The extract is of the famous TV series called Skins, and the extract is found in episode one, series one. In the extract we see Tony (the teenager) go about his morning, of getting up, lifting weights and exercises. His sister is walking along the pavement and needs to get into her school uniform without being noticed by her parents, to do this, Tony puts his music on full blast, and his dad (the adult) comes in angrily swearing and demanding he turns the music down, during this his sister slips past and gets into her school uniform, it carries on as the morning wears in. Showing how the teenager always seems to have the upper hand.
We can see in the clip the representation of age, the teenagers are represented in different ways. One is how they are seen as cool, fun and full of energy, this is seen in the clip, when Tony first gets out of bed, he stretches then starts going about his exercises, showing off his muscles in the mirror. This contrasts to the appearance of his dad, he comes in topless, wearing red lose shorts, his hair has turned grey and a beer belly is obvious, this image of an adult expresses them as unfit, old and in some cases “primeval” (dads big, grey beer belly and grey stubble). In this we can see the use of juxtapositions, the dad looking all rough and old, and the teenager, fit, strong, these characteristics are expanded when they are seen next to each other. Another representation that the teenagers are cool and fun would be when the sister is seen walking down the road, waiting to be let in the house after going out when she has told not to. This adds to the sense that teenagers are fun and cool, as she is also wearing modern and trendy clothes, this appearance contrasts with mother who is seen next to the sink in the kitchen making breakfast, later on in the clip.
Youths can also be seen to have the upper hand in this film. For example , in the clip, despite her parents telling her not to, the sister still managers to go out for the night and get back home, and into her uniform, without her parents finding out, this adds to the sense that the adults are lacking that “teen intelligence”, that they can never control their children completely. Another example would be the camera shots and angles used, when Tony’s dad is shouting at him, the camera stays on Tony longer than his dad, possible suggesting power in the family, added to this the fact that during the argument with Tony, the camera shot cuts his dad out before he finishes his sentence, yet again, highlighting the issue with teenagers having the upper hand, this clip could also suggest a power struggle between Tony and his dad.
The contrast and difference between teenagers and adults in this clip is significant. In this instance, the camera shots use fast, snappy shots of Tony when he gets up and during his exercises and when his dad enters the room the shot is held longer, and the camera angles are more traditional, like medium or close up shots and eye level shots. The camera seems to stay in one place while the dad is speaking. This shows how the adults are seen as boring, “samey” and dull, while the teenager, having all the quick and different shots used, is seen to be fun, modern, lively and energetic. Also during the argument the POV is always from the teenager to the adult, suggesting the idea that the audience is supposed to side with the teenager. This goes throughout the clip with the dad unless the teenager has something to show the dad (or us, the audience).
Overall, the representation of age in the extract of Skins, shows that the teenager has the upper hand when it comes to teenagers and adults interacting. The target audience can easily be seen that it is for the teenage or young adult population. Due to how the adults are made out to look it may offend some adults.
For the extract of the clip please go to http://tiny.cc/zlw3n (i was unable to find the correct video that I could insert into Blogger) the clip goes from 0.30 to 4.25 mintues
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