In this "loosely autobiographical" film, Tracey Emin explores the experiences of 6 teenage girls living in Margate. This documentary-style film captures Emin's experiences and showcases the culture at the time.
Top Spot, named from the sexual interaction at the point of which a man's penis reaches the top of the vagina, is visually a documentary, but can also be interpreted as an art form.
In the beginning of the film, Emin plays the role as an interviewer and talks to the girls as they sit opposite her and open up about their experiences, quite flippantly too.
This technique of filming the girls so frontally and with amateur lighting highlights the fact that they are just children still, yet they contrast to the sexual experiences they speak about.
There are semiotics in this scene; the school uniform, no make-up, which shows the naivety of the girls and how vulnerable they are.
It's refreshing to see stereotypical promiscuous girls being so down played and naive, instead of the fully made-up girls we see today, who we would stereotype as promiscuous.
There are a lot of visual signs to reference the location of the documentary, such as the scenes of seagulls flying, public walking on the pier, and periods of stillness as the camera films the sea.
These shots often come between scenes in this documentary, to separate the stories and to re-enforce that element of freedom; the fact that these girls seem trapped in this lifestyle yet the ocean is there, and it's vast and free, just like the seagulls, a visual symbol of escapism. Almost a paradoxical situation between freedom and impoundment.
There is a scene in which the 6 girls each take a turn in a photo booth.
I found this scene quite interesting as photo booths show who a person really is. The harsh lighting captures the 'real you', and because we're not allowed to smile or wear hats, we become uniform; all becoming a part of one thing, just like the girls in this documentary too, they wear uniforms for the majority of the film.
I believe Emin chose for them to wear the uniform while they took the photos so that again they would all be regimented and organised; made to look the same through the same technique of photography (stark photo booth) and dress code (uniform; everyone is equal).
I believe Emin chose for them to wear the uniform while they took the photos so that again they would all be regimented and organised; made to look the same through the same technique of photography (stark photo booth) and dress code (uniform; everyone is equal).
Another scene features one of the girls running through a connection of tunnels and passage ways, chasing a large cat. It seems to symbolise the confusion and anxiety brought from their experiences. The cat may also be a symbol of what the girl wants to be, what she wants to become, rather than this trapped shell.
In Puritan times, cats were associated with dark, demonic forces. They were hailed as familiars to people who had sold their soul to the devil. This link of demonisation is personified in the girls, as they battle between their innocence and the lives that they are leading; these dark, unholy situations that they are accustomed to.
Animals in dreams usually appear as part of ourselves. Cats may represent you or an aspect of you. So in this scene where the girl in trying to find the cat, chasing it through the series of tunnels, she may be chasing herself, chasing herself to catch up and stop her from what she in doing. Or the cat may represent the lost freedom the girl has, and she is trying to capture it.
Cats are also often associated with women and sexuality. In women, it's a sign that they're in charge of their sexuality.
I like how Emin has really picked up on this to allow us to think and wonder why she has placed this scene in her film, why she directed and wrote this scene in.
In Puritan times, cats were associated with dark, demonic forces. They were hailed as familiars to people who had sold their soul to the devil. This link of demonisation is personified in the girls, as they battle between their innocence and the lives that they are leading; these dark, unholy situations that they are accustomed to.
Animals in dreams usually appear as part of ourselves. Cats may represent you or an aspect of you. So in this scene where the girl in trying to find the cat, chasing it through the series of tunnels, she may be chasing herself, chasing herself to catch up and stop her from what she in doing. Or the cat may represent the lost freedom the girl has, and she is trying to capture it.
Cats are also often associated with women and sexuality. In women, it's a sign that they're in charge of their sexuality.
I like how Emin has really picked up on this to allow us to think and wonder why she has placed this scene in her film, why she directed and wrote this scene in.
Again, a seaside shot is screened before one of the girls is sat eating an ice cream, with a cenotaph in the background. I believe Emin used this as a sexual connotation, using this as a theme for oral sex and promiscuous behaviour.
One of the girls has a French pen-pal that she seems to have fallen for. The camera cuts to dusty Egypt, showing a tower block with a sign which reads; 'Dreamland'.
The fairground in Margate was called Dreamland, where the girls went and hung out together. This juxta position of the two places shows the differences in each place; one is a fun place, where the girls can relax, the other looks seedy and derelict.
Her thoughts of this boy could also purely be a dream; a blatent sign of Dreamland showing the dreams and aspirations this girl has to travel and visit new places.
However, there is an audio clip of a man saying: "So i need to speak French fluently?".
This could be a sordid attempt of child trafficking that Emin has picked up on. The fact that these girls can end up in abusive situations far from home.
It shows naivety and again the child-like personalities the girls still have. They could be fooled by anyone, even though they may feel mature because they are sexually active.
The music in this documentary is quite abstract for the genre of film this is. Eurythmics, Shirley And Company and the song "Last Christmas" feature in the film, yet they don't seem to go well with the imagery. It's quite weird as you then become detached from the film, I was really into it yet felt pointless when the music was aired. The audio seems to be awkwardly attached to the visual imagery, which I believe Emin produced on purpose, to make the audience feel uncomfortable while watching, as the girls may have felt uncomfortable trying to balance their lives.
There is a scene where one of the girl's is dancing in a ballroom, with the Shirley And The Company song "Shame On You" playing in the background. The song title may be a bold, obvious reference to the fact that these girls should be ashamed, but the tempo and feel of the music allows the piece to be upbeat and disattached to the film, yet it is.
There's a sepia tone and a blurred effect, insinuating the use of drugs and alcohol Emin and her friends used to abuse.
The blurred, disorientated effect may also be a reference to the euphoric sense of requirement and love the girls feel while endulging in sexual intercourse with strangers, a sense of want, imitating the point during intercourse in which the 'top spot' is reached.
In one of the final scenes, one of the girls in sat in her bathroom, kicking the door gently and holding her stomach.
We then cut to her in the bath, a razor blade at the side and red colouring in the water.
She was pregnant, and she killed herself.
It's one of the most harsh moments in the film, showing the downfall of her experiences.
The scene is quite harsh and upfront; blatently showing that she was unhappy and she didn't want to suffer with this child. I believe Emin filmed this scene as she did because she wanted abortion to be a social conversation, and not to be a taboo as it happens more often than you think. In my opinion she tried to highlight this suffering so that people talk about it, and more help is offered for those in this situation, as the girl in the film didn't even tell her mum or her friends.
Emin also had an abortion, and openly talks about the experience in an interview with Mark Rawson.
The fact that she filmed an abortion scene shows her passion towards the cause and her emotions from her own personal experience.
The final music clip is "I'm A Believer" by The Monkees. It's an uplifting scene, where the girls sit together and paint each one of their thumbnails; reinforcing that sense of uniform and the girls' bond.
The song may also be a reference to the belief that they will change and life will get better for them.
Emin used some techniques during the film such as the Super 8 Film camera to capture that old-style of filming, circa 1920s-50s. It's nostalgic and reminiscent, and shows that this film is an art form by using art techniques rather than a simple DV style of filming.
The way the film is shot mimics a dream like state; the 'real' present day, the good times.
The blurred, staggered captured effect mimics a virtual world, a perfect world far from the raw, clean image the DV style of filming picked up on.
There are some fairly weird moments in the film, such as the air raid siren and Emin featuring in the film at the end.
But overall I enjoyed the film, it was different to others as it wasn't set in a genre.
It was personal and from the heart and it really opened my eyes to see Emin in this creative light, far from the crazy, partying stereotype set to her.
There is a scene where one of the girl's is dancing in a ballroom, with the Shirley And The Company song "Shame On You" playing in the background. The song title may be a bold, obvious reference to the fact that these girls should be ashamed, but the tempo and feel of the music allows the piece to be upbeat and disattached to the film, yet it is.
There's a sepia tone and a blurred effect, insinuating the use of drugs and alcohol Emin and her friends used to abuse.
The blurred, disorientated effect may also be a reference to the euphoric sense of requirement and love the girls feel while endulging in sexual intercourse with strangers, a sense of want, imitating the point during intercourse in which the 'top spot' is reached.
In one of the final scenes, one of the girls in sat in her bathroom, kicking the door gently and holding her stomach.
We then cut to her in the bath, a razor blade at the side and red colouring in the water.
She was pregnant, and she killed herself.
It's one of the most harsh moments in the film, showing the downfall of her experiences.
The scene is quite harsh and upfront; blatently showing that she was unhappy and she didn't want to suffer with this child. I believe Emin filmed this scene as she did because she wanted abortion to be a social conversation, and not to be a taboo as it happens more often than you think. In my opinion she tried to highlight this suffering so that people talk about it, and more help is offered for those in this situation, as the girl in the film didn't even tell her mum or her friends.
Emin also had an abortion, and openly talks about the experience in an interview with Mark Rawson.
The fact that she filmed an abortion scene shows her passion towards the cause and her emotions from her own personal experience.
The final music clip is "I'm A Believer" by The Monkees. It's an uplifting scene, where the girls sit together and paint each one of their thumbnails; reinforcing that sense of uniform and the girls' bond.
The song may also be a reference to the belief that they will change and life will get better for them.
Emin used some techniques during the film such as the Super 8 Film camera to capture that old-style of filming, circa 1920s-50s. It's nostalgic and reminiscent, and shows that this film is an art form by using art techniques rather than a simple DV style of filming.
The way the film is shot mimics a dream like state; the 'real' present day, the good times.
The blurred, staggered captured effect mimics a virtual world, a perfect world far from the raw, clean image the DV style of filming picked up on.
There are some fairly weird moments in the film, such as the air raid siren and Emin featuring in the film at the end.
But overall I enjoyed the film, it was different to others as it wasn't set in a genre.
It was personal and from the heart and it really opened my eyes to see Emin in this creative light, far from the crazy, partying stereotype set to her.
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