Textual analysis

These are the essentials for a short film:

Audience: Who watches short films?

Institutions: Who makes short films?

Representation: The way something is shown. Ideology: What someone believes- How is that shown in the film: Represent a character in a different way.

Forms: Construction. MES, camera, editing, sound- Narrative, Genre, Media language.

About a Girl

Mis en scene:

The setting is particularly bleak throughout, which reflects the social background of the characters and her feelings.

The majority of the shots are filmed along a canal, with the girl constantly walking along. This may give the audience a sense that they are getting a ‘tour’ of the area and form an opinion on the location.

Many of the buildings are boarded up and represent the ‘estate’ life. This adds to the social opinions the audience may have of the character.

Camera:

All shots where the girl is speaking directly to the audience are handheld, which makes the audience feel like they are walking along with her.

These handheld shots contrast the controlled shots used when the girl is not speaking to the camera. This may give the impression that she does not wish a viewer to see these parts of her life.

Many of the shots help portray her loneliness e.g at the beginning she is seen as a dancing silhouette on her own, as well as shots of her alone on a park bench etc.

Most of the shots throughout are very close and personal. At the end however, a crane shot is used to pull out from the canal. This may represent the audience’s detachment from the situation, following their false feelings of attachment.

Sound:

The use of Britney Spear’s song ‘Oops I did it again’ and lyrics such as ‘I’m not that innocent’ aid in hinting the true nature of the girl, whereas an audience may assume she is simply singing because she is a teenage girl etc. The sound of her singing is quite eerie and unsettling, foreshadowing the nature of the narrative.

The loss of foley sounds when the camera has an underwater angle puts focus onto the floating baby, adding to the disturbing nature of this scene.

Her intonation often changes from playful and amusing to serious, which shows the conflicting nature of her personality.

Editing:

All of the shots are jump cuts.

At the very end, the shots become less bleak and some colour is shown. This may be representative of her relief following the dumping of the baby.

As the girl speaks of a certain event in a particular, false manner, there are often jump cuts to the reality of that scene.

Long shots with cuts are often used when she is not speaking to emphasis her loneliness and pace the piece effectively.