Drive (2011) - The Quadrant System

Hi, my name is Tony and this is a
quick Every Frame a Painting.

One of the best compliments you can
give a movie is that it just feels alive.

There’s something in there that has
a pulse, that's unpredictable.

It’s not just the story or the actors,
it’s in the frames themselves.

Consider this short scene from
Nicolas Winding Refn’s "Drive".

At first glance, it doesn’t
seem all that special.

But check this out. Cover up half the frame.
Notice that the right side of frame

tells an entire story about these
characters on its own

and the left side tells
another complimentary story.

So a shot that could have told
one thing actually tells two.

And instead of being bored, our eyes are constantly
switching between the two halves of the screen.

This time, the dynamic isn’t
left and right, but top and bottom.

--Hi
--Hi

--Oh you two know each other.
--Don't.

Up here, we have a
beautiful triangle of faces,

and a composition full of
vertical and diagonal lines.

But check out what’s happening below.

Even though we’re not
consciously thinking about it,

the bottom half of this frame tells an entire
story through the hands of the actors.

--Oh you two know each other.
--Don't.

--Oh look at that.
--We're neighbors.

--Neighbors? Very good. Well,
we'll try to be neighborly, too.

And when we say a film is alive,
this is part of what we mean.

There are subtleties of storytelling and
behavior not just where we look,

but where we don’t look. And as you
watch Drive you start to see the pattern.

Almost every shot has
a compositional balance

between left and right, and
also top and bottom.

A quadrant.

At first, this might seem restrictive.
But using this basic tool,

watch how the director takes a conventional
scene and does unconventional things.

As the Driver enters,
he’s up in the top-left,

so naturally we assume the next shot
will have the other person in top-right.

But instead...

Once the shots move closer, we get
two characters short-sided like this

with tons of space behind them.
Even though they want to talk...

there are other obligations.

Once the two men confront each other,
notice they occupy the same quadrant,

with their eyes in the same spot because
they’re fighting for the same position.

Meanwhile, Irene is framed top-right
or dead-center, the object of their affections.

Even though she’s out of focus,
watch her performance.

-- That's very nice.
That's nice of you. Thank you.

The scene finally pays off in this image,
balanced between top-left and bottom-right,

letting us visually compare the two men and see
the long shadow one casts towards the other.

Even though we’ve seen this exit door since the first shot
of the scene, the visual payoff is actually unexpected.

And the director, by emphasizing
different quadrants,

can create shots that are both tightly
composed and weirdly unpredictable.

--All these priceless cars.
One would think you'd have better locks.

If you enjoyed this, feel free to play around
with quadrants. They’re a very old simple tool.

And you shouldn’t copy Refn, just start with the
same toolbox and see what you come up with.

Remember, you don't need steadicams or
cranes or drones or the latest 4K whatever.

You need top, bottom, left, right,

and the good sense for how
to put them all together.