Skins Analysis 1

 
 

If you look at the way the main character is dressed in the image above, she is sitting on the bed and dressed in only her underwear. She is wearing a pair of tights up to her knees and a see-through black cardigan hanging from her arms. You can also see that she has been crying as her mascara has run down her cheek and her hair is also in a mess. These things can tell you a lot about her character. One of these things would be that she doesn’t think very highly of herself (has a low status). You can tell this because of the way she is dressed and also her body language, as she is slouched over like she is not proud of herself. Another thing that indicates that she doesn’t think highly of herself is her facial expressions, in which it looks as if she’s gazing out the window, which is shown by the lighting, crying and wishing she was somewhere/somebody else.

If you combine the way she is dressed, her body language, and her facial expressions then you can tell many things, including the way she normally behaves. Taking in all of the factors, and many more that I will mention later, I have a pretty good idea that her behavior is pretty reckless and out of control. This is shown by her lack of clothes, emotionless, verging on longing facial expression that she has, and her body language by having her arm on her leg and both legs open like a man would sit. This shows that she is not very feminine and doesn’t behave like a normal girl would indicating that she doesn’t care about the way she acts and is pretty reckless.

If you take a look at the character at the back of the image, he has a different posture and facial expression than the main character in the image however the costume, or lack of it, remains the same. If you look at his body language and the way he is sitting up, he is made to look nervous about something. You also get this impression from his facial expression as he is staring blankly into space that he is worried about something. This also links to his costume as he is wearing a hat and pair of glasses. This costume, particularly the hat, represents how he is a shy and timid person who is scared and afraid of things which is the exact expression that is given off by his face and body language.

There is a small use of additional props in the image above. An example of this would be the lamp that is used in the background. This lamp is used in the background in order to highlight the things such as the character wearing the hat that is lying on the bed in the corner and also the wallpaper and how old and torn it is. This allows the main character of the image to be the first thing you see as the window light is shining on her yet the character behind her will also be noticed as a light is shown in his face too. Other than this prop, the only other main prop that has significance in this image is the small-framed photo on the wall above the lamp.

This small photo is used in the scene, as well as the lamp and other things that I will mention later, in order to show the audience that this bedroom is not in actual fact what a young person’s bedroom would look like. It is made to look like and older persons bedroom, such as a parent or a grandparent. This could symbolise how all of these characters are still very young but all of the things they are doing in this image are very adult, and by the room being a mess it could mean how they have grown up way to fast so they are messed up and reckless just like how the room looks.

If you look at the setting around the main character in the middle you can see that the most noticeable thing are all of the people at her feet who, like her, are barely clothed. This is a main part of the image as it gives a huge indication about what might be happening in this room. By looking at this, it is there in order to give the impression to the audience of huge orgy-like behaviour. This indicated, just like the main character, that they too are carefree and reckless which is shown by their use of body language, facial expressions and costume. This is all in place in order to back up the main character in the image in which the main focus is pointed on.

If you look at the interior design of the room, there are many things that are in place for a certain reason in order to back up the main character in the image. One of these, of which I touched on earlier, was the wallpaper in the walls. This wallpaper is torn and dirty and literally hanging off the wall. This is done specifically, alongside other parts of the interior design, to symbolise the reckless and un-tamed life of the young people that are all around the room. This is reflected by the way the image is advertised in which they even make the boxes holding the information about the show in the style of the old and withered wallpaper on the walls that furthers the use of symbolism even more.

There is also a huge contrast between the room and the people within it as, like I said earlier, this room looks like the room of an older person as it has old-fashioned wallpaper on the walls, an old picture and picture frame hanging on the wall, and an old-fashioned lamp beneath the picture which all contrast with the people in the room as they are all in fact young when everything else is old. The less significant interior design features such as the bed frame and bed cover emphasize the contrast even more as young people tend not to have large beds with big headboards and old fashioned bed covers.

There is not a huge use of bold colours in this image. This is because it is made to look dark and dreary in order to match with the message the image is trying to give off. The only bright colour that is used is the colour of the main characters bra. There are a few reasons why this is the only use of bright colour in the image. One reason why this is is in order to attract the audience to the main character from the moment you see this image. Another reason why this is used is because it shows a contrast between the bright colour of her underwear and the bleakness of her and her surroundings. One final and very significant reason why she is wearing bright green underwear is because green is known for symbolising life and nature.

This image shows the downsides to this character in specifics life. It is if the wearing of green is saying that the things going on in the image are natural to the characters life and a daily part of her life even though in reality this situation that she is in is far from natural, which shows a huge contrast between the two. Other than this bold colour, the rest of the colours in the image are very bland as I explained before. This is in order to go with the mood and message of the image as the colours of the older persons room are very uninteresting when what is happening inside the room in far from uninteresting which shows yet another contrast between the colour and the characters in the room.

This image uses lighting very well in order to communicate their message to the audience. The main yet less obvious lighting that they have used in the image that effects the way the image is presented the most would be the way it is made to look as if the light from the window is pouring in the room. The character is made to be looking out of the window with an emotionless yet slightly longing facial expression as if she is wishing that she wasn’t in this situation which was something I slightly touched on earlier. This gives the impression that it has just turned morning and the sun has come up so obviously she has been in this room since the night before. When I see that she is looking almost hopelessly out of the window it reminds me of when you see in movies a little girl staring out of her window into the sky and longs for a better or more exciting life just before she goes off to bed.

This is the same impression I get when this character looks out of the window, like she wishes something would come to make her life better or more exiting rather than being stuck in a horrible situation like she is now. This is an example of how lighting in this image is purposely to create symbolism. One other more noticeable use of lighting would be in the corner with the lamp which is used to emphasize the less significant character in the back which a talked about slightly earlier. This lighting allows the character in the back to be noticed as he gives off the same impression and message that the main character gives off in which they both are not happy with the situation they are in and do not think very highly of themselves.

To conclude, I would say that in this image teenagers are being represented in a negative way. This can be told as it shows them as careless and reckless people who seem to have low statuses and are not happy with the situation they are in. I believe that this image is a realistic portrayal of how life, especially for out of control teenagers such as these ones, can be and is plausible as many teenagers around the country go through similar situations to what these people are going through daily. When I see this image, I definitely consider this to be a negative representation of teenagers these days as this only shows them as sex-obsessed people who have no real fulfillment or meaning in their life. I think that the different responses made about these representations depend mainly on the age of the viewer.

If it is a young person responding to these representations then they are more likely to say that it is negative as they are teenagers themselves and know that there are teenagers out there that do have fulfillment and meaning in their life unlike what is seen in this image. This contrasts to what older people may say about these representations, as they may believe that lots of teenagers do act recklessly and selfishly and have no life fulfilment’s like hat is seen in this image. If any group of people were to find this image offensive it would be teenagers. This is because it gives no positive representations of what teenagers are like, except that all they do is sleep around and live un-controllably with no ambitions in their life.

By Harry Luke Mulvany