Finding Creative Inspiration: Case Study 2

In my last post, I mentioned how I planned to analyze the short film Not Bad. Today, I'll be doing exactly that! "Not Bad" is a production that stars Manon Bannerman: popular member of the girl group Katseye. She collaborated with her friends Sophie and Violet to bring this movie to life. It was released to Instagram in January 2026, and many people praised the film for shedding light on domestic inequality and the struggles of women. Here's a quick plot synopsis: 

"While a housewife performs an exhausting cycle of chores, her husband remains entirely checked out, focused solely on his loud and relentless drumming. The film culminates in a moment of weary isolation as the wife finally sits to eat alone, resigned to a partnership where her labor is ignored and the noise never stops."

Manon revealed this film was created just for fun. It was just a short, unserious project that allowed her and her friends to test their filmmaking abilities. However, I really liked this production! It's shot very well--especially for something that was made purely for enjoyment--and has an important premise. The careful use of cinematography, sound design, and mis-en-scene makes it a biting look at misogny. I believe that analyzing the film's visuals, sound, and takeaway will help me create my own! The fact that it is two minutes long, which is how long my opening has to be, makes dissecting it even more helpful through showing how much content can be packed into a limited timeframe. So, without further ado, let's get into it!

Cinematography

The film uses different camera shots to convey different emotions. The film starts out calmly, with slow tracking shots showcasing Manon cleaning the windows and entering different rooms. However, it gets more intense with time. As she's cutting vegetables to make a meal, a loud drum symbal sounds in the back, and Manon winces & cuts her finger. A close-up into her sad, almost scared-looking face creates a sudden mood change. This is built on for the rest of the film. Cross-cutting shows her partner staying glued to his drums and playing them increasingly louder as the movie progresses. As the music gets more aggressive, so do the camera shots, which unearth Manon's inner turmoil. Full shots depict Manon obsessively adjusting her appearance, cleaning the house, and working in the kitchen. Her movements get more vigorous and intense as the drums get louder, which are enunciated through jump cuts--especially in the scenes where she screams into a pillowcase and paces around the living-room without pausing. This underscores her frustration and emotional distress. Smash cuts are used to make the film's shots more sudden & jarring, which are symbolic of the intense, heavy, and unresolved feelings Manon carries as she strives for perfectionism but is consistently ignored. One shot that stood out to me here is the match cut torwards the end. Out of frustration, Manon chucks a green smoothie she made across the kitchen. This carries into the next scene, which shows green liquid splatting on a window she'd just cleaned--symbolizing how her responsibilities are never-ending.

Smash/Jump Cuts

This showed me how camera plays a key role in storytelling. Smash cuts, jump cuts, and the close-up zooms into Manon's facial expressions show her true emotions. I can employ these types of shots in my own film when I seek to express a character's feelings. I also took note of how this film uses framing. In certain scenes, the camera is neatly placed and almost "hidden" in plain sight. Instead of just showing Manon from a head-on perspective, the camera sometimes peeks behind a doorframe, is tucked into a window shutter, or placed behind the fireplace. I thought this was a really unique and stylistic way of showing a scene. I also found it to boost the my engagement and the film's visual interest.

Framing

Sound

The film's sound gets louder as it continues, which coincide with the intensifying camera shots. The movie first begins with ambient sound. The sun shines through the windows and birds chirp as Manon wipes them down. This creates a calm, almost serene atmosphere. She hums to herself throughout the next clips, where she peacefully gazes at herself in the mirror and later goes to her room to change. Her true colors and innermost feelings are only brought to life when the diegetic drum symbal goes off. This short, off-putting burst of discordance changes the film's direction. The drums play continuously for the rest of the film, becoming more fierce and intense as Manon grows increasingly distressed. They only come to an end when Manon reaches her limit. Embracing her frustration, she throws part of her smoothie across the kitchen & defeatedly sits down against a window. The scene then cuts to her eating with her partner sitting distantly behind her, still glued to his drumset but no longer playing. This is where the first instance of dialogue happens. Her gaze is detached as she takes a bite of the food she made. She chews it, then says, "Hm, not bad." This is the final shot of the production.

I found the minimal dialogue to represent the unspoken expectations that are placed on women. Manon constantly tries to "fix" her appearance, carefully prepares meals, and intensely cleans the house without being told to. However, the man in her life goes by without needing to handle these chores, sitting by his drumset all day and never even acknowledging Manon. The only thing that's said throughout the entire film is the phrase "not bad," which is disinterestedly uttered by Manon when she finally sits down and tries the food she makes. Even this short utterance of dialogue is symbolic of patriarchial stereotypes. It shows that now matter how hard women work, it'll never be seen as enough or "worth noticing." The protagonist herself--despite catering to her partner and completing exhausting chores throughout the day--fails to see her own cooking as beyond mediocre, showing the consequences of societal expectations on self-perception.  

Mis-en-scene

One thing that stood out to me here is the costume design. Manon's outfit has that "tradwife" aesthetic. Even when indoors, she dresses neatly and constantly changes her appearance. She also wears accessories, including a face-sculpting headband and cinched corset. Through wearing such apparel, it almost seems like she's performing for someone or trying to maintain a "perfect" image. The corsets, face-sculpters, and high-heels she wears are highly uncomfortable, especially to wear around the house and clean in. This is reminiscent of the gender roles pushed onto women. The idea of them needing to look good all the time has become normalized in today's society. Manon's costume embodies these unfair pressures. She undergoes several wardrobe changes and spends many scenes looking at herself in the mirror, whilst the man in her life is able to get by without ever changing his appearance. These outfit changes are also used as a tool to signifiy her emotional and physical state. When cutting vegetables in the beginning, she wears her hair loose and a baggy cardigan. But, her outfits become more constrained and traditional as her chores (and the drumming) grow more frantic.

Costume

Color is another integral part of this film. Green, warm browns, pale purples, vibrant pinks, and dull blues are present throughout the entire production--whether it's being incorporated into the set design or character costumes. This makes the film look aesthetically appealing and easy-on-the-eye. The colors are carefully picked to match the film's domestic theme. 

Color Scheme

Impact

"Not Bad" carefully uses camera to turn the film into a powerful jab at the patriarchy. The burden of needing to look "perfect" while performing tedious, underappreciated labor as a woman is brought to light through elements like costume design. Jarring drums (sound) and fast cuts (camera) are used as the film progresses to show how such extreme standards cause women to descend into madness. No matter how much effort they put in, their hard work goes unrecognized, leaving to inevitable burn-out.

This showed me just how much goes into film-production. All of these elements--including sound, costume, color, and camera--must be considered by filmmakers to make a successful production. The directors Sophie, Violet, and Manon did this exactly, using these aspects of film creation to their advantage and successfully sending their message across.