Film study sheet · 10 of 11
Lady Bird
Cultural concept: Coming of age
Greta Gerwig · 2017 · Sacramento, 2002: a senior year, a fierce and loving mother-daughter relationship, and a dream of the East Coast.
Open the full film study Official trailer
Created by Madame Carole Paoli Pompougnac · https://trame-lycee.netlify.app/films/lady-bird.html
Film credits
| Title | Lady Bird (USA, 2017) |
|---|---|
| Written and directed by | Greta Gerwig |
| Cast | Saoirse Ronan (Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson), Laurie Metcalf (Marion McPherson), Tracy Letts (Larry McPherson), Lucas Hedges (Danny), Timothée Chalamet (Kyle), Beanie Feldstein (Julie), Lois Smith (Sister Sarah Joan) |
| Cinematography | Sam Levy |
| Editing | Nick Houy |
| Music | Jon Brion |
| Distributor | A24 |
| Running time | 94 minutes |
| Release | Telluride Film Festival, 1 September 2017 · USA, 3 November 2017 |
| Rating | R, language, sexual content, brief graphic nudity and teen partying |
| Awards | 90th Academy Awards (2018): 5 nominations, Best Picture, Director, Actress (Ronan), Supporting Actress (Metcalf), Original Screenplay |
Film language, with examples from the official trailer
Timecodes are approximate (± 2 s). Pause the trailer and check each example yourself.
Shots
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| establishing shot / extreme long shot | shows the place; people look tiny |
| long shot | a whole body in its setting |
| medium shot | from the waist up |
| close-up | a face fills the frame: emotion |
| extreme close-up | a detail: eyes, a hand, an object |
| two-shot | two characters in one frame: a relationship |
| over-the-shoulder shot | we watch one character through another’s position |
- ≈0:06two-shot inside the car: mother and daughter side by side, but looking in different directions
- ≈0:26medium shot of Lady Bird against a plain black background: a portrait
Angles
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| eye level | neutral, we are equal with the character |
| high angle | camera above: the character looks small or weak |
| low angle | camera below: the character looks powerful |
| canted (Dutch) angle | tilted frame: unease, a world out of balance |
| bird’s-eye view | straight down from above |
- ≈0:06eye-level in the car: an equal confrontation
- ≈0:34a street mural behind the character: the city as a backdrop
Camera movement
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| pan | the camera turns horizontally |
| tilt | the camera moves up or down |
| tracking shot | the camera travels with a character or a car |
| zoom | the lens brings us closer |
| handheld camera | shaky, urgent, documentary feel |
| crane / aerial shot | the camera flies above the scene |
- whole trailermostly static camera: the film observes like a family photo album
Lighting & colour
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| high-key lighting | bright, few shadows: optimism |
| low-key lighting | dark, strong shadows: tension, mystery |
| backlighting | light behind a character: a halo or a silhouette |
| natural light | sun, windows, candles |
| colour palette | the dominant colours of the film |
- whole trailersoft natural light, warm pastel colours, grainy texture: the look of early-2000s photos
- ≈1:06the bright Thrift Town storefront: shopping second-hand
Sound
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| diegetic sound | the characters can hear it (a radio, a piano on stage) |
| non-diegetic sound | only the audience hears it (the score, a narrator) |
| voice-over | a voice we hear over the images |
| score | music composed for the film |
| silence | no sound: a shock, a pause |
| sound bridge | a sound that continues into the next scene |
- ≈0:06dialogue first, music later: the voices of mother and daughter lead the trailer
- whole trailerlight, quirky music under fast exchanges
Editing
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| cut | a direct change of shot |
| cross-cutting | alternating between two places or stories |
| montage | a fast series of shots that compresses time |
| fade to black | the image disappears: an ending, a pause |
| intertitle | text on screen between images |
| slow motion | time slows down: importance, emotion |
- whole trailerquick cuts between short scenes, like memories of a year
- ≈1:18title card “written and directed by Greta Gerwig”
Step into the period
Daily life
- 2002 to 2003: flip phones, landlines, college applications on paper and online
- After 11 September 2001; the Iraq War begins in March 2003 (seen on TV in the film)
- Catholic high schools with uniforms
Music
- Pop of the early 2000s: Alanis Morissette, Dave Matthews Band, Justin Timberlake
- School musicals and theatre clubs
Fashion
- School uniforms, dyed red-pink hair, thrift-shop clothes
- Prom dresses bought second-hand
Places
- Sacramento, California’s capital, on the Sacramento and American rivers
- Tower Bridge, the State Capitol, the “wrong side of the tracks”
- New York: the dream of the East Coast
Historical landmarks
- 1848 Gold is discovered near Sacramento: the Gold Rush begins.
- 1854 Sacramento becomes the capital of California.
- 1935 Tower Bridge opens in Sacramento.
- 1983 Greta Gerwig is born in Sacramento.
- 2001 11 September attacks.
- 2002 Autumn: the story begins, Lady Bird’s senior year.
- 2003 March: the Iraq War begins; spring: college decisions.
- 2017 Lady Bird premieres at Telluride (1 September).
- 2018 5 Oscar nominations; Gerwig is the fifth woman nominated for Best Director.
Sources: A24, Lady Bird
Sentence starters for your sheet
- The two-shot in the car suggests…
- The pastel colours make me think of…
- In 2002, a teenager in Sacramento…
To close: a place, then exchange
Where is each character’s place at the start and at the end? Then: political · emotional · general interest · human rights, then go deeper: what passes between the characters, and who do they become?
From the place they find or lose, the deepest exchange in this film is…