ABOUT A GIRL

2001

Brian Percival – Social Realist Drama.

About a Girl is a witty film. The crux of its success lies in the clever layering of ideas, the repeated interrupting scenes and an ending that subverts the girl’s flippancy.

NARRATIVE

The film’s fractured narrative is deceptively simple. A single journey along the canal is interspersed with scenes that increasingly hint at the issues of the main character. There is really only one Act: the journey, with the reveal at the end.

THE TITLE

The title is quite broad. it doesn’t specify a niche in which we will be exploring, its more of a general statement. this has a power impact, it suggests that its a reoccurring thing thats happening young girls across the UK.

DOCUMENTARY STYLE

Cinematography

Medium shots, hand held camera instead of professional HD cameras. This creates an effect that we are actually there, listening to her monologue. This makes feel more personal and sympathetic to her situation. There were also a couple of long shots of her holding the plastic bag. It’s as if she is slowing fading away as no one cares about her nor notice her. 

Mise-en-scene

Wearing a puffer jacket, typically worn by young girls like her. It reminds the audience compare to how she looks and acts she’s still a young girl. 

Editing

Throughout this film there was a lot of cross cutting between the monologue and scene which relates to what she is talking about; for instance the fact that she wants to be a singer and her singing on the bus with her friends. This creates a more interesting effect for the film compared to a boring 5 minute film. Also the cuts that were used sometimes showed her actual emotions and things that she may not have seen herself for example the worried look from her mum from behind. 

Sound

Throughout the film it was mainly diegetic sound of her doing her monologue

DIRECTOR

The director has use this choice of lyrics because throughout the film you don’t actually hear about her real emotion about what she has just been through and the neglect of her parents. The lyrics relate to her situation and are likely to reflect what she is feeling currently, for example at one part of the song she sang “you are the thing that I can’t take care of, no more. But now I am stronger than yesterday”. This part of the lyrics shows that the young girl has now been through one tough challenge and through that she can become even stronger.

SHOTS

Long shot conveys her isolation

Move from hand held to the long shot conveying her isolation, the mise en scene reflects the poverty.

Utter shock of the site.

FINAL SCENE

Stating that she has become “good at hiding things”, she throws the plastic bag she has been carrying into the canal.