In this first shot revealing the taxi in the background of the dense smoke, you can see that the smoke was used to slowly reveal the taxi, giving it a old noir feeling, as it represents the slow reveal of the main character, or in this case, his car. Also, due to the smoke being dense, it also makes it hard to see the surrounding area, not establishing much, making the audience feel contained. Not much light other than the taxi is shown on this scene. The headlights of the taxi also work in the sense of lighting, as the lighting would go through the smoke and make it easier to reveal the taxi, as the surrounding area's dark and shady, which might make it hard to show that it's a taxi.
The taxi then slowly drives off to the side, and the camera would then pan up to reveal the night sky above, the out of focus distant lights and the title. The smoke works well for the title, as it lets the title stay on a white background, making the yellow really show. The distant lights also work, too, because due to them being out of focus it symbolises the city being huge and easy to get lost in. The cinematography really works, and it gives the film a dark and mysterious vibe, similar to those of old noir films. And just as before, whilst you can see the surrounding lights nothing is really established for the audience to see, making it hard to really tune in with where the movie's set. The smoke then expands, letting the other credits reveal in front of the white, misty background.
The camera would then turn to a extreme close-up of Robert De Niro's face, with red, white and blue lights being shined onto his face. The extreme close-up works well with the lighting to show that Robert's idly driving down the city in his taxi, and also reveals his stern expression whilst driving, whilst not revealing much else of his character's face. You can see that he looks around the road, without much emotion being shown, in an almost quiet and blank look. The lighting could possibly also symbolise feelings and emotions whilst Robert doesn't show any, red possibly meaning anger and frustration, and blue possibly meaning sadness and emptiness.
The camera then shows an eyeline shot of the taxi's wind shield, keeping the focus pulled from the outside area and kept in relation of the raindrops on the glass. The lighting works well here, as it uses chemtone, and with all the lights huddled up and shining bring it makes the outside city seem vast and bright, whilst not establishing it completely, and leaving it a mystery. The rain drops add to the effect, as it shows the raindrops in focus and the outside area not in focus. Without the lights the audience would most likely find it hard to see outside the taxi, and whilst it doesn't really say much the audience might immediately even establish it with a city due to the amount of lights.
This establishing shot of the outside area shows a disorientated and vivid city, and it works as it makes the audience not fully establish what they're looking at, making the lights blend in with each other and create a graphic establishing shot. The lighting makes the city feel alive, but it also blinds and disorientates the audience, in the sense that it makes the audience feel lost. You can see the lighting reflected in the puddles on the ground, and emitted from the buildings the taxi passes. It establishes the shot whilst not revealing it too much. The camera also pans in with the taxi, making it feel like more of an eyeline shot again as well as an establishing shot, as the camera would slowly move through the city.
The lighting in this shot is contrasted very well, as it reveals a distinct red and blue light on the screen. The red light, whilst having great focus, also reveals the crowds behind it, and instantly gives a strange feeling of something bad, as red could be associated with bad connotations, making the viewer feel something's about to happen. The blue contrasts with the red really well, as the blue makes it seem deep and far, almost opposite to the connotations of the in-focus red colour. It also does well to not reveal the crowd too much, keeping them behind the blinding colours.
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