The clip begins with a two shot of women, both dressed in victorian styled dresses. One is holding an item of clothing against the women opposite her, as she breathes slightly heavily to perhaps portray the sexual tension between these two characters. As the girl shifts behind her, she turns her head slightly but not fully, avoiding intimate eye contact. The woman holding the piece of attire against the other female couldn't take her hands off of her. She held the top of her shoulders a little tighter as they both looked into the mirror (evident through the switching camera shot). A narrator is then heard, beginning with "she looked so beautiful" which could perhaps demonstrate her subtle interest in this woman. As they both look into the mirror, soft non diegetic piano music begins to play which could be heard by the audience as an upsetting tune down to the "miss" having to say all of this in her head (as a narrator) rather than out loud. Having a narrator convey the ladies opinion suggests that what she is saying could never be heard by other ears; only the audience can know. This may lead them onto assuming that her sexuality is a secret.
This shot slowly fades into one of her at a desk, starring at a book. The camera spins around her gently, always keeping her near the centre to assure that she is continuously the main focus of the shot. It then fades again into a different shot, one of two women in bed together. So far throughout the clip it has established women and their thoughts/feelings, which could mean this is centralised around the sexuality of ladies.
In this new shot, a woman is peacefully sleeping as the relaxing music in the background continues playing. The soundtrack helps ease the audience into the story as it plays softly and calmly. The other lady in the bed is sitting up, hesitant of placing her hands upon the other woman. She hovers her hand over and down her body instead, admiring it's tranquil state. She's wearing white gloves in bed. This prop could perhaps be a symbol of how she is unable to touch the woman lying next to her, even though she may be struggling to hold back the urge. This shot fades out and again, into a new one.
The lady from the beginning, who the audience would assume to be the narrator, is sitting outside paiting a picture. She has a large hat on that spreads out from her head with her hair neatly behind her in a plait. This costume and hairstyle conforms to the audiences belief of this clip being set years ago. A cut is used when she looks up, demonstrating what it is she's looking at, and of course that is a lady. She continues her painting of this female, her reaction portrayed through a close up holding a look of determination to master the beauty of what's infront of her.
An establishing shot exposes how there is a smartly dressed man standing close by her surroundings, shortly followed by a pan of him walking behind the woman that's painting and standing over her. This could be seen as male dominance and also represent how men withhold the power. Whilst she has a man close by she will never be able to comfortably admit her sexuality of perhaps being a lesbian. He says in an intimidating tone "she must think we love one another". At this point the themetune increased and continued to rise and fall, paiting a layer of suspense over the atmosphere. Furthermore, enigma code has been included here as the audience are unaware of who it is the man's talking about and why. We find out her name as being "Maud" during this scene aswell.
A couple of cuts between shots conveys the area of the woman that Maud is mainly focusing on. She studies her paintings subject (the sleeping lady) and then a close up shot of the ladies breasts are seen as what it is Maud's looking at. She then studies her hands neatly resting in her lap, Maud's facial expression blank throughout her admiring session. The music spookily becomes tense and horror like, as if something was about to jump out. It may be that the tense music fits the feelings of Maud as she can look at this lady, and continue looking at her, but never be able to touch her, therefore building up tension inside her of not being able to embrace her sexuality. The man looks at Maud confused, as she looks at the ladies face. A few shots quickly changed throughout this as the tense music continued to play, and then a drop of red paint fell onto her dress from her paintbrush. The red paint could resemble her sexuality as ruining her white dress; ruining her purity. She may believe she isn't pure for having sexual desires towards fellow females. More drops fall, this time ruining her painting. Maud is in some sort of daydream. After nearly a full minute she eventually decides to look up at the man and hurridely takes off her apron and attempts to make a run for it. Unfortunately the man holds her mouth shut and forces her in the direction of a tree which is portrayed through a tracking shot. This shot was fast paced and could represent the dominance a man has and how fast a man is able to change a current situation by using strength to his advantage. Enigma code is running high at this point.
Maud being a lesbian is confirmed during this scene. He says "she'd laugh at your face if she knew" but she pleads that he "musn't". The dialogue shared between these two characters is bitter and spiteful. The man is patronising whilst Maud is helpless. Fast paced breaths are taken by Maud as she struggles under his grasp. This sound emphasises her discomfort at being held by a man without permission, but also most likely at how she tries her best to keep her sexuality a secret. He harshly says "appear to love me, marry me". Her not being a heterosexual is considered as a sin in this clip. She has to keep it a secret and lie to make others happy. This could maybe be because she comes from an upper class famility which is supported through her costume and lifestyle so far introduced in the clip. She wears night gowns to bed, elegant and non-sexually provocating dresses and likes to paint beautiful pictures surrounded by fresh green scenery. She perhaps has a reputation to keep at bay.
Maud says she "can't" marry him, and before anymore dialogue is shared, the subject of the painting has woken up. She interrupts this scene which could be viewed by the audience as her being the reason Maud can't marry the man as she came into shot as soon as Maud admitted this. Maud ignores the lady as she calls her name, clueless of where she has gotten to. The sound of the wind is exaggerated and clearly heard here, whilst the man slowly leans down to kiss Maud. She swerves her head, and so the man bends down (shown through a tilt shot) and pulls out her hand, gently removes part of her gloves to expose more of her palm and licks it, kisses it and breathes heavily whilst doing so. This is not the kind of aspect of a woman's body that you'd think would lead a man to become attracted to so intensely that he breathes in a way someone would whilst sharing a passionate kiss. It's strange and creates discomfort for an audience. A few quick shots of Maud's facial expression and the man's kiss are exchanged as the soundtrack evolves into the sound of slicing knives; this is not an appropriate of pleasant atmosphere for the female.
The sound of knives eases and a fade shot is then used yet again leading onto another scene. The camera is behind a different woman as she strips from her clothes, the lightig in the room dimly lit as the fire goes crackling away. It's quite a romantic atmosphere. A cut is used to establish the next shot of Maud tilting her head up slowly and of course admiring this woman's bare back. A close up shot is then inserted of Maud's facial expression of holding back. She has her hand by her mouth holding some sort of cloth as she scratches away at it. It's evident that she's struggling with her situation and could perhaps leave the audience feeling pity towards her not being able to openly accept her sexuality and live life as a lesbian.
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