Two disparate men bond over repairing a broken down Volkswagen Beetle. The film is set entirely in one garage and features minimal dialogue, instead relying on visual storytelling and an intimate shooting style using a single lens to develop the relationship between the two main characters. Unexpectedly, the two men share an intimate moment dancing to music in the garage after discussing feelings of loss, juxtaposing the masculine garage setting with a vulnerable emotional connection.

1. “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

2. Thejuxtaposition betweenthehighly alphamale
environment ofthegarage makesthe tenderness ofthe
storyhitespecially hard.How didthis subversive tale of
emotional empathycomeabout?
Rhys:Theoriginalstory wasdeveloped whenmy frienddrove
roundtoshowmethenewsound system hehadinstalled in
hisold car. Itwassoimpressive andsopervasive, thatwe
started todancetothebooming music. Idecided tofilmit.So
BenandIdressed upintuxedos andLewis filmedusdancing
toFrankSinatra,ashisvoicereverberatedinthegarage.We
did itfora fewlaughsbut, watchingthevideo withJessica, I
hadanidea andourfilm isthatidea givenfleshandbones.
“Intranslating thescripttoscreen, CinematographerEdward Goldner
andIknew thatweneeded toadoptavisuallanguagewhich would
playanimportantroleinallowingtheaudience tositbyun-
interferingly asthecharacters relationshipdeveloped, andyetwhen
thecharacters calledforit,toconnect andengageinanalmost
uncomfortably intimate manner.Toachieve thisweshottheentire
filmononesingle 18mmlens. When shootingwideitallowedour
actorsthespace ofthewholefloortomovearounduninhibited by
usual camera restrictions.There wasanalmoststagelike feeling on
theday.Ontheflipsideofthis,whenwemovedinforcloseupswe
hadtophysically movesoclose thatyoucouldpractically see breath
onthelens. Thisbringsanincredible feeling ofintimacy withthe
characters intheviewing experience.”

3. Mise-en-Scene
Theentire8-minute filmisset inonecargaragecompany.Thishasaslightly
“retro”theme andinstantly establishes themasculine, lethargicatmosphere due
tothescattered workandfirstscene ofaworkerplayingonlinegames.
Theentirefilmthenstaysintheoneroom,themajorityofthetime withthe
carinsight.Thecostume andappearance ofthemanmakes itclear thathe
isseparated fromthiskindofindustry.
Beingplaced inthecentre oftwoworkmen, themanismadeanoutcast from
theothers,itisseen throughscriptingthathefeels asthoughheisbeingput
downforit.These can beseen asbinaryopposites (ClaudeLevi-Straus).

4. Camera Angles
Thisangleisslightlylower,showing thetheme ofmalesbeingbiggerorbolder
andlookingdownon anythingslightly smallerormoresensitive.
Thisscene canbeseen aspivotal,aswiththeover-the-shoulder shotofthe
workerlooking atthe strongemotions theguest isportraying,audiences
feel asthough they arebuildingabond,andthey sharehisrealisationof
similarityandconnection.
Closeupsareusedonlyonethesetwo
characters,disregardingtheyoungerworker.
Bothclearlyshowemotionalstateswhichcan
beargued tobeanemotionallyintimate
momentsharedduetohowaudiencescansee
everydetail.

5. TransitiontoNewEquilibriumwithfades
Alinearnarrative,with Todorov’stheoryofnarrative

6. Juxtaposition
After thefade,anacoustic guitarsong comes on,being slow
andpassionate. Thetwomen whosharethe closeness after
discussing thecarandthefeeling oflossbegin dancing.
Thisisthefirsttimenon-diegetic soundisused andthefocus is
nolongeron justthediegetic speech. Thisissurprisingto
audiences andcan humorously giveanemotional twistonthe
masculine characters.
Thejuxtapositionbetween themasculinity ofcars,engineering
andfullmanhoodandtheemotional intimacy ofslow-dancing
isunanticipated toaudiences andtherefore gives theshortfilm
originalityandmakes ituniquecompared toothers.

7. Minimal On-Screen Text
Thereisverylittle on-screen textinthisshortfilm –thecommunication issetpurely tothespeech between characters.
• Thetitleofthefilmisshown inside theBeetle withpersonal
items surroundingit,toshowthatthelossofthecaristhe
mainfocus ofthefilmandiswhatbringsemotions between
people together.
• Thecredits attheendofthefilmcontinue withtheacoustic
song inthebackground,withnoother backgroundor
attention-drawing detail.These leaves asense ofcalmand
reflection.
• Conventionally,companies andorganisationsareshown at
theendofthesequence togivecredit andallowaudiences to
lookfurtherintomoresimilarfilms.