Neve's analysis of bad cars

Bad cars

Title sequence 

I found Bad cars on the short of the week in the comedy section. Bad cars is about a man and women that both have very old and broken cars struggling to successfully date in LA. Bad cars was produced and directed by Anthony Deptula in 2010. 

Link to 'Bad cars' on youtube

The first character we are introduced is the female protagonist, we see an extreme close up of her eyes looking in the rear-view mirror, one of the props used is a pair of thick  rimmed glasses are stereotypically a symbol of smart or working women. In this shot we can hear diegetic sounds of cars driving and beeping their horns, this suggests it is set somewhere busy and urban. The title and first scene would suggest the beeping is aimed at her because she has a 'bad car'. The female’s body language and facial expression would imply that she is stressed. There is binary opposition between the female protagonist that has an old broken car that can’t go fast compared to a new mini that isn’t broken and can go fast! Already I can connote that the film could be about a student life, maybe she has just started a life in LA so doesn’t have much money to buy new cars like the rest of LA.

extreme close up in rear-view mirror

Broken car

We are introduced to another male character in an extreme close up and cut in of his hands, starting up an old and broken car. The audience can start to pair the characters together as we are firstly shown women driving a broken car and then a man trying to start a broken car, this foreshadows that they will have relations with each other later on in the narrative. The narrative is linear we can denote this because the narrative begins in chronological order and shows a form of progression. 

Male struggling to start up his car

In a mid-shot of the female we see her doing her hair with a hairdryer, the protagonist is also her car very messy and full of props that suggest she has a busy life. As she is doing her hair in the car it would suggest she hasn't got much time and is in a rush, to get to a date? 

Mid shot getting ready in the car

There is a long shot of the male protagonist running like he’s in a rush, we then see a two shot of both characters meeting on a corner (their arranged place to meet for their date) this scene is also shows the genre (comedy) because we were shown both characters journey to the meeting place, and they both parked far away on opposite streets so the other wouldn't see their broken and old cars!

First time meeting

Their costumes are both very bright and colourful; however in the long shot of them meeting, their costumes were almost binary opposites! The male has a bright pink shirt on and the female has a mint green dress on. The choice of costume creates the sense of a mismatched relationship. in this scene there are a few awkward yet funny events that occur on their date, first being the awkward first meet, then we see a montage of events edited in after production. Another event was shot in a long shot showing both characters standing against the wall eating pizza. This is an odd first date activity to be eating pizza by the side of the road on a first done, this is another way the comedy is shown through mise en scene. The female then drops her pizza on the floor, looking a little embarrassed so the male protagonist drops his to. Throughout the short film, there is a non-diegetic song as the soundtrack. The soundtrack is very upbeat and happy that suggests that the two characters are happy, however even though their date isn’t society’s norm they are still enjoying themselves. There are a number of different funny events that occur on their date. They go to the library however once again they don’t follow society’s norms and walk around with books on their heads! All these events give a sense of happiness and light-hearted kind of lifestyle to the audience and take us out of everyday life and make us laugh!

Dropping food

At the end of their date we see a mid-shot/two shot of the two characters sitting outside a dance class, trying to avoid going in each others cars or going to one another’s house. This begins to get awkward for the pair as they realise they don’t have any other option than to take the bus to the beach.

In the mid shot the characters facial expression look funny/awkward as the female biting lip and the male looks down in shame.

Awkward realisation

The two characters are shown is a mid-shot from behind them sitting on the beach bench, the setting is dirty. The props around make the set look messy and dirty; there is also underwear on the bench behind them. This suggests that the setting is a city by the sea however the area doesn’t appear to be looked after. Props suggest that the area may be used mostly by teens that may not care about the environment or by busy business workers that don’t have the time to take care of their surroundings.

Beach scene long shot

At the end of 'bad cars' both characters decide to go their separate ways after trying to sort the failed date out! After this as the audience we assume that it’s the end for the characters. However driving home the female protagonist breaks suddenly and a car goes into the back of her car, in a mid/long shot through her rear-view mirror we can see the male protagonist awkwardly waving at her.

Car crash 

The target audience is 18-, 25 years old that are living the student life or just starting up their careers. The target audience is implied through the use of costume, hair and makeup, props and the setting/decor this is all arranged to suggest the characters haven’t got a lot of time or money or organisational skills!

Todorovs theory could be applied to 'bad cars' however it is like  'unleaded' in the way that the narrative hasn’t got set equilibrium's and disruptions that the couple have to overcome. You could argue that the narrative isn’t linear therefore todorovs theory can only be applied to some of the film. Todorovs theory would say that at the beginning there would be peace, however in 'bad cars' the beginning is hectic for both characters trying to get to the date on time. There are a number of disruptions that the realisation stage then occurs. There is then some restored order before the couple both realise that they haven’t got much to do because of their broken cars. There is then a new equilibrium or you could say the first equilibrium where the couple decide to get the bus and all is well till they get to the beach.

Todorovs theory