'About A Girl' - Brian Percival (2001)

Much like 'Sign Language' this short focuses around a lead protagonist speaking directly to camea. The piece is about a girl from a low class area, she is on a journey (we are not aware the location she is going) and is speaking of her life, from her story we see her as an optimist within the small world she lives. As she lives in her own little world she believes that she will get everything in life without having to work for it. She speaks in a child like way, as she does not understand what she is actually speaking of, however the issues she is discussing are very serious and what you expect adults to speak about. Through her journey there is use of flashbacks which coincide with the subjects she is speaking about e.g. she speaks of her father taking her to the pub and buying her a coke and a bag of crisps, for a moment we believe she will be sat with her father however the flashback reveals that she is left to sit outside while we hear the chanting from in the pub, this shows us that she doesn’t really think about what is happening and believes that it happens to everyone her age. Towards the end she speaks of finding a dog and keeping it hid under the bed, however her mother finds it and has one of her friends throw it in the canal, she then goes on to say that she has found ways to hide things from her mother, at this point she throws something into the canal. We then find out it is a dead baby

I did and I didnt like this piece, some aspects worked well as other did not in my opinion. On a techinical filmmaking scale.. the short works really well - the walking shots although they were repetitive were visually impressive and helped convey the fact she is going somewhere (a journey) which leads to the big reveal at the end. The reveal at the end impressed me hugely and was very unexpected - Brian Percival cleverly hints at the fact she was pregnant throughout but many of these hints go unnoticed on first viewing e.g. she mentions 'I'm good at hiding things' etc.

However the short has a long heavy feel to it. The dialogue spoken doesnt seem too interesting but that of social realism, and after a while some dialogue seems irrelvant in pushing the story/ film forward. The darkenss of the piece works also and left a powerful imprint on the myself as a viewer - Percival uses the tactic of shock well in this sense.

The usp to this piece is the direct talk to camera and the big twist reveal at the end. Until the end the story of this girl seems dull despite getting to know her character - she is not a loveable character like in sign language. Some techniques in this film I would like to use in my own drama piece - specifically, The walking shots and talking to camera, The use of flashbacks throughout make a nice break from the documentary feel 'face to camera'. I also hope to hold some sort of twist within my own film, with the reveal being quiet unpredictive and holding an impact upon the viewer.