Textual analysis: 'Bus Baby'

Bus Baby - People's choice winner 2010 from Virgin Media Shorts


The scene starts with a jump from a black screen, which is a conventions of horror movies to start with a black screen. There is then an angled wide shot of the street with the bus stopping. We know that the bus has just stopped as the hissing sound commences and it slowly moves down to lower it's height so that the passengers can get on board and off. There are ambient sounds of the bus stopping and other cars driving past. This creates verisimilitude as people using public transport does occur in everyday life. However since there is verisimilitude at the beginning of the short film, it could foreshadow that something weird will take place soon. The girl goes on board with her baby in the pushchair.

The camera break the rule of thirds as it moves from one side to another, showing a mid shot of the girl getting on board. She struggles to move the pram with the baby across so she stays near the door. The costume shows that she is a school child which connotes that she is a teenage mum and will be finding things difficult, specially if the baby annoys her. The fact that her tie is purple and black connotes that she is trying to achieve and do well in school, but the black connotes that she cannot get further in education as the baby is stopping her from doing so. This tells the audience that perhaps she took the baby into school or is about to take it into school so that she can learn and look after the baby at the same time. This could also suggest that there is no one willing to look after the baby while she goes to get educated.

There is a long shot as she settles into the bus. The seats and layout of the bus indicate that the film is set in London.

All the passengers look at her whilst the baby coos but when she looks up they look away. There's then a man's voice that says "oi, everyone's looking at you". The audience start to wonder where the voice is coming from and who's voice it is. She wanders around at who it is until it says "down here", which tells the audience that it is in fact the baby that's talking. There is then a close up of the baby's face. It is someone's face edited onto the actual baby to make it look like it's got a man's face and a man's voice.

The baby points out all the negative things that connotes this is what she is also thinking. For example he says "why are we still at grandma's place?" and "How's your GCSEs going?". This connotes that she is failing / under-performing because of being a young mum and that she won't get the grades. If she doesn't get the grades then she wont get a job, ad so she can't get a job to get money and buy a house for herself and the baby.

The baby is saying all the things that the girl is uncomfortable about like having an ugly stomach after she gave birth and that she won't find anyone else.
The baby repeats what she has to do for a baby annoyingly while there are close ups of her face. She is sad and looks like she is about to cry because she is being bullied by her own baby. There is a ringing sound that increases in volume as the baby keeps repeating "day after day after day".

The editing then makes the camera shake slightly, connoting that she is panicked and stressed about what other people think about her. During the film no-one looks a her as a young mum.
She eventually gets fed up and lashes out, telling the baby to "shut up!" The people of the public finally do stare at her in shock and think negatively of her and think she cannot handle her own baby, and the baby starts to cry.
The whole short film was just the horror of handling a baby at a young age.