An analysis of gender in skins.

The clip I watched (FIRST 5 MINUTES): Skins Series 3 episode 1

An analysis of gender in skins.

Having watched the 5 minute clip of skins, I could see there was a clear distinguish how gender is being represented. Gender is portrayed through the different characters shown, the young teenage boys, middle aged men, teenage girls, and the elderly are all depicted differently. The young teenage boys are represented to be rebels and the typical teenager boy, the middle aged man is shown to be a usual working man, the teenage girl is represented to be a normal girl but is not bothered what is going on around her, the elderly women, is shown to the typical aged women that is quite fragile.

From the beginning of the clip, we can assume that the character being shown will be a teenage boy, this is connoted through the ‘close-up’ edit of the trainers with the character skating. Also, it is a long take to create the tension of who the character is. The shot then changes into a different angle where we see the teenage boy for the first time, this is a low angle of the teenage boy skating towards the camera. It then changes into a high angle, making us aware that the teenage boy is skilled in skating and that he has done this several times. The shot changes to a straight on angle with the boy landing. These scenes are all done by fast forwards and short takes, to make the scene faster so it creates pace and excitement. Also the cuts create a story, as we follow the character skating therefore he is going towards a destination; this is what we call an action code, as the audience know the story is moving on. These few scenes are all matched cut, as the images match and have an invisible edit. Having an invisible edit creates verisimilitude as it makes the audience forget what they are watching is not real and are taken into what they are watching. These scenes have verisimilitude, as it makes the audience believe that the character is really experienced in skating. Too add to the feeling that the character is very experienced we see a close up of his feet as he slows down and eventually stops. As he stops, he takes out his phone looking at a message that was sent to him, a close-up is used of the phone, so the audience know who sent the text message and what the text message says. This editing allows the audience to know what is going on in the story. What we read in the text message “Sparking ur last spliff” portrays that who ever sent the text message is another teenage character that has relationship with the character. The context of the message “UR” and “SPLIFF” conveys that it is a young teenager due to the language. We then get too see the characters’ face, through a mid close-up, we see that the character is not bothered about it, and just accepts it. His emotion is shown through the close up.

We then move to another scene, but still in the same area. As the three teenage friends sit down and talk, they see a car accident. The driver, a middle-aged man comes out of his car angry; we see his emotion through the close up of his face. Having a close up of the characters face, after the incident, is called a reaction shot, as the shot is used for the characters reaction to the event. Also having a scene with the friends having a conversation and a scene with a car accident is called a cross-cut, as we see two narratives here. Having more than one narrative in a TV drama is usual as it creates entertainment, and makes it more interesting for the audience. The editor then goes to use the shot where there is a long-shot of the scene. This allows the audience to see what is going on. Also, it shows that the middle aged man is in a suit representing his age, and that he is the stereotypical working man. As we hear one of the teenagers laughing at what is happening, this represents that they are teenagers and find things that are generally serious amusing.

As the middle aged man approaches the elderly women, we see that she is very frightened due to the way he approached to her. Also, as he chose to approach an elderly woman, he assumes that she knows what happened, this portrays that elderly people are the one’s who know everything that has happened as they tend to be nosey. As he continues to insist that she knows what happened and that she is his witness, it is all kept within the 180˚ rule. Also to represent that she is an elderly women, he asks for her mobile number, but she says that she has not got one. This portrays her age, and being very stereotypical that the aged population do no own a mobile phone.

To conclude, the clip of skins shows gender through the technical aspect editing. Many different types of editing were used, mainly matched cut, emotion, and story. The matched cut was used for invisible edit, in order for there to be verisimilitude. Emotion through the shot type, close-ups, was used so the audience know what the character is feeling through facial expression. Also having a cut due to emotion can create the mood/feeling the editor intended to have on the audience. There were a few scenes, especially at the beginning where a mixture of long and short takes were involved. Having long takes is good to create tension within in the story, and by having short takes creates excitement as the pace is fast. The editing used in the clip at the beginning, when the character is skating and only the feet are shown, shows the age as well as the gender being a teenage boy, however this has a polysemic effect as the audience may feel that not only teenage boys skate and wear trainers like shown in the clip, it may have been a female character. There are two possible interpretations of the image.