Skins Analysis.

Media studies assignment- Skins shot analysis.

The initial establishing shot shows a very long shot, of which shows a field immediately setting the scene. However the very long shot also shows the age group of the characters, as a group of teenagers are huddled together of which is typical of this age group. This initial shot immediately sets the scene for the action to take place in the episode, showing its significance and the theme of the program.
The shot following this, then shows the group as a whole of which is at a low angle, perhaps to add realism to the setting and emphasize the fact they are sitting on a hill; this shot is effective as it heightens the impact to the audience as an observer. The next shot then picks out an individual character; by using a birds eye shot that looks down on the character, this highlights the significance of his role in this episode as he has been singled out. This camera angle also emphasizes his body position and the mood of the group, due to the fact they are complaining to be bored, this then reinforces the idea, as the character being focused on is lying down, thus showing his body position and his actions (he is smoking a cigarette) and highlighting that rebellious teenage attitude. The camera shots in this initial opening scene are fairly shaky and uncontrolled, adding the idea of the audience observing real life teenagers; this also adds a sort of atmosphere to the scene and really adds tension to the scene, where in actual fact not much action is taking place.
The camera angles change quite frequently, which contrasts to the boredom that the characters are talking about, this makes the feeling of dramatic tension as if something is going to happen in this setting. As one of the characters stand the camera follows his movements, and a medium shot is used at a slightly low angle, to again represent the setting and perhaps show his status in the group at this point in the episode, as everyone would be looking up at him; this shot could also be perceived as a point of view shot, as it could be alike the view of the friends who are with the character. When the character starts to talk about the setting the camera is at a close up again in the shaky style, to represent his mood and adds a sort of distorted feel to the place, making it seem more exciting in the characters personal point of view. Then the image changes to a two shot of his friends to show their personal reactions to his comments on the setting. The image then changes to a medium long shot to show the setting in the background, and the characters body language of which is very expressive and excitable, this is effective as it shows the setting framing the character, again from the viewing point of which his friends would see him, putting you into the minds of the other characters. The camera angles then become distorted again and move in an unsettled manner, reflecting the characters mood. The camera zooms in and out around his head which makes what he is saying seem much more interesting, when in reality he is talking about history, then there is a very big contrast of which a steady long shot is shown of his group of friends staring back at him, this could represent their reaction to what he is saying or simply just highlight his enthusiasm to his ideas. This contrast is repeated throughout his monologue regarding history of which doesn’t appear to be true, and the camera keeps switching from different points of view to show the characters reactions. The camera angles then start to change more rapidly and then an over the shoulder shot is introduced to add another point of view and add a feeling of urgency and to throw you off as the shots have all been quite repetitive. To end this initial scene, another close up of the characters face is used, with timing very effectively because as he says his last line ‘we’re gonna have a digger party’, the camera zooms to his face and highlights his facial expression and emphasizes this last line. Right near the end, a long shot is shown of all of his friends in clown masks of which could enforce the reason the camera work has been very edgy, as he then looks at his ‘roll up’ as if to say he has been smoking drugs, this could explain the distorted camera work as it could be representing and showing his personal state of mind to create the atmosphere of which the character is feeling.

In this opening scene, the camera work is key; with the edgy movement and also the constant change of camera angles this really helped to add the idea that the place had more significance than initially imagined. Not only did this add to that idea, but the contrast between the types of shots and the speed of the shots also helped to add the idea that the setting was important to the episode as it totally contradicted the dialogue of the characters, adding dramatic tension.