Drive (Dir.  Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011) was praised for its use of ‘the rule of thirds’. The cinematographer ( Newton Thomas Sigel) wanted to make sure that there was a lot of open space, so that the camera can be a lot tighter on the actor when there is action or a chase scene to increase the tension in the scene. The scene below is a good example of Sigel’s vision for the emphasis on the rule of thirds.

As you can see, there is a lot of empty space on the screen that Sigel is specifically leaving out of focus, with Ryan Gosling’s character being the only thing in focus. as you can seen in the shot below, the rule of thirds is still being utilized, but now the frame is a lot more full, with a lot more going on in the background.