Analysis Of Skins

Skins analysis      

The characters in the image one from 'Skins' are all teenagers. There is a girl in the centre which seems to be the main point of the image. Mainly because of the lighting. The light is shining through the window pane gleaming on the girls face and torso. This attracts the attention of the audience to this character. We notice that her facial expression looks very upset, as her make-up is wearing off and her mascara is running down her face. Also her hair is in a messy style which makes her look as if she’s quite unhygienic. She is wearing only her underwear to show a promiscuous side to her. Everyone in the room is half naked, which brings out a lot of flesh colour. It seems like a party had taken place the day before and now everyone seems to be hung-over and ill. The image is set in a bedroom, which looks like an adult’s bedroom (maybe the parents). The wallpaper is all ripped off and ragged which gives the impression of a dirty atmosphere in the house. There is a lamp in the background shinning on a young boys face. He seems to be the only character in the image that seems conscious about his body. He is lying under the covers to wrap him up, and also wears a hat inside. This gives the feeling that he is uncomfortable around these other teenagers and is intimidated by them.

In image two there is only one character. He is completely pale white which helps his hair and eyes stand out, which are black/brown. The character looks quite suicidal; he is laying in a bath drowning himself in the water staring at the camera with a direct mode of address looking fairly unhealthy. The image is in low key lighting, with a washed out green effect throughout. The walls are dark and torn apart. Showing a scruffy, unhygienic side to himself. There are hardly any props in the room (soap, toothbrush etc.) which makes the character seem quite low class (poor) and represented quite ordinary.

The teenagers are represented as quite naive and vulnerable to each other. They seem to be quite promiscuous. It isn’t a realistic portrayal as not all teenagers are the same as the characters in the image. Most teenagers are similar to the young boy in image one next to the lampshade. As most teenagers are intimidated by celebrities which make them feel insecure about themselves. This image can be believable as some teenagers are very naive, which build them up a sexual representation. All teenagers have parties that destroy their house (image 1), and some teenagers even think about committing suicide (image 2), so the images could be plausible. I consider these two images to be a negative presentation of teenagers. They are being looked at as loose humans, that have insanitary houses. The different responses that the audience might make of these representations of teenagers could be, that they could be scared of teenagers, and that they seem very gullible and immature. Which isn’t true, as some teenagers are quite mature. Some teenagers could find these images quite offensive (also some parents may find it unpleasant). This is because of the way that the teenagers are being represented, not in a nice way.