Transcript Analysis for Bridget Jones Script (Section B coursework)

Bridget Jones is a romantic comedy film first released in 2001, based on the 1996 novel by Helen Fielding. The extract I have chosen to transcribe is the opening scene, when Bridget meets Mr Mark Darcy. The film focuses on how Bridget is unlucky with men, her weight and her job and many other aspects of her life. The movie is supposed to relate to women who feel they have the same life problems as her. The main speaker in this scene is Bridget Jones directly speaking to others and also she provides narration as well. Often speaking in the background of situations. Bridget Jones’s general target audience would be mostly women aged 17 upwards as some teenagers may enjoy Bridget’s story too, however some men may also be interested in watching the movie as it may explain the way women are supposedly meant to think.
There are also numericals used, for example an ordinal determiner ‘32nd’ by using numerical it this gives more information to the reader and lets them into the life of Bridget, if they understand more about the topic of the character they will then enjoy the movie more, and understand key things which have happened in the film and what will continue to happen.
There are many interrogative sentences used in the text for example ‘now what are you going to put on?’ and ‘how’s it going?’ this reminds the readers that in Bridget’s life everything is questionable as the topic of the movie is a comedy romance making everything in Bridget’s like comical to other people, by including lots of interrogative sentences it keeps the audience/ readers busy as they are constantly waiting on Bridget’s answers and how she will react to the constant questioning of her life.
Paralinguistic behaviour is used, for example ‘(laughs), (shakes head)’ this created an imagine in the reader’s mind of what the speaker is doing whilst saying their line and because they don’t have a visual view of what is going on by using these example they have an idea of how the speaker is reacting to what they are saying or what the other person is saying directly to them, for example when Bridget is speaking in her narrative voice we see how she is feeling by not only her words but also her actions.
Micro pauses are used to show the reader that when Bridget’s Mum speaks at her party she is the Hostess by introducing people and taking control, the micro pauses show her giving more information to her guests as she speaks and shortening her sentences adds a sense of suspense to her utterances and imply that she has more information to give, allowing her to hold the floor.
Grammatically by using elliptical interrogative in the text for example ‘Had a drink?’ shows how casual the speaker is, at a social event the speaker is very relaxed and tends to miss key words out when he speaks to show a more laid back environment and reflects the transcript as having an informal register.
Bridget’s narrative voice uses onomatopoeia to describe what she is saying in her head as she approaches Mark Darcy, for example when Bridget uses the expressive onomatopoeic interjection ‘Ooo ding dong’ this conveys Bridget’s emotions about Mark Darcy . This term is also quite cliché as it is stereotypical of girls and women to use that term to describe a man or something they are enjoying the look of, Bridget use of language also gives power in the relationship towards Darcy and also it is quite comical of Bridget as she is formal and informal throughout the text as she jumps to each register for example juxtaposition can be shown through this.
Bridget uses micro pauses again in her speech to create a list, for example ‘I was at a party last night so (.) I’m afraid I’m a bit hung over (.) I wish I could be lying with my head in a toilet like all normal people (laughs)’ this helps Bridget convey different pieces of information; I think she uses them because Darcy is not responding; his refusal to follow conventional adjacency pair structure reinforces his dominance. Bridget uses juxtaposition between to words for example ‘gherkin’ and the low frequency word ‘sophistication’, incongruously two things together which we do not usually associate with each other, which creates humour for the readers when they listen to how Bridget uses these words to describe her mother, which also links back to the function of the film which is to entertain and bring humour to the audience.
Prosodic features such as emphatic stress is used throughout the film, there is many times when this is done for example ‘’Doilies Pam’ in line 8 and ‘There you are dumpling’ in line 5, this shows that words are continuously stressed and unstressed throughout the text, also the words in which are sometimes stressed are not always serious and can be numerous which creates an informal tone and stops the script from being less boring for people to read, the script being numerous also relates back to the function of the film which is to entertain.
Throughout the scene, as soon as Bridget’s mum mentions she invited another man for her Bridget is constantly obsessed with the idea of men and finding a boyfriend, she reflects this in the script and the way she narrates the script when her mother introduces her to Mark Darcy, for example ‘Maybe this was mysterious Mr right I’ve being waiting my whole life to meet’ she is constantly trying to find a man to meet and therefore reflects this in her speech and constant narrating.
The uses of breathed pauses in the text are effective towards the audience because they show that the character is stressed about something in the script or are stressing there words for example ‘(.h) now what are you going to put on?’ it shows that Bridget’s mum talks a lot throughout the text and has to take a slight breath before she continues to question Bridget, this also shows the humour again and would continue to entertain the audience as Bridget’s mum is rushing to speak and then suddenly has to take a breath, it proves Bridget’s assumptions when she tells us through her narrative voice that her mother constantly interferes and is always going on at her.
In this particular piece I chose to transcribe the semantic field of the text is always focused on Mark Darcy for example ‘you remember Mark’ , ‘He’s a barrister’ and ‘why don’t we see if Mark fancies a gherkin’ this reflects back to the topic of the film which is on Bridget finding a man, which is also the main focus throughout the full film, considering this is the first few minutes of the film the focus is always there and Bridget starts looking for a man from the start. Also by using Marks name throughout the text and then describing him in the 3rd person for example ‘he’s’ shows also creates another semantic field as Mark himself is constantly being mentioned throughout the script.
The transcript also has speeded up sentences and words for example Bridget’s mother speeds up her tone as she talks about Mark ‘He’s divorced apparently’ she tries to get as much information about him to Bridget as quick as possible so Bridget is even more interested then she already is, she is desperate for this to work out for her daughter, this would make the audience laugh as Bridget has only just walked through the door of her mother’s house, and hasn’t even set eyes on Mark and her mother is already giving her the full details.
The prosodic feature ‘hmm’ is used many times towards the end of the transcript as back channel behaviour whilst Bridget is talking to Mark, as the conversation dies down Bridget is desperate to keep this man interested so she carries on the conversation, this would also keep the audience entertained and make them laugh as she uses this often and so does Mark in return, the audiences is going to wonder what is going to happen next, keeping them on edge as Bridget continues to use ‘hmm’.
Overall the analysis of this transcript Bridget jones is an effective comedy romance film and novel, which will entertain its audience through the humour used throughout and also the narrative points from Bridget as we are constantly finding out how she feels about certain situations she is put into. The constant obsession over men and other things in Bridget’s life will keep the audience amused and wanting more of her ‘crazy’ life. The audience will have warmed to the character of Bridget and the constant complaining of her and her mother, we see a mother and daughter relationship and it makes the viewer’s feel as if they can relate to the film. The function of this film has being shown through general terminology and speech features, by creating humour and entertainment for the audience. Bridget’s mother uses more interrogatives in the text; this suggests that she is more in more control over Bridget’s life and establishing her age, Bridget’s mothers interrogative is more effective in demonstrating her dominance over her throughout the script.

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