Skins Analysis

The clip I watched in skins showed a group of youngsters who are waking up in the morning and getting ready or starting a new day. Different camera shots are used in this clip to help the audience understand the storyline. The different shots also keep the audience involved and excited. The over the shoulder shot is used when the boy (Tony) is looking down from his window at what can be assumed to be his parents and sister getting in to a car, this diagonal over the shoulder shot gives the viewer a similar view as Tony once again involving them in to the drama. He seems to be waiting for them to leave. The distance between himself and the people bellow I believe represent the emotional distance between himself and them. We also see other camera shots such as a recurrence of Ariel shots through the clip, of Chris and other cast members sleeping. I think that this is used because it shows us the cast waking up and opening their eyes and it gives us a direct introduction to the different people. Another camera shot was used such as the tilt shot, this was used when the camera was moving over Sid’s body as he lay in bed, his stomach was covered with a stretched portrait of Casey and the camera continued to tilt upwards as we see his face when it stops. This shot was given to create suspense between the audience and what is going on it the scene, as we had to wait until last to see who the person in bed was.

The clip also contained sound which complimented the narrative. The sound helped the audience know what is going on; the dialogue for example allows the audience knows what is being said between the characters in the clip. We see sound in the clip again as ambient sound. An example of this could be the noise of cars in the background. This is used because it makes the scenes much more realistic. We see lots of use of sound bridge, when the music carried on but the images changed to different people sleeping in bed, this may have been used to connect the people together as to say that they were associated to each other. Another example of sound was used when the theme music was played in the background at the start of the clip. The sound was calm when people were happy and loud when something was wrong. The theme music is used again as a logo for the programme. Near the end of the clip a voice over is used when Casey is writing to Sid and her back is turned toward us. This could have been used to show Casey’s inner thoughts. Therefore connecting the character and the audience together as the character reveals their inner thoughts.

Editing was also used in the clip when Anwar and Max are on the phone talking to each other we see cross-cutting being used between them. This may have been used to show the reactions and emotions the characters make while talking to each other. Another use of editing that was very recurring was the use or a jump cut between every shot. This was used to show a clean break and it looks much more professional. The use of an eye line match is shown when Anwar is on the phone to max and we can see him holding a girls photo as he speaks and then a shot that shows the photo in his perspective. This edit may have been put in to give effect as to how much this girl may mean to him, or to show the girl in the photo more accurately.