analysing a product

Task: Choose an audio-visual product (music video, advert etc.) and complete a detailed textual analysis. Try to use EVERY technical code and piece of media language we have looked at today. 

You could make sub-headings of;

• Cinematography

• Mise-en-scene

• Sound 

• Editing 

In your analysis ensure when you make a point you explore how it creates meaning. 

MEDIA LANGUAGE - MEANING

Billie Eilish - Therefore I am

• the camerwork is handheld which connotes that the setting is very informal as it follows Billie around
• The mise-en-scene of the setting is very relatable, it's somewhere everyone frequents that is recognisable. the name brands of stores in the background connote a C1-C2 social class, this represents Billie as someone who has not adopted the stereotypical celebrity culture and is relatable which is part of her appeal. 
• The digetic sound in the opening of the escalators and her shoes squeaking are symbols of sounds familiar to the audience, it reflects the diy nature of the video whilst being very unconventional- it's unmelodic and unappealing to hear but it's almost comforting to the audience in the way they recognise it.
• The practical lighting connotes to the audience that the interior has not been modified for filming, whilst this is not the case it addresses the audience is an honest and transparent way, again enforced by the high key lighting which leaves nothing hidden. 
• The editing is extremely slow with minimal cuts, which feels unproduced and natural. 
• the camera following Billie positions the audience as voyeur, as the mise-en-scene of her performance looking away and seemingly unaware of the audience with the use of a tracking shot establishes this
• the male gaze theory is subverted in this video, throughout the video there are no sexual references. she wears a baggy jumper and shorts which covers the sexualised areas of the body and is hegemonically unattractive- she is represented unstereotypically as a woman which further pushes this 
• in the final parts of the song dutch canted angles are used with close ups whilst billie grabs and eats food, the dynamic cinematography feels rough and ungraceful which builds a messy aggressive atmosphere whilst billie eats- representing her in an unconventional way compared to the traditional forms of female representation in the media. She is conveyed in a hegemonically unattractive way, going against the norms and expectations created by the patriarchy. 
• the diegetic sound of her jumping over the counters symbolises the rebellious nature of her actions, it is clunky and hard sounding which connotes a punk ideology 
• throughout the video the subject directly addresses the audience with her facial expressions, lip syncing and hand gestures. it's an aggressive mode of address paired with the lyrics that positions the audience below billie metaphorically and many times literally with the low angled camerawork. 
• billie goes behind the counters of the stores which encodes that she's in power, she's helping herself whilst the camera aligns the audience as powerless stuck on the other side of the counter. 
• the mise-en-scene of the shutters  and lowkey lighting on the stores connote the place is closed, giving the audience an insight to what a place looks like when they're not supposed to be there and encoding rebellious themes.