Frances Ha

The camera cuts to this first shot right after Frances is seen smiling at Sophie. It is both a long shot and an establishing shot, establishing where the film is taking the viewer. It is a shot of was is presumably Frances' new apartment. Non-diegetic music is playing in the background of the shot and it is taken up by the apartment, with no people (or even cars) or anything to divert a viewer's attention.

Next, the camera cuts to a medium (or American) shot of Frances in her doorway, with her arms at her sides as if she is preparing to dance, or do something like that. She is looking down, and that mixed with the music gives the scene a sort of somber feel, I guess. I'm not sure what to call it. There are boxes in the background, clarifying that Frances has just moved in.

Frances steps out of the doorway and raises her arms, simultaneously smiling as she raises them. The camera does not move at all. The boxes are displayed more clearly in this shot, further clarifying what they had before, just in case the viewer hadn't noticed them. The film takes on a happy mood, as Frances finally has her own place and is content with her life. She is in the foreground of the shot, assuring that she has the viewer's attention, and her smile makes it clear that she is happy now.

The camera then cuts to a long shot of Frances writing something in front of the window. There are boxes and books piled up to her left and in front of her, respectively. The film does not make it clear what she is writing at this point. The camera is looking into this room from another room, giving a pretty clear shot of the room, in which the viewer can see most of it. The black-and-white makes it hard to tell what the weather is like outside, but that is not important. I just thought it was interesting.

The camera then cuts to a close-up of Frances' hand as she is writing her name on the bottom of a card. There are scissors in the background of the shot, but it is unclear, at this point, what they will be used for. The card with her name partially written take up the majority of the shot.

The camera cuts to a shot of Frances cutting her newly-written name off the card. At this point, it is still not clear why she wrote it, but the next shots show that it was for her new mailbox. The scissors in the background of the previous shot now come to the foreground and it is clear what they were for. The background of this close-up is blurry, so the important things in the shot (the cutting of the card) are made clear.