About A Girl : Impact on the audience

 HOW DOES THE DIRECTOR MAKE AN IMPACT ON THE AUDIENCE THROUGH THE CHARACTER OF THE GIRL?

In the film "About A Girl", the director uses several different film form techniques which impact our depiction of the character presented. We are revealed with an unforeseen plot twist towards the end which completely shifts our perception of the character, leaving the audience in a disturbance. 

The film is shot in a documentary type style, following the main character around with a hand-held camera while she speaks in an improvised dialogue, therefore, giving the film a realist style, engaging the audience as the experiences that she narrates are very common within the working class, which could be seen as relatable within the audience. While she is walking she proceeds to talk about her negative home life and her parental neglect. She comes across as loud and energetic yet the audience is aligned to empathise with her. 

The film begins with an ambiguous long shot, with the girl dancing to "Stronger" by Britney Spears. The song is very self - empowering, which gives the audience an insight into her character. Furthermore, the song could evoke the imagery of how passionate she is about her aspirations, as she mentions that she wants to become a singer. Moreover, silhouette lighting makes her seem as if she is hiding something, in which foreshadows the ending of the film. Also, her oversized jacket portrays the same idea of her being secretive. Further, this engages the audience and makes us believe that she may be a deceitful character. Additionally, the dark lowkey lighting surrounding the character suggests that she has a dark side in which she's concealing. The setting is also very wide in comparison to her, portraying abandonment, therefore, making the audience feel some sort of sympathy.

In the following scene, we see the girl stationary waiting for he father to finish playing football, which immediately suggests how they are distant and may not engage with each other. Furthermore, the juxtaposition between the long-shot of the girl in contrast to the handheld close-ups of her father implied that he feels more connected to his friends playing football than he does with her, representing neglection. As a result, the audience feels compassion or rather empathy as it highlights ideas of social realism and realist imagery. The director uses close-ups that zoom out too long shots in the following scene, which allows us to perceive her raw emotions and facial expressions. This allows the audience to feel both physically and emotionally closer to the character due to the framing and camera angle. 

Further on, we are shown a scene where there is a focus shift onto the mother's face which draws the audience away from the girl. This implies that the mother has higher importance and status than the girl, in both the film and society as a whole. Therefore she is inferior to the mother and is belittled by the shot. Besides this, the scratch card in her mother's hand suggests that she values money over her family, but also implying how the girl is in a struggling nature and perhaps working class. 

The ending of the film is tragic, which is symbolic of the girl's feelings towards others and how little human life means to her. Towards the end, the camera loses that direct-to-camera address and we are shown the girl throwing a baby in the river. This could imply how this is a dark side to her which she may be ashamed to recount on, and something she'd rather stay silent on and hide. The camera shifts to an eagle-eye view, which symbolizes her powerlessness as the audience has essentially gotten this power over her by knowing what she's been hiding throughout the whole movie. Further, the audience has come to find out her weakness and vulnerability so the camera shift emphasizes this. In addition, she threw the baby carelessly without hesitation which encapsulates the cycle of this film, and perhaps how this is something she has done before. Moreover, the use of oversized clothing not only implies that she's working-class but also may suggest that she's hiding the fact that she was pregnant.