About a Girl

Directed by Brian Percival, About a Girl is a short film which tackles the themes of Teenage Pregnancy, Social Class and Broken Families. The film takes a interesting turn at the end which leaves the audiences questioning what they have seen.

The protagonist in this film talks directly to the camera. This allows the audience to relate to the character. It also gives the impression of counselling, where the girl is telling the audience about her family life etc. The close up shots add to this idea of intimacy, and allows us as the audience to feel as though the character is confessing. The character tells her story rapidly, which gives the audience the impression that she in panicking over something. This is reinforced by the jump cuts, allowing the audience to believe that her thought process very fast. The girl has a thick manchester accent and through the locations and colour pallet, there are connotations of poverty and lower class. The characters costume, also allows this to be inferred. The Protagonist wears an oversized coat. This along with the line 'I've become dead good at hiding things' leads me to believe that the girl is hiding a babies bump from her mother. At the end we see her throw a plastic bag into the river. The audience is confused, as the girl walks away. This then cuts back to a shot of the bag with a dead child falling out of it.

 I really enjoyed this short. I think it is well shot, the cinematography portrays well the urgency of the film, and the editing style allows the audience to relate to protagonists thought process. The mise-en-scene depicts a child from a lower social background, and helps portray the idea of a broken family. Overall the film is an enjoyable watch, which leaves the audience questioning what they have just seen.