Step Up

The film Step Up opens with a shot of an empty dance studio. As the soundtrack kicks in and the credits are displayed, students begin to enter and limber up, we, as the audience assume this is in preparation for a dance class.

The camera then cuts to a shot of street dancers practicing at night outside. As the clips progress and the music grows steadily louder, the dancers begin to perform. The camera cuts between shots of the very different scenes, demonstrating the contrast of the characters surroundings through lighting, costume, and, most importantly, their style of dance.

The music used is specifically selected to fit to each dancers style, fitting with the ballet dancers complex steps but also with the street dancers movements.

Once the story begins we are shown a wide shot of a car in a darkened street, drawing steadily towards the camera. The way in which this is shot instantly unsettles the audience, allowing them to subconsciously accept that this is an unsafe atmosphere, setting them up for the fight which is to follow. The car stops before a house in which a party is taking place and the camera sweeps upwards into one of the upstairs rooms where the first dialoge of the film is spoken, and the story begins.