Alright, I had little trouble with this one, getting into the mind set of viewing the show technically instead of narratively. The actual segmentation of the show seemed pretty basic as far as a digressive comedy goes. There were often multiple segments in the seen, and sometimes a digression or tangent within the segment. The whole show is also segmented into character relative plots. For example, the episode I watched was called "Cooters" hehe, amusing. It was the finale for season 2 and guest starred Mathew Broderick. The main plot was essentially divided into several underlying plots. Lemon's is pregnant, Jack is no longer working at GE, Kenneth is battling with the head page for a trip to china, Tracy is creating a porn video game with Frank...and there are a few other smaller ones. For this show they divided the episode into sub-plots, that could then be further segmented complete with amusing references and a few digressive flash backs to Pete being an almost-olympic archer.
As far as technical codes go the show didnt seem to be pushing the envelope. The editing style really brings things together flawlessly, and nothing is really overintrusive or noticeable. I also watch ripped versions from online, so there are no commercial interruptions to decimate my undivided attention. I noticed that with the lighting, the techniques and contrasts they use are very subtle but there is a specific light intensity for almost every scene. The staff writing room is really bright and cleanly lit. The stage and production are rather dim and have more of a warm glow, the same for the dressing room areas. Lemon's appartment and office also have their own lighting that is relatively bright, but very soft so as to not bring out to much detail so we can focus on Tina Fey's face. This particular episode also had Jack working at a budget cut disaster relief type place where the employees dont own pens and the lamps are actually long candles with shades over them. Here obviously the lighting is way down and very gloomy. The camera frames and angles that the show used also seemed pretty basic, and werent too noticeable. Definitely a single camera production, which I love. This leads to very clean editing that flows seamlessly and doesnt disorient the viewer.
The end of this episode actually did have a pretty good display of both segmentation and technical codes. It is a quick run through of all of the plot lines, and what the people are doing with it 3 months later. It divides the story lines and sets up establishing shots to set the scenario. All in all it was a fun episode both from a narrative and technical standpoint.
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I don’t know about you but for me if I’m not looking for technical codes, which most of the time I‘m not, then I don’t see them. But I also think that’s due to the flawless editing like you mentioned, which makes it really hard to pick up on these types of things, but which makes the show so great looking.
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