Skins (representation on age)

Throughout the extract stereotypical representations are made of teenagers as they are show cased through a directors perspective. The teenage brother and sister seem to be at war with their father as they seem to be too much for their father to handle; giving a stereotypical view of the behavior within a middle class household.

Representations of age have clearly been illustrated throughout camera work. Tony's character is suggested to the audience in a stereotypical view of the director through the first camera shot. A birds eye view is used in the beginning of the extract which tracks backwards while Tony looks up towards the ceiling. His bed sheets then come into frame showing a naked male and a naked female on them. I feel the director has done this to represent Tony as a young minded and lusting teenage boy. Mature adults would not have bed sheets like these as it would be looked as as inappropriate. Tony's age is again expressed through an over the shoulder shot as he watches a female adult get dressed from across the street. Eye line match takes place between these two characters with a shot reverse shot as Tony gets led on by the mature women. I feel this once again shows the audience Tony's teenage characteristics as he is represented as a lusting and daring teenage male.

The director involves good use of mise-en-scene to represent Tony's age within the extract. Tony wakes up in the morning with weights on his wooden floor. I feel the director has done this to show that health can be a main priority for the younger generation as Tony trains before taking a shower or brushing his teeth. Adults on the other hand may have started their day differently by maybe getting ready for work. Tony's age is showcased in a stereotypical way by the way he is dressed when he wakes up, he is in nothing but his pants. I feel this represents the younger generation to be care free as he sleeps in his underwear. This gives the audience the impression that he is careless as he isn't sleeping in pajamas; while the older generation may dress more appropriately for bed.

Editing is used to show the audience the energy Tony contains within the sequence while he exercises. Fast paced edits take place while he goes from one exercise to another. This represents Tony as an energetic and fast paced individual who focuses on getting the job done. This can be looked at as a realistic representation as it is known that the younger generation have more energy then the older generation. If an adult was shown working out slower edits may of been used. This could show their concentration of getting the exercise correct as adults are known to be less reckless. Communication between Tony and his sister are shown through edits as straight cuts are used back and fourth between these two characters. This may of been done to show the audience the type of relationship a middle class brother and sister would have. This again can be looked at as stereotypical as it cant be generalized to every middle class household. Some teenagers may not have the same form of relationship with their siblings.