This is then backed up, when two men enter the hotel room in order to kill Ryan Gosling, however because of the previous mistrust he was prepared. As well as narrative conventions, they also use many technical codes.

A typical technical code to noir films is the use of high contrast and low key lighting. The scene within the hotel room, before the two men intrude, high contrast lighting is used upon the protagonist face, however as soon as the men intrude and he kills the two men, low key lighting is used. It helps represent his bad side of his character.

The score is another noir technical code convention. The use of the dramatic, loud, low toned sounds, in the scene of the robbery builds tension and drama. It helps the audience guess the consequences before it happens, we get the feeling that something bad and dramatic is about to happen, because the music gives off a bad vibe.