Analyse a Film Still; Mean Girls

This is a mid shot of two teenage girls in the lunch hall. You know this as they have trays and in the background you can see other people sitting with the same chairs and tables. The two girls are in the front whilst other people are in the background, which means you are drawn to the girls. Also, whilst they’re in focus, everything in the background has a soft focus. The angle is straight, which makes the audience feel like they’re sitting with them.

The colour quality is good and bright to create a vibrant setting, possibly to describe the personalities. However the décor seems basic, basic blue chairs and basic lunch tables. In front of Regina (blonde haired girl) her tray is full with a lot of junk food. There is product placement here with Doritos and Kalteen bars. However, this is a juxtaposition of Cady’s (brown haired girl) tray, which only consists of an apple and a salad. There is also product placement with the Coca Cola cans, you can see Regina has a full fat cola and Cady has a diet cola. The lighting in this image is bright but it is from an artificial light source as it is inside. You can see shadows from the trays on the table, which means the light source, must be behind Regina.

Both the characters bodies are facing the camera however Cady’s eyes are looking towards Regina’s food and Regina is staring at Cady with her mouth half open as if she is in the middle of talking. They’re both wearing pink, which suggests they’re very girly, Cady’s hair is down and wavy which suggests she has used product in it and takes care about how she looks. However, Regina’s hair has been easily put up and she is wearing a jumper, which seems to be part of a tracksuit. Cady seems to be slightly more in the middle, giving her more importance.

Different Cuts

Jump Cuts

When the camera angle remains static but there's an edit in the filming. Music videos use jump cuts for effect.

Used frequently for specific effects...

- to jar audience

- make people conscious that they're watching a music video

- if you have a jump cut in a film, it breaks the realism, looks like a mistake.

The 30 Degree Rule 

This is to avoid jump cuts. The camera moves atleast 30 degrees and the audience moves with it helping with the audiences involvement with the music video.

The 180 Degree Rule

- audience has a certain position

- breaking it disorientates the audience so it is suitable for a music video but not a film.

Graphic Match

- Jumps to something that is a similar shape or colour in the next shot

- Create fluency with links.

Match on Action

- Ongoing

- Chase scene

- Idea of lots of people doing something

Introduction

In my research, I will be analysing a variety of music videos to find the codes and conventions used, so that I can break them down and use them within my own music video.
In a conventional music video, they seem to follow a formula; the codes are very obvious/well established. The conventions are typical and adhere to the expectations of the audience.
However, an original music video will try to surprise or even shock the audience and will always avoid a formulaic approach by using striking imagery to engage the audience.
Music videos have to make sure that no single element has the upper hand such as the narrative, the setting, the performance or the song. The narrative and the song have to have an equal coverage so that the audience don’t get too into the narrative and remember about the music.