About a Girl - Brian Percival (2001)

Clip of About a Girl

• The first 40 seconds introduces the girl in a long shot, shown in the style of silhouette, her singing supports the social realism aspect of the stereotypical image of a teenage girl being interested in pop music and perhaps that she maybe the main focus of the film.

• The handycam creates a shaky effect everytime she's being followed in her monologue, this creates the idea as if we, the audience, are her friends, hence the colloquial manner she is speaking in.

• The colour scheme of the areas she walks through uses a lot of browns, greys and black portrays a mundane feeling, as if nothing ever happens in the location she lives at.

• The point above contrasts to everything she talks about, as she mentions her aspirations, her family and friends which gives the impression that a lot can occur.

• You receive the idea of what her class/background is, just from one shot which shows a row of semi detached houses, this explains why she speaks in the fashion she does.

• The help of the costume also helps the audience quickly figure out her working class background, and this also supports the stereotypical image of the large hoop earrings and large, puffy jacket.

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• The sound of her singing on the bench contrasts to the boisterous singing of the men in the pub in a particular scene. This shows the separation between her and her father which many audience members could sympathise with.

• What I could use and be inspired by from this film is how she gradually changes the theme of the film from a character quite protagonist to someone who the audience would decide to be antagonist. The setting is similar to what I would want for my film too. However, I won't be using such a drastic ending as the theme of my film looks the a different concept of a child/teenager's life.