The predominating theme expressed in Joe May's Asphalt (1929) is the loss of innocence. This theme is depicted as being intertwined with the theme of modernity, both of which favor prominently in the narrative. However, it is through the formal aspect of mise-en-scene that these themes are truly emphasized. In nearly every scene, the loss of innocence, either literally or symbolically, as represented by the incessant drive to modernity, is clearly depicted by the objects and movement placed before the camera. This is especially true for the opening sequence. The sequence depicting the introduction of the main character, Wachtmeister Albert Holk, and the big city in which he lives and works, through the element of mise-en-scene, clearly sets the tone of the film as one in which innocence is consumed within the overwhelming shadow of modernity.

The film, which is at one level a Romance, begins with the violent, mechanical, and unabashedly modern process of asphalt street construction. The workers pound the hot, black asphalt into the ground in preparation for the multitudes of automobiles that shall soon occupy this space. The camera then cuts from imagery of the construction of the streets to their actual use. The following shots are those of busy, hectic metropolitan streets, and the hectic lives of those who abide in the big city. In stark contrast to the imagery of the asphalt and the traffic filled streets is that of the tranquil Holk household, where the peace of family life seems untouched by the cacophony of the modern world. Modernity, and specifically the intrusion of the modern world into the home, is however present in the Holk household, as represented by the clock and the newspaper which the camera subtly captures. The Mother asks the Father "Weiß Du, Vater-- was so an einem einzigen Tage alles in der Stadt passiert?" The Father merely waves his hands in dismissal: The modern world need not penetrate the facade of his quiet home life. Nevertheless, the intrusion is eminent as depicted by the shot of the canary, which had earlier symbolized the tranquility of the Holk household, surrounded in a kaleidoscopic shot be images of speeding traffic. The shot of the canary is soon replaced by that of Albert Holk's hand as he directs traffic in a busy metropolitan intersection. The canary now seems to symbolize that Holk's innocent condition is like that of a caged bird: Only narrow bars separate the subject from the larger world that he sees every day.

As the camera irises out to show Wachtmeister Holk, we find him standing on a mound in a busy intersection mechanically directing the endless flow of traffic. The robotic nature of his job and his close interaction with elements of the modern city, automobiles and the phenomenon of traffic, clearly depict Holk's participation in the world of modernity, but the imaginary lines created by the space between the columns of automobiles that frame the Wachtmeister, symbolically separate him from this modern world. Holk interacts with modernity, but has not yet become entwined in its grasp. A minor scene, omitted from the American print of the film, foreshadows Albert's ultimate submersion in modernity and the consequent loss of innocence. A traffic accident occurs at Holk's intersection. This is, of course, viewed as a failure of Wachtmeister Holk, whose job is to ensure the fluid movement of traffic through his realm. This failure very much foreshadows Holk's later dereliction of duty, as the driver of offending vehicle is a beautiful woman, very similar in appearance to the individual by whom Albert is later seduced.

Immediately after this scene, the camera facilitates the change from day to night by centering on a set of electric street lamps in full daylight. Suddenly the lamps are lit and the street is ablaze with artificial light. The camera then pans to a shot of multi-tiered modern movement. The bottom tier is that of a crowded sidewalk. Directly above, one sees automobile traffic. Above the road is the implied movement of a multitude of oddly-placed neon advertisements. The top of the screen is dominated by a overhead pedestrian walkway, which even more than the other elements depicted on the screen, represents a starkly modern element of the city. However, the depiction of night in the city is, in itself, a symbol of the modern age: Artificial light allows for night life, a distinctly modern social occurrence.

The camera proceeds to center on a store window, where a group has gathered to voyeuristically view a model apply stockings, a particularly private moment in a woman's life, made starkly public for the evening window shoppers, a thoroughly modern phenomenon. This view is interspliced with the depiction of a petty crime. A number of men surround a woman, create a distraction, remove an object from her purse, and whisk it away. The camera focuses on the minute details of the crime driving home the organized, mechanical nature of the operation. The theme of crime plays heavily into the overall theme of loss of innocence to a modern world. The criminal known as Konsul Langen is depicted as having a thorough familiarity with modernity. He travels not by automobile, but my airplane. He uses the ruse of a street construction worker to gain access to the space beneath a bank, which he robs by use of a blowtorch. All elements of this character's introduction hinge upon modernity. Else Kramer, the seducer of Albert, and the one who leads him to derelict his duties, lie to his parents, and commit murder, all of which represent his loss of innocence, is introduced as committing a crime through use of her feminine wiles and the use of a device, an umbrella, to conceal the crime. The depiction of the minor pickpocketing incident not only foreshadows the later use of crime as a story element, but creates an association between crime and modernity that threads throughout the entire film.

The film continues to depict Albert's loss of innocence at the hands of the modern world. All of the elements that lead to Albert's corruption, his petty criminal seducer, her criminal mastermind lover, and her newfound feminine freedom, are all elements of life in the modern big city. Although this theme is expanded upon throughout the film by the narrative, itself, the objects and movement placed before the camera in the opening sequence clearly establish the theme from the outset of the film, and set the stage for the narrative events which serve to drive this point home.

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