“Two distinctly disparate characters come together over a broken down Volkswagen Beetle in this sweet, amusing tale of love, loss and… car trouble.”

We Keep on Dancing

The juxtaposition between the highly alpha male environment of the garage makes the tenderness of the story hit especially hard. How did this subversive tale of emotional empathy come about?Rhys: The original story was developed when my friend drove round to show me the new sound system he had installed in his old car. It was so impressive and so pervasive, that we started to dance to the booming music. I decided to film it. So Ben and I dressed up in tuxedos and Lewis filmed us dancing to Frank Sinatra, as his voice reverberated in the garage. We did it for a few laughs but, watching the video with Jessica, I had an idea and our film is that idea given flesh and bones.

“In translating the script to screen, Cinematographer Edward Goldner and I knew that we needed to adopt a visual language which would play an important role in allowing the audience to sit by un-interferingly as the characters relationship developed, and yet when the characters called for it, to connect and engage in an almost uncomfortably intimate manner. To achieve this we shot the entire film on one single 18mm lens. When shooting wide it allowed our actors the space of the whole floor to move around uninhibited by usual camera restrictions. There was an almost stage like feeling on the day. On the flip side of this, when we moved in for close ups we had to physically move so close that you could practically see breath on the lens. This brings an incredible feeling of intimacy with the characters in the viewing experience.”

Mise-en-SceneThe entire 8-minute film is set in one car garage company. This has a slightly “retro” theme and instantly establishes the masculine, lethargic atmosphere due to the scattered work and first scene of a worker playing online games.

The entire film then stays in the one room, the majority of the time with the car in sight. The costume and appearance of the man makes it clear that he is separated from this kind of industry.

Being placed in the centre of two workmen, the man is made an outcast from the others, it is seen through scripting that he feels as though he is being put down for it. These can be seen as binary opposites (Claude Levi-Straus).

Camera AnglesThis angle is slightly lower, showing the theme of males being bigger or bolder and looking down on anything slightly smaller or more sensitive.

This scene can be seen as pivotal, as with the over-the-shoulder shot of the worker looking at the strong emotions the guest is portraying, audiences feel as though they are building a bond, and they share his realisation of similarity and connection. Close ups are used only one

these two characters, disregarding the younger worker. Both clearly show emotional states which can be argued to be an emotionally intimate moment shared due to how audiences can see every detail.

Transition to New Equilibrium with fades

A linear narrative, with Todorov’s theory of narrative

JuxtapositionAfter the fade, an acoustic guitar song comes on, being slow and passionate. The two men who share the closeness after discussing the car and the feeling of loss begin dancing. This is the first time non-diegetic sound is used and the focus is no longer on just the diegetic speech. This is surprising to audiences and can humorously give an emotional twist on the masculine characters. The juxtaposition between the masculinity of cars, engineering and full manhood and the emotional intimacy of slow-dancing is unanticipated to audiences and therefore gives the short film originality and makes it unique compared to others.

Minimal On-Screen TextThere is very little on-screen text in this short film – the communication is set purely to the speech between characters.

• The title of the film is shown inside the Beetle with personal items surrounding it, to show that the loss of the car is the main focus of the film and is what brings emotions between people together.

• The credits at the end of the film continue with the acoustic song in the background, with no other background or attention-drawing detail. These leaves a sense of calm and reflection.

• Conventionally, companies and organisations are shown at the end of the sequence to give credit and allow audiences to look further into more similar films.