Story Telling Unit-Short Film Review 2

Keep On Dancing 
Director: Jessica Lawton 
Writer: Rhys Mitchell
Length: 8:10

The second short film to have inspired my own was ‘Keep on Dancing’. The plot to this short film completely changes several times over. At first we are introduced to a small office which doesn't appear to be anything too fancy. The character isn't working too hard either as implied by the game sound effects playing and the intense. concentration on this face. The mise en scene used here was very clever in fact because as the audience, I instantly realised it was of a working class environment with the office environment with bright yellow walls, pictures and magazine cutting spread across the wall, and a microwave and fridge in the same room. This was also implied with the characters clothing, which are typical for carrying out manual labour including a vest covered by a dirty, grey full body overalls.

This piece appeared to use natural lighting which added to the working class affect the director was probably going for; artificial lighting can appear more glamorous. I would consider using natural lighting myself unless it was deemed absolutely essential.

We then hear a strange noise and see vaguely out the window a man struggling to push his car. In the next scene we enter a car garage which we immediately recognise as being so with mise en scene. There is a plain concrete floor with a huge wall at the back where different car parts such as hub caps are hanging up. There are sound effects used in the background including the sound  of welding and metal clanging.

When the worker takes a look, he tells this anxious elderly man (Allen) theres nothing he can do, his heart sinks. It is clear this car (Volkswagen Beetle) means a lot to him given he is tempted to keep it despite it being more expensive to repair than get a new one. Already the story has become less about the workers and more about this old man. We can sympathise for him, which is the same feeling I hope to give my audience when they watch mine.

This short film really had its ‘moments’ which was something I learned to look out for from lessons with Steve Coombs. Its most significant one was perhaps the ending because it was so unexpected. We go from Allen talking about how it was his wife car, how she loved to dance to him and the garage manager having a slow dance; the shot the widens to view several pairs of garage workers dancing. Whilst it was a sentimental moment, I couldn't help but feel this was a bit comedic in the way it was portrayed. This was through the complete and utter change, something unexpected, especially in the way it challenged our stereotype of how testosterone fuelled garage workers typically are. In fact,  Betsy Sharkey, Film Critic from the L.A. Times claimed it was ”Lovely, moving, surprising.” which sums it up perfectly. The story itself is quite touching but the surprise comes in at the end when they all dance. Comedy is something I would like to avoid within my piece because I genuinely want to convey social messages to people of how elderly people in society aren't considered as much as what they should be, especially when compared to other vulnerable members such as children. I also wanted to show how religion appears to be a dying cause in modern society. 

I enjoyed with this film how in such a short space of time we got to know the characters so well. We realise that Allen is a sculpture, and doesn’t art that much money from it, and how he's quite lonely after his wife dying. The man that first analysed the car is just a young trainee, who smokes regularly and despite his masculine appearance the manager is rather sympathetic towards Allen. We also learn about what happens before the car breaks down which is that its his wife's birthday, and he's driving some presents to the cemetery, which explains the items places carefully on the back seat.

When watching this piece I noticed how the idea smoking played such a part. This meaning was rather ambiguous, and it isn't quite clear even now why it was used so much.They discuss thew subject of smoking  when Allen says “she died of heart cancer. She smoked” and in reply the manager says “Im sorry Allen. Its a filthy habit. Keep trying to get the boy to quit”. The hunger trainee worker clearly smokes and despite Allan’s wife dying from it, when they are dancing at the end this lad is smoking. Alongside this the car itself, the causation of the characters meeting is because the car is smoking. 

How its inspired me

This short film has inspired me in many ways. Its given me an insight as to how I can create my own plot twist, into something that would completely surprise the audience. In this story, Allen tory gradually unfold which has made me think the same should happen to my protagonist, William. My piece could puzzle together, so the audience don't actually realise he has dementia to begin with. Everything about his morning routine could seem pretty normal. For example, he says “good morning” to his family, who we later find out are actually dead. 

I found it interesting to look into the comedy elements of this plot, but cant help but feel they would ruin my story. If I was to add too much humour, it would be demeaning to the sad reality of dementia. A television programme that does this successfully is Only Fools and Horses; it can have the audience laughing one minute and crying the next, something truly genius in the art of screenwriting. 

This short film has also inspired me because their  meeting of characters flowed so naturally. They seemed to achieve this by not actually knowing each other, but forming a bond through the breakdown of the car, and story of Allen's wife.