Skins is a successful but controversial teen drama following the loves and lives of a group of friends through college. They are introduced to the audience as busy teenagers all wrapped up in their own lives but each brought together by the same thing. Sex. This is typical of the ‘horny teenager’ stereotype. The use of tracking and moving shots on Tony along with the quick cuts between each character and the clever use of the multi-way phone calls reflects the chaotic life Tony and his friends lead. The phone conversation gives the chance for the audience to see a quick snippet of each character and what they portray, for instance Maxxy is gay and he is shown tap dancing in pastel coloured fashionable clothes. There’s also Jal who is the ‘boring’ one that goes by the book, this is shown by her with a classical instrument in a dull, tidy, bland brown bedroom. Chris is shown as the ‘player’ as he is shot under the covers with a pretty girl that he degrades to Tony while she is listening. Also, there is Anwar who is the religious Muslim that doesn’t take his religion as seriously as he should, this is shown by him answering his mobile whilst he is praying in the Mosque. These are all typical stereotypes but they are emphasized in order to show the programme is an emphasis on teenage life itself. The audience know these characters are emphasised but the use of verisimilitude by putting these characters in unglamorized, everyday environments including the bus and the mosque helps the audience to believe that these characters are believable and helps them to relate to and become attached to the characters.
Thursday 26 February 2009
Skins: A Structured Paragraph on The Representation of Youth
Skins is a successful but controversial teen drama following the loves and lives of a group of friends through college. They are introduced to the audience as busy teenagers all wrapped up in their own lives but each brought together by the same thing. Sex. This is typical of the ‘horny teenager’ stereotype. The use of tracking and moving shots on Tony along with the quick cuts between each character and the clever use of the multi-way phone calls reflects the chaotic life Tony and his friends lead. The phone conversation gives the chance for the audience to see a quick snippet of each character and what they portray, for instance Maxxy is gay and he is shown tap dancing in pastel coloured fashionable clothes. There’s also Jal who is the ‘boring’ one that goes by the book, this is shown by her with a classical instrument in a dull, tidy, bland brown bedroom. Chris is shown as the ‘player’ as he is shot under the covers with a pretty girl that he degrades to Tony while she is listening. Also, there is Anwar who is the religious Muslim that doesn’t take his religion as seriously as he should, this is shown by him answering his mobile whilst he is praying in the Mosque. These are all typical stereotypes but they are emphasized in order to show the programme is an emphasis on teenage life itself. The audience know these characters are emphasised but the use of verisimilitude by putting these characters in unglamorized, everyday environments including the bus and the mosque helps the audience to believe that these characters are believable and helps them to relate to and become attached to the characters.
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Amy, you make some informed comments on the representation of the characters and you rightly point out that they are linked through the topic of sex. What you need to do it check the structure - you make the comment about sex and then go on to discuss other representation. Remember, make a point about representation, prove it with micro and macro and then link back to representation.
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