Research: 'About A Girl' Short Film

As part of my generic research I have watched and reviewed an award-winning short film.


Background 'About A Girl'

• Brian Percival, the director of 'About A Girl' had decided to choose a gritty and shocking script for his first short film as it it goes against 'the glossy commercialism' of adverts he had mostly worked on before.
• The piece was filmed in Manchester and the cinematographer Geoff Boyle described that filming was sometimes difficult because of lighting however he also said how he and the director needed to remind themselves that it was not a commercial and they were filming something different with a different purpose.
• Fourteen year old actress Ashley Thewlis played the main role and her performance was described by Ewan McGregor as 'very hard hitting and brilliant'.
• 'About A Girl' recieved several awards including 2001 Bafta - Best Short Film and the Edinburgh Film Festival Prize for Best Short Film.

My Response
I think the 'About A Girl' short film effectively sends a message to the audience. After watching it for a second time I could see the significance of the stream of conciousness, as although it was witty, certain lines became more important and poignant. The young actress portrayed the role really well and the everyday scenes created a more gritty and realistic tone to the film. The disturbing twist at the end evokes a response from the audience which overall makes the film succussful in being thoughtprovoking.