Analysing Nerve (2016)

NERVE

Nerve (2016) is an American techno-thriller adventure film directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, written and produced by Jessica Sharzer, based on the 2012 noel of the same name by Jeanne Ryan.

When Jeanne Ryan was asked what the inspiration for Nerve was? She said “the spark came while watching my niece on her phone and seeing how seamlessly she navigated between the real world and her virtual one. That combined with what I was seeing on reality TV and how much people were divulging on social media got me thinking there could be a fun book idea in all of the above”.

Analysing scenes:

Tattoo scene:

Throughout the film there is a colour palate of neon colours which is also very present in this scene. As soon as Vee (Emma Roberts) and Ian (Dave Franco) enter the tattoo parlour the soundtrack song gets faster to reflect the adrenaline Vee is feeling while doing her dare. Whereas, the entrance to the tattoo parlour is lit up neon blue to reflect how calm and serene she feels with Ian. Once in the tattoo parlour the room is lit up in neon red which could suggest she could be feeling daring but also could reflect romance between Vee and Ian. On the other hand, it could also be referencing the underground scene by playing Wu Tan Clan and it’s also quite dark and only lit up with neon signs.

Restaurant scene:

The restaurant is lit up with neon blue but mainly pink signs to reflect her femininity and sexuality as she is dared to kiss a random stranger. The contrast of the blue with pink is reflecting to two main characters coming together through the stereotypical colours that represent male and female. Ian is lit up mainly pink to suggest a potential romantic partner for Vee. Ian goes on to then start singing ‘You Got It’ by Roy Orbison to also connote romance.

‘Take her to the City’ scene:

In the carpark the whole place is lit up blue to show Ian’s calm and collectiveness with one spotlight of orange coming from Ian’s motorbike headlight which Vee only steps into to reflect how she’s on the edge of being this fun, spontaneous person she wants to be. She moves into the blue light as she accepts the dare. The scene goes onto looking at Sydney’s (Emily Meade) dare which is lit up by loads of different neon lights and signs from the city making it look very busy reflecting Sydney’s confusion and need to be popular.