this is a short clip of the film, due to the full film being no longer available.
About a girl is a short film about the day to day life of a 13 year old girl, it goes through different aspects of her life. She is part of a broken family, her mum and dad are separated and she wants to live with her dad, but he seems to believe that its too much hassle, all though she just thinks he doesn't want her there. She lives with her mum, but she seems to not get any attention from her mum as she's got a little sister and another baby sibling; her mum is made out to care more about her 'ciggies' than anything else. We watch and listen to a fast-talking girl as she delivers a disjointed narration. We see snippets of her dysfunctional life as she strides along the canal before finally seeing her reason for being there - and the secret she's been hiding. The titles of the film are extremely effective, it is typed up as if its a mobile text message A.b.o.u.t.a.G.i.r.l which is very relevant since she's a teenage girl, and its very common in teenage girls to text. The first shot is a long shot, introducing the girl; dancing and singing on a hill top, on her own. At first we're not introduced to the girls face, instead we see a silhouette of the back of her, which could represent a dark and isolate life, straight from off. themajority of the short film is made up of jump cuts; the shots of the girl walking down the canal and narrating her life, is shot by an hand held camera, which fasten the pace of the film, which represents the girls fast and common nature.
there is a realistic urban setting to the film which reinforces the personality of the character. There is 8 different locations within the film; the canal, pub, cafe, football field, the bus, the perfume store and the streets of manchester when mum appears on screen, all the locations are dark and dingy, except the perfume store which is bright and airy, suggesting its a place that the girl shouldn't really be in. Throughout the girl is wearing the same big white coat, and big hooped earrings with jeans and trainers; this could represent the girls insecurities and also the obvious fact that she's been hiding that she's gone through 9 months of pregnancy; which isn't revealed to the very end of the film. The first time we're introduced to the girls family; we see that they're not a very tight family structure, her mum is more interested in cigs, money and her littlest child, the girl is always out of the way, and on her own or on her phone and her dad is more interested in football and the pub, he's apparently "looking for a job" but obviously not committed to his family.
The more important parts of the girls story is presented in long shots; and are on screen for 8-10 second unlike the rest of the shots which are 2-3 seconds each. One of the most important editing shots that appears on screen is the pulling focus of the girls body, suggesting that her mum doesn't notice the girl and she feels invisible. Most of the characters in the story have the same class background, the one difference in characters is the women working in the perfume shop, she's dressed much more sophisticated and appears to be from a much higher class background.
The sound is the same throughout the film, it is just the girl speaking to the audience, narrating her life story over what appears to be 9 months, the only change in sound is when the girl repeatedly sing songs of Britney Spears on her own and on the bus with her 3 girlfriends; without any background music just acapella. There is a change in mood when the girl stop by the canal,the pase slows down when the girl stops and looks at the canal, there is also a change in show, its a long birds eye view shot, shes narrating how she's gotton good at hiding things from her mum, since the event of hiding a dog in her room, which her mum ended up throwing in the canal (which must have been where she got the idea from).
We finally find out about whats in the carrier bag that the girl carries around for the duration of the film. This is the part of the film which makes it similar to our film, its a shocking and taboo subject which is avoided at all costs, the girl has obviously undergone 9 months of pregnancy without anysupport from her family as they're not committed enough to even notice, she's gave birth to a dead baby, and thrown it in the canal, as she feels this is a normal thing to do, as thats what her mother did to the dead dog.
It cuts to a long shot of the girl walking off from the event singing like normal as if it hasn't bothered her. It is a very shocking ending as the girl never seems to be distraught about the situation. The Credits after the film include the cast; the girl, mother, dad, toddler, 3 friends, fishing boy 1 and 2, football teams; the writer, the producer, the director and so on;just a normal rolling title; which is more than likely the same as how we do our credits at the end.
character analysis:
the main girl in the piece is introuced initially on a hill side signing britney spears, she is presented as a childlike innocent character, she is shown to be from a lower class background, and seems to be a very lonely character, she is very talkative and hyperactive, the film is based around the story of her life, she is wearing the same outfit throughout and is going through a hard time, without any of her family realising anything about what shes going through.
her dad, she doesn't live with her dad, but would like to; he cares more about football than anything else, he is shown to not care a lot about his daughter as he leaves her sat outside the pub whilst he's sat enjoying his night with his football friends, he is shown to be a man with no job and doesn't show any means of getting a job to helping his daughter out.
her friends, these are the people that actually pay any attention to her but still dont have a clue about her pregnancy, they act the same, and are shown to look up to her, they're all presented as being from the same background.
shop keeper, is introduced in the middle of the film, to show a difference between class, to women is obviously from a higher class background, and talks in a posh voice, however she is presented as being a stereotypical 'dumb blonde'.
her mum, she is shown in lots of cut offs from her story, as her mum has many opportunities to find out about the situation that she is in, however she is presented as caring all about herself, cigarettes and her other children, her mother obviously doesn't listen to her and is from a lower class background, and is presented as being a really unstaible and unsuitable mother to her children.
At first we're not introduced to the girls face, instead we see a silhouette of the back of her, which could represent a dark and isolate life, straight from off. themajority of the short film is made up of jump cuts; the shots of the girl walking down the canal and narrating her life, is shot by an hand held camera, which fasten the pace of the film, which represents the girls fast and common nature. 
At first we're not introduced to the girls face, instead we see a silhouette of the back of her, which could represent a dark and isolate life, straight from off. themajority of the short film is made up of jump cuts; the shots of the girl walking down the canal and narrating her life, is shot by an hand held camera, which fasten the pace of the film, which represents the girls fast and common nature. 
there is a realistic urban setting to the film which reinforces the personality of the character. There is 8 different locations within the film; the canal, pub, cafe, football field, the bus, the perfume store and the streets of manchester when mum appears on screen, all the locations are dark and dingy, except the perfume store which is bright and airy, suggesting its a place that the girl shouldn't really be in. Throughout the girl is wearing the same big white coat, and big hooped earrings with jeans and trainers; this could represent the girls insecurities and also the obvious fact that she's been hiding that she's gone through 9 months of pregnancy; which isn't revealed to the very end of the film. 
The first time we're introduced to the girls family; we see that they're not a very tight family structure, her mum is more interested in cigs, money and her littlest child, the girl is always out of the way, and on her own or on her phone and her dad is more interested in football and the pub, he's apparently "looking for a job" but obviously not committed to his family. 
The more important parts of the girls story is presented in long shots; and are on screen for 8-10 second unlike the rest of the shots which are 2-3 seconds each. One of the most important editing shots that appears on screen is the pulling focus of the girls body, suggesting that her mum doesn't notice the girl and she feels invisible. Most of the characters in the story have the same class background, the one difference in characters is the women working in the perfume shop, she's dressed much more sophisticated and appears to be from a much higher class background. 
The sound is the same throughout the film, it is just the girl speaking to the audience, narrating her life story over what appears to be 9 months, the only change in sound is when the girl repeatedly sing songs of Britney Spears on her own and on the bus with her 3 girlfriends; without any background music just acapella. There is a change in mood when the girl stop by the canal,the pase slows down when the girl stops and looks at the canal, there is also a change in show, its a long birds eye view shot, shes narrating how she's gotton good at hiding things from her mum, since the event of hiding a dog in her room, which her mum ended up throwing in the canal (which must have been where she got the idea from).
We finally find out about whats in the carrier bag that the girl carries around for the duration of the film. This is the part of the film which makes it similar to our film, its a shocking and taboo subject which is avoided at all costs, the girl has obviously undergone 9 months of pregnancy without anysupport from her family as they're not committed enough to even notice, she's gave birth to a dead baby, and thrown it in the canal, as she feels this is a normal thing to do, as thats what her mother did to the dead dog. 
It cuts to a long shot of the girl walking off from the event singing like normal as if it hasn't bothered her. It is a very shocking ending as the girl never seems to be distraught about the situation. 
The Credits after the film include the cast; the girl, mother, dad, toddler, 3 friends, fishing boy 1 and 2, football teams; the writer, the producer, the director and so on;just a normal rolling title; which is more than likely the same as how we do our credits at the end. 
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