Monday, 2 March 2009

A Structured Paragraph on The Representation of Youth;

Skins:

Skins uses a mixture of stereotypes, that people associate with teenagers, sex and alienation in order to capture its teenage audience as a range of people can relate to the different stereotype characters. The use of the mise-en-scene, different camera angles/shot types, sound and editing techniques also help the audience relate to the different characters as they create a realistic insight into a group of stereotypical teenagers and their lives. In the first episode Tony, who is the leader and is perceived as a socialite, is calling his friends; each time he presses the hold button, the camera cuts to another phone call, this supports the stereotypical view that teenagers lead a hectic social life. The phone calls that Tony makes introduce us to each of the characters and shows the audience their stereotype and how they portray it; for instance when Tony calls Michelle she is in the bathroom beautifying herself with just a towel wrapped round her, the camera shots an over the shoulder shot while she is looking in the mirror and applying mascara this is a typical representation of a slutty/superficial person as she is preoccupied with her appearance; this is also suggested through the first shot when the camera pans up Michelle's legs as she is mosturising. Michelle's stereotype is contrasted by the phone call to Jal, as Jal is seen as unexciting as she follows the rules, this is suggested because when she is shown she is practising her clarinet, which is a classical instrument, in her tidy bland bedroom; this is the opposite to how Michelle is spending her morning. By contrasting the stereotypes, but making the people friends, suggests a sense of realism and helps the characters to be more believable to the audience as there is a wide diversity within the group of friends which happens with real teen groups, however the events that the group become involved in shows the audience that the groups stereotypes are emphesised in the extreme, for instance when Michelle is agreeing to have sex with Sid just so he isn't a virgin anymore.

1 comment:

AT said...

Lauren, this is a detailed and well considered start - well done. I like your consideration of realism versus over exaggeration, especially as you tie it into detailed textual examples. Perhaps you could comment on the reasons for the over exaggeration at the end of the piece? Keep improving this style - it will be successful in the exam.