You may think I’m kidding, but when first heard of the film Baby Driver, I did imagine an actual baby driving, much like this one:
Little did I know that I would get to see a cinematic masterpiece and find one of my favourite film openings of all time.
Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver is a perfect amalgamation of action and thrill, with amazing getaway driving scenes and car chases mastered by exceptional cinematography and a soundtrack that complement the scenes flawlessly. Sound, mise-en-sense, and editing are all combined in the best possible way to portray the thrilling nature of the film, and to set an appropriate tone.
For the first 6 seconds, a relatively high-pitched eerie sound is played, establishing the importance of sound well before any visuals in this film. It then opens to its first establishing shot, of a bank in Atlanta. This shot opens the audience up to the city the film is set in, introducing the world of the film.
The low angle of the camera is kept the same, and a bright red car approaches. In comparison with the low saturated oranges and blue colour palette of the previous shot, the colour of the car truly pops out. The connotation of this red colour is the association with crime, and symbolizes potential danger and adventure.
There is a cut to a relative close-up of an iPod, yet no music plays while it's shown. The role of music is therefore put in place in the first few seconds of the film. This is followed by another cut, and a close-up of a character (with a seemingly serious expression) is shown simultaneously to the beat of a soundtrack. This is done 4 times, with the beats aligning with the cuts. This includes the smallest details, such as the second character chews his gum on the beat as well. This simply shows how sound has been intentionally choreographed to match the film, which captivates the audience greatly.
3 of the 4 characters shown get out of the car followed by a series of shots. The high-pitched ring previously heard is faded out by a soundtrack, Bellbottoms by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Diegetic sounds are heard, such as a car coming by and the opening and closing of the trunk. The soundtrack is diegetic as well, yet only for the main character Baby, considering that he has earphones on. This also links to the establishment of the world of the film, and how the focus is Baby’s life and experience. We see them take out duffle bags and walk towards the bank, and right there it is established that a heist (ding ding ding! if you guessed it) is about to take place.
Let's take a minute to talk about their costumes. The 3 characters making their way to the bank are dressed uniformly in all-black trench coats with sunglasses. Black is stereotyped and notorious for being worn by criminals and gangsters because of its association with aggression, so it is not unusual for the audience to see this get up. Baby, although wearing sunglasses is wearing relatively casual clothing. The sunglasses make him part of the heist crew, but his different outfit sets him apart from his counterparts.
From 00:54 till 1:45, the camera focuses on Baby with a series of mid shots, closeups, and shots panning around the car to reveal Baby getting lost in the music. Jamming to music is definitely unusual for your average bank robber which truly distinguishes him, and makes the audience wonder if there is any reason for his visible “quirks”. Baby’s enthusiasm to sing along with a carefree attitude makes the audience enjoy as well, irrespective of if they like the song or not.
The typical sound of police vehicle sirens is heard with the vehicle driving by, which brings Baby back to the reality that he was supposedly trying to escape.
We then see shots from Baby's point of view, looking inside of the bank, which could be considered shot reverse shots as well, but no one is looking back at him except the camera. He pulls down his glasses, in concern. This can be tied to the idea that sunglasses are escapism of heinous crimes, and pulling down his glasses means witnessing everything that is going on inside the bank.
Baby sings along to a line, and prepares for his getaway, where shots cut drastically to his facial expressions, the 3 robbers, and preparing his car, in perfect sync with the soundtrack's beat, building up tension.
As the robbers rush in the car, one of them points towards the front, indicating Baby to go forward, yet he reverses his car, leaving the robber in a state of confusion. This shows that this may very well be his first experience being driven by Baby, which leads to many questions, but the audience generally assumes it as simply humour.
And so begins our getaway.
164 shots are spread over three minutes and 5 seconds which makes the average shot length 1.19 seconds. Ergo, we can definitely tell that fast-paced editing and synchronization of beats was vital for the director. It appears to be more of a musical montage of a car chase rather than an accurate portrayal of one, making it even more thrilling to watch.
There's a variation of shoots that follow, mid shots, close-ups, and interior shots of the car, but the camera is smoothly held, therefore the fast-paced effect is brought on by the editing,
At 02:50, we see the crew members jump out of concern, showing that they may not trust Baby with driving them safely. To compare this shot with the one at 00:48, we could get the hint that the rest of the crew has worked together, considering they are in perfect sync while moving to the bank, which brings out the bigger question, why is Baby here?
Light flashes worked alongside this shot, to make the effect of the car chase more dramatic and make the audience immerse in all the shots.
A significant part of the getaway follows a quick-cut close-up shot style. Shots that last a few frames, yet make the most impact such as the 4 shown above, because they heighten the tension alongside all shots of actual police cars chasing the 4 crew members.
The car chase further shows the world, and geography of the film, especially for those unfamiliar with Atlanta.
The fact that Baby was able to effortlessly blend in with other red cars shows his intellect. He definitely has done this before, and he definitely knows how to escape. As he keeps on driving, the editing combined with the parallel sound makes an average viewer feel like they're dancing.
An important aspect of the opening to note is that there is no dialogue. Not only does this establish the mood for the audience, but leaves them curious to want to get to know the characters and remain in their seats. With an opening that already consists of numerous cuts and music (which later proves to be vital for the storyline), dialogues may have been hard to follow for the audience, so excluding them for the opening was definitely a great step.
The opening communicates the protagonist's main skill, i.e. Baby’s driving visually. Throughout the car chase, there is a lot of movement, which entail various angles to build up the tension and thrill.
In reference to Todorov’s narrative theory, equilibrium is established by the opening, introducing us to Baby and the crew on their way to rob a bank, like it's a rather normal day for them (no matter how unrealistic it may be for us).
During the getaway scene, there are 52 shots of Baby’s Subaru, and 30 shots of just Baby, this puts emphasis on the fact that this is Baby's story (about him and his driving skills). In comparison, there are 25 shots of the police vehicles, but only to serve as a reminder of the situation, because the main focus is on Baby, his expressions, and his skills.
The importance of the soundtrack is also established by Edgar Wright himself, who said “The challenge is that we’re trying to time everything to music. So, we’ve taken an already challenging task and just put the icing on the cake with the addition of the music.” (according to EW)
It is interesting to note that this is a daylight robbery, so the lighting isn't dim and gloomy, rather it makes the elements of the car chase even more exciting, considering you get to see everything going on inside.
The representation of criminals in media in a “ruthless” and “cold” way is definitely common. FIlms play a big role in developing the perception of such characters, both on and off the screen. Crime and heists are seen as marketable in films, providing entertainment because of the real-world negativity associated with them. although from the crew’s get up, they do expect you to take them seriously. They aren't represented as common street thugs and robbers, rather more sophisticated, with stern facial expressions who know what they are doing.
Yet, the character of Baby stands out in this opening, because of his quirky behavior, which has rarely been seen in films during a heist. The female crew member does stand out at times with his smirks, which may just be a way to attract the “male gaze”, but she's represented to be equally capable as her colleagues. They are represented as a force that is not abiding by the set law, ergo the police have to chase them, although it is interesting to note that no police vehicle drives nearly as good as Baby. This is common in any film opening which entails a getaway; the “bad” guys always seem to get away.
To conclude this post, I believe that Edgar Wright did a great job of directing a film with an opening that is fast-paced, yet easy to follow and leaves the audience wanting more of the action.
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