Two Cars One Night Film Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Taika Waititi's short film, "Two Cars One Night." It begins with a synopsis of the film's plot, which centers on three children who meet while waiting for their parents in a car park. The report then delves into the director's aim, highlighting his intention to capture the lasting impact of seemingly small moments in childhood. The narrative structure is examined through the lens of Todorov's theory of equilibrium and disequilibrium, although the report notes deviations from the theory. A significant portion of the report is dedicated to analyzing the film's editing techniques, including the use of time-lapse and slow-motion to emphasize key moments and convey the passage of time and the children's emotional responses. The report also discusses the effective use of cinematography, including various camera angles and shots, to enhance the storytelling and immerse the viewer in the children's perspective. Finally, the report concludes with a list of references.

Running head: Two cars one night
two cars one night
A short film by Taika Waititi

Two cars one night 1
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the movie.................................................................................................................................2
Aim of the director- Taika Waititi...............................................................................................................2
Narrative......................................................................................................................................................2
Equilibrium..............................................................................................................................................3
Disequilibrium.........................................................................................................................................3
Recognition..............................................................................................................................................3
Repair......................................................................................................................................................3
New equilibrium......................................................................................................................................3
Editing.........................................................................................................................................................3
Cinematography..........................................................................................................................................4
References...................................................................................................................................................5

Two cars one night 2
Synopsis of the movie
Two cars one night is a story of three Young kids named, Romeo, Ed, and Polly where
the two boys were waiting for their parents sitting in a car parked at a hotel. Another car
comes beside them where the girl, Polly is also kept to wait for her parents. The boys and
girl start talking to each other. Initially, there was some kind of cross-car rivalry between
them which soon turned into a budding friendship.
Aim of the director- Taika Waititi
In childhood, there are a few moments which have a life-lasting impact because an
unexpected happiness is found from those moments.
The director has here explained that his aim for this movie was to capture and show those
few small things which happen to all in their lives (Marubbio, 2013). He has captured
small things like friendship, rivalry, and kindness which generally are not noticed. Waititi
has shown through the eyes of children, that the moments that are having a ‘lasting
impact’ does not really occur through large actions but occurs through the purity of heart,
mind, and soul.
Narrative
The narrative of ‘two cars one night,' at the beginning of the movie, seems to affirm the Theory
of Equilibrium and Disequilibrium given by Todorov’s which later on shifts away from the
theory

Two cars one night 3
Equilibrium: the equilibrium is shown through the boys waiting for their parents in the car
outside an empty car park.
Disequilibrium: the disequilibrium is shown when a car pulls up beside their car where a girl
was also waiting for her parents.
Recognition: the disruption is being recognized, and the boys yell at the girl and are rude.
Repair: in order to repair the disruption caused, the girl shouts back on boys in a rude tone.
New equilibrium: now when the boys and girls are again at equilibrium, they start
introducing themselves to each other.
The narrative now half way the movie fails to follow the theory as there are no significant turns,
twist or happy ending in the film. The story just simply ends. This method gives a naturalistic
ending to the film which depicts the real life where not all the things are ‘planned.'
Editing
With the great editing techniques and cinematography used in the movie, the director is able to
explain life through the eyes of a child.
In the movie when the boy meets the girl for the first time, he calls her ‘ugly' instantly which is
natural as a 9-year-old boy will understand beauty in terms of appearance rather than
understanding in terms of inner qualities. This shows the small understanding of life that children
have.

Two cars one night 4
Editing of the film in black and white was very effective as it reflects how children are able to
see life in black and white which suggests seeing the things either one way or the other.
The time-lapse technique of editing was used by the director to speed up the action of the
scenes in the movie. This type of editing is also used very effectively to show the passage of
time. This technique is really important to be used especially in a short film as through this the
audience is able to understand each and every aspect of the movie in this very short
duration(Mercier, 2013). In particularly this movie the director chose to use this time-lapse
technique in order to emphasize on the impact of the action of the boy thereby allowing for the
narrative, more time to develop.
Besides using the time-lapse technique, the director has also made use of the slow motion
technique of editing. For example- at the end of the movie, when the girl was leaving from that
place with her parents and was looking at the boy, the director used the slow motion technique. It
was done so to clearly focus on each and every reaction of both the girl and the boy and their
inner feelings when they were getting apart and never knew they will ever meet again or not.
Through showing this scene in slow motion, the director could convey it to the audience that this
meeting had a lasting impact on both the boy and the girl.
Cinematography
Besides great editing, a cleverly used cinematography was also seen in the movie. The children’s
movements have been edited and shown beautifully thereby making the audience feel like their

Two cars one night 5
own eyes are keeping track of their every movement. It Is done by establishing close-ups,
medium shot, two shot, tilt, eye level, low angle and high angle.
References
Mercier, O. Ripeka, and Challen Wilson. "‘Everybody's Putting Their Heart and soul into that
One Weekend’: Six motivations for entering the 48-hour film competition." Studies in
Australasian Cinema 7.1 (2013): 61-75.
Hearne, Joanna. "" This Is Our Playground": Skateboarding, diy Aesthetics, and Apache
Sovereignty in Dustinn Craig's 4wheelwarpony." Western American Literature 49.1 (2014): 47-
69.
Marubbio, M. Elise, and Eric L. Buffalohead, eds. Native Americans on film: Conversations,
teaching, and theory. University Press of Kentucky, 2013.
Shaw, Caitlin. "Remediating the Eighties: Nostalgia and Retro in British Screen Fiction from
2005 to 2011." (2015).