About a girl - Brian Percival

1.Identify the genre/s or style/s used

• Social realism
• Grainy image
• Low key lighting
• Bland colours- beige, black, grey
• Lower class clothes - Jacket, jeans, scruffy hair
• Realistic and recogniseable settings
• Beginnig, middle and end
• Stereotypical young girl- wants to be older, likes music and singing

2. How does this film use genre/style conventions uniquely?

• The film uses the song 'Stronger' as a trademark for the girl. It is as if she lives her life through the song.
• I like the different paces of the shots and also the fact that the continuity isn't smooth. This is delibrate an dmakes the girl seem as if she is on edge and that her life is a bit mixed up.
• I like the way that it uses social realism and a monologue. I think that it is more like a documentary as the girl is talking to the camera slightly. The story is coming from her, not on a voice over, which makes it seem more personal.

3. How does the film use the short film format?

• I like the fact that the opening and the ending - during the credits - are the same. It seems to sum up the girls character.
• The narrative has a beginning, middle and end, which keep it structured.However, the ending is interesting as you dont expect the girl to throw a newborn baby into a river. This makes the audience wonder where the baby has come from? It could be the girls baby or her mums, as she says 'i keep a lot of things hidden.'
• I like the fact that the audience dont suspect her to do anything like that so when it happens it is a complete shock. The plastic bag she is carrying fits the role as it isnt a posh bag or one with a big slogan on it. It looks like a bag from the corner shop which makes it even more shocking.
• I like the way that the film builds up to a crescendo at the end. When it shows the girl speaking, she is walking beside a path. You dont think about where she is going as her story distracts you.
• i think that the embedded clips used when she is talking is interesting, as it is like she is showing us examples of her life. This may be to confuse the audience, as they think that somehting will happen in the flashbacks, which seem as if they are in the past, rather than in the present.

4. What do you find interesting about the useof sound?

• I think that the Britney song is used very well as it tells us what era it was. It is also used to resemble part of her life, especially as the girl is singing it.
• I like the idea of a monologue and would like to use this in our film. I think that it makes it slightly more personal. The way that the monologue stops when there is a clip works well as it might clash if she is talking over the top. I would like to use this as i feel that it is a good way to use dialogue.

5. Themes and issues and representation

• The film is about a deprived girl who doesnt get on with her Mum so she wants to live with her Dad. However, he doesnt want her as she is a lot of hassle. This shows that she is somewhat neglected by her family and is seen as a nuisance. She says that she wants to start a band and become famous, as this seems to be the only way that she can get out of poverty. The end of the film shows her throwing a baby into a river. It was in the plastic bag that she was carrying throughout the film. The baby could have been hers as she is talking about her future life of becoming famous. She knows that noone will accept her if she has a child.
• When she is talking about the dog, she could be referring to the baby instead. She says that a dog died and it got thrown into the canal. I think that she has kept the baby hidden in her room and her Mum has told her to get rid of it. So from past experience with the dog, the only thing that she can think to do is throw it into the river.
• The only part where she talks like an adult is when she talks about the dog. After she throws the baby in she starts talking about an ice cream. She is mature for her age but she knows how to be a child as well.
• The audience feel very sorry for her as they can see that she doesnt have a lot in her life. However, at the end of the film they may feel slightly disturbed when she throws the baby in.
• A typical northern stereotype is used here as she is quite poor. Northern people are the poorest in the country. The clothes she wears resemble her background. It could resemble a careless family on benefits as the Dad is more likely to spend his money in the pub rather than on his children. Her Mum is also seen with scratchcards. It is as if her Mum just wants the lucky break and wasting her money on scratchcards is her way of escaping her life, even if for just a second.