TWO CARS ONE NIGHT

BY Taika Waititi

The award winning two cars, one night, set in the 1960s in a rural car park
in new Zealand and directed/written by taika waititi the most realistic screen
play in the short film industry.

Two cars one night, was awarded best short film in berlin and director/writer
TAIKA WAITITI was nominated for an Oscar for his 2003 short film two cars one
night.

SYNOPSIS:
A tale of first love. While waiting for their parents, two boys and a girl
meet in the carpark of a rural pub. What at first seems to be a relationship
based on rivalry soon develops into a close friendship. We learn that love
can be found in the most unlikely of places.

DIRECTORS QUOTE:
There are a few moments in childhood that have a lasting impact. Not
because they change the course of your life, or because they arrive with
any great fanfare, in fact quite the opposite. Those are moments where
an unexpected joy is found in the everyday, a moment of beauty in the
ordinary.

The quote above from the director evokes the sense of feeling and
meaning. Furthermore it reflects the story behind the short film
two cars one night, portraying this quote through cinematography,
sound and editing techniques.

SCENE 2

The opening sequence of the film shows

clouds moving across an evening sky,
captured in black and white through out the
short film. Pathetic fallacy is shown through
this as the clouds evoke a deep meaning of
mystery and suspense.
The skyscape has been speeded up for the
viewer and is accompanied by enigmatic
music which has been edited in during the
editing process to convey a sense of tension.

SCENE 3

Then camera then tilts down from the

skyscape setting through a masked edit
and seemingly the clouds, to an
establishing shot of a car outside a
remote motel. The soundtrack bridges
these shots into the next.
The soundtrack bridges these shots into
the next. A mid shot of the windscreen
of the car, taken looking in at the two
boys who are killing time waiting for
their parents.

SCENE 4
Next, several shots use special effects
and time-lapse. The first picks up on
the fast forward of the introductory
shot of the landscape. Despite being
speeded up, the viewer is able to
imagine the length of time that has
been represented in the shot, which
sees several cars come and go, dropping
customers off at the pub; many minutes
in several seconds. The images are
complemented with sound effects that
include human speech on the radio,
representing how adult conversation
can be just white noise to children.

SCENE 5

A tracking shot runs along the side of the

boys car, taking its momentum from
another car that is pulling in to stop at
the next parking space-allowing the
viewer to see two out-of-focus adults
leaving the car to enter the pub. The
shot creates a sense of involvement for
the audience as the audience is
positioned in the vehicle, seeing the
scene from that perspective.

SCENE 6
Next, a sequence of shot reverse shot
images initiates contact between the
respective occupants of the two cars.
Romeo, the elder boy of the two shot
from the girls point of view is jerked
forward into side profile by the camera
while he is playing with the seat adjustor,
pretending not to care about the girl. The
action here provides the viewer with
insights into character Romeos
playfulness and acting coo continues
throughout the film and so does of the
girl.

SCENE 7
The following scene of two cars, one
night is when the boy character Romeo
approaches the car to speak to the girl,
the cinematographer uses a mid shot
from the outside of the car to portray
the relationship that Romeo is starting
to portraying by standing by the car
side window to speak to the girl very
close and friendly. The scene then cuts
to a mid to close shot to show the two
children in the car talking with Romeo
in the drivers seat and the girl in the
passenger seat the friendly relationship
between them grows the more they
speak to each other.

SCENE 8
The final scene of the short film show the
girl admiring a ring that she has with a
close up shot with the girl in the
background blurred out and the focus is
on the ring showing that the ring has a
significance to her. The following shot
shows her parents coming back to car
and Romeo exits the car standing outside
the back seat window and speaking to
the girl. The girl hands him the ring in
remembrance of her showing that they
have formed a bond between one
another and they are now friends. The
ring is the motif within this short film as
it shows significance throughout.