Skins (TV series)
(25 January 2007 (2007-01-25) – present)
Created by: Jamie Brittain, Bryan Elsleythe reason for me look at Skins and Shameless is that they both have a very strong feel of what life is like in the area in which they are based just like the film I am currently making for my FMP.
Skins is a teenage drama set in Bristol through the two years of sixth form college. It is about teens that go to sixth form like me and the people that will be in my short film, which was one of the things that attracted me to this TV series. As my theme, I am following on from my last film with shock Factor as the theame, so Skins seemed to be the ideal choice and it is very controversial in its plotline that includes homosexuality, dysfunctional families, absent parents, personality disorders, drug abuse, underage sex, teenage pregnancy, sexual abuse etc. I also hope to show some of these themes in my film as they are things that really happen, but people always turn a blind eye to them, I want to highlight that.
I will be looking at the trailer for season 3 as it shows the show as a whole and the issues that are included in it. I will also be looking at the mis-en-scene, cinematography and editing as well and the show’s content. In the trailer you see a montage of the group of British teenagers growing up, we see them doing drugs, having sex, partying. It is clear that the main reason for all of this is to impress the girl Effie. There is tension between friends to gain her love. We also see sub stories about abusing parents and questionable teachers who try to have sex with students. Skins wanted to show all of this shocking stuff to show that it really happens and also that teenagers around 17 to 19 can relate to. We all know a Cook or a JJ, the show puts us in the place of a character. There are so many issues raised in Skins that so many youths have been through.
The mis-en-scene focuses on locations that teenagers are used to and so we can easily relate to like college, pubs and clubs, mates’ houses, the woods and skate parks. It is also made clear that a lot of work went into making the show stylish with the use of fashion, pop music and props like skateboards, beer cans and drugs. This was done to make the show interesting and appeal to 17 to 19 year olds.
The cinematography is excellently done with beautiful shots with a mixed or foreground and background. It features high contrast location shots of parks and the night life to show that they enjoy it, and more close us of the grimy areas to the students like their college and their homes where they feel trapped. The editing is what makes the show so relevant to today’s youth. It has the feel of MTV with the quick cuts and makes the action shots so breathtaking and the sex scenes so hot. It is edited like the pace of a teenager’s life.
The mis-en-scene will link with the style and techniques of my own short film as I am making the film about my town and the youths that are in it, so I will show iconic places in my town where the youth of today “hang” out like the bandstand, the multi-story car park and outside McDonalds. I will also show the urban parts of town life like the back of alleys and the dirty side of town like with props like bottles, spray cans, cigarettes and so on. The cinematography will have the same type of feel as I want to show wide location shots from the top of buildings and close-up shots of the cracks and decline of where I live. I feel that it is good to show two sides of a place, the good and the bad, so the viewer can make up their own mind by the end. Just like Skins I want to make my film feel like a MTV music video as it is “hip” with the younger generation rather than slow moving dramas. I will start my film off slowly showing Eastleigh from the older generation’s viewpoint, all colourful and nice, and then go into a faster motion of how modern life is now.
I think that both my short film and Skins have these similarities as we both have the same outcome, to show teenage life and to make an enjoyable viewing for the youth rather than the adults. The differences between my film and Skins is that Skins is a drama that has characters but mine is a mock-documentary, only having people that would symbolise anyone of that age group rather than characters with names and their own identity.
Skins reminds me of The Inbetweeners as it’s also about teenagers at sixth form, how they live and what they go through, but the difference being Skins is very glamorous and more of a drama whereas The Inbetweeners is about teenagers at the lower end of the food chain; how they try to get a girl to have sex with them and fail. Also it is more of a comedy. Another show that relates to Skins is Shameless, it does not focus on teenagers but it has a lot of shocking and controversial subjects in it.
Sameless
Creator: Paul Abbott
Genre: Comedy, drama
Filming Location: Manchester
Shameless is about the shameless events that happen on a rough Manchester council estate, The main character is Frank, an alcoholic druggy with a load of children that he has pretty much abandoned in terms of love and care. The best way to describe Shameless is a sexed up, drugged up, controversial version of Coronation Street.
The reason for selecting this programme was that is shows things that would normally shock people like sex and drugs and turns it into everyday life, showing what does happen in urban towns and cities, but it is done in an over-the-top way. I want my film to come across like Shameless with the context of it but have it feel realistic. I am trying to show how I see my town through my eyes and those of the people I “hang” around with. I picked Shameless after looking at Skins as it may not be set around teenagers like Skins or the InBetweeners but it is more urban and grimy like how I want my film to be, not over glamorised like Skins.
In the opening credits we see Frank Gallagher, the main character, doing a monologue with clips of him and his dysfunctional family, friends and neighbours doing shameless acts that appear in that season. At the start it sets the scene with an establishing shot of Manchester and then a close one of their estate. All through this and the show there is this weary music playing. Frank is babbling on about random stuff, showing that he is drunk in the morning (a shameless act) and then a cut to one of his sons kicking a shopping bag of an old lady and running. The next part shows you that it is not just about that family as you see the whole cast cheering outside their pub. All throughout the opening it shows you what the show is like: people have open sex, abandon kids, perverted children, weapons like knives, abuse women, drug use, fighting, guns, prostitution, someone hanging themselves, stripping, arson, death, explosions, bad/rude language (‘fucking cum on your face for a pint of beer’), deadly animals and Frank promoting cheaper drugs. Again this is all setting the scene to show you what to expect and grab your attention to keep you watching.
The techniques being used in this show are “moving camera” with filters or masks on. This is very different technique than other shows in Britain like Eastenders which looks very natural and professional. The 6th season of the show is filmed mainly on set. One of the unique things about Shameless is that the opening normally tells you what is going to happen and shows you the main focus and characters of that episode. All of the smaller storylines always seem to connect at the end to reveal all. The show is kept interesting by not just showing human acts that are shameless but showing them from a shameless angle like looking up a lady’s legs or revealing angles during sex scenes. I also hope to have a sex scene in my second year second film but leave more to the imagination.
The mise-en-scene and backdrops are a grotty council estate with litter, empty bottles and other unpleasant objects. In Frank’s house you are led to believe that he is poor and lazy and all around are cans and the walls are cracked and wallpaper peeling, all this makes it more believable to watch. The cinematography, like I said before, uses loads of interesting angles and fresh ones that until now have not been used as it would have been looked at as “shameless” but it works for this show as that is what they set out to do. The editing cuts from one story into another very quickly until the stories meet together at the end, normally in the pub or in the street.
This show links with styles and techniques in my own work with the establishing shots of the council estate like I will do with my home town Eastleigh
My film and Shameless are similar in terms of cinematography as I will also be using modern shot types and angles which soaps and movies try to stay away from normally, as well as making it seem like a documentary. I am doing this because I want my film to be an experimental MTV music video but still feel like a documentary.
My film and Shameless differ as I am not planning on using PoV shots as I want it to look like a documentary in places. I will use large establishing shots like them though and my budget does not allow me to go to town on the mise-en-scene but I don’t think that will matter as I will be using my own town and real people rather then all actors. I think they differ as Shameless was meant to be funny and entertaining and my film is to highlight the sublime elements of mundane life.
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