Representation of Age: Skins

Representation of Age-Skins

Within the mise en scene the producers use costumes to convey messages about their ideologies of the representation of age. We see the 'chav' costumes on the boys who arrive late, contrasted with the posher,richer costumes of the hosts of the house party. These contrast further with the grungy dark costume of Sid and again with Cassie's gold dress and flowing hair. On first reading, the chav image seems to conform to the stereotypes- the director is feeding the audience with a representation of age which we expect.It does not challenge us to think beyond this stereotype. However, the multiple representations also suggests the ideology that the stereotypes are wrong; there are many different 'types' of teenagers, whose difference should be celebrated (but perhaps are not by society).

Within the mise en scene the producers use props to convey messages about their ideologies of the representation of age. The trampoline is a prop when we see Cassie jumping on it; this symbolizes youth as it is a activity that mostly children take part in. This is juxtaposition as it implies that life shouldn't be this complicated for teenagers they should be having fun. Showing that teenagers are forced to grow up. This is also implied when Cassie faints and Sid drags her of the trampoline to help her. This could be perceived that he is taking her innocence and youth away from her by dragging her down. But obviously he is trying to help her cause she has overdosed in pills, this conforms to the stereotype of teenagers making mistakes, being immature, and taking drugs. However it subverts to the stereotype of teenagers being selfish when Sid is helping her.

Within the sound the producers use diagetic, off screen sounds to convey messages about their ideologies of the representation of age such as laughing and heavy breathing. This happens just before we see Cassie jumping on the trampoline. At first the sound of heavy breathing and laughing conforms to the stereotypes of teenagers as it tricks us into thinking she is having sex as we cannot see her therefore playing on our stereotypes of promiscuous teens. But actually she is just bouncing on a trampoline which is a completely innocent action. This could show that teenagers are forced to grow up to fast and behave in a adult way, but they are still children and should be allowed to do children like activities.Therefore this challenges the audience to reflect on their views on teenagers, by looking beyond the stereotypes and reconsidering.

There is also diagetic, contrapuntal sound at the party. This is a clashing of sounds as there are multiple things happening for example mixture of sounds of  glasses smashing, music, people fighting, shouting, flirting and laughing. All these sounds create chaos, and some use foley sounds to empathize the sound. This could give us an impression that teenagers lives are like a whirlwind, this could make the audience realize what some teenagers go through on a daily basis. The party scene and then outside scene show contrast in teenagers, reiterating the fact that each teenager is different and has different struggles in life. For example it is clear that Cassie suffers from depression and in this scene she overdoses in pills. But at the party there are people going through arguments and having fights with people. This subverts and conforms to the stereotypes of teenagers as some follow the stereotypes and some do not.

The editing is fast pace when the characters are fighting at the party, the camera work is non-steady when the fight is taking place and there a multiple shots with fast transition. This is showing the point of view from the characters perspective at the party. Whereas in the outside scene the pace is slow and there are only a few transitions as there are not many shots. The producers convey the message that some teenagers lives are fast pace and complicated, but some are slow pace or maybe that they can only do things at slow pace. As they are not mentally ready to multitask and cannot cope with everything all at once.This subverts the stereotype by showing sympathy for the teenagers who are struggling, Empathizing again that they are too young to live complicated lives.