We will be looking at representation of: Age,Sexuality,Ethnicity,Class and status,Physical Appearence,Regional Identity and Disability in 3 different clips of british dramas.
Skins- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge8hXEfuqp0&feature=related
Age
We first recognise the age of the two characters through mis-en-scene. It is clear to identify that they are teenagers, we can see that they dress in quite young and up to date fashion, with bright colours such as yellow, green and red, this demonstrates their free spirited, vibrant , and youthful outlook on life. The scene begins with Chris and Jal entering the house , chris confesses that it is not is house , which suggests the idea that he is too young to own a house of his own. Within the room we can see many items which can give us insight in to their mental age , rather than physical age. This is demonstrated by the rainbow rug , and the miniature play house, that illustrates their inner child. The first bit of speech the two share , Jal replies by holding up a piece of paper saying ‘Yes’ which shows her immature approach to the situation. This theme is then reinforced by Chris’s storyboard of emotions. He then shows Jal pictures that he has drawn illustrating his life. This goes from a ‘happy family’ situation to a ‘lonely and isolated’ situation. The first few ‘happy’ drawings are in vibrant colours, which demonstrates his contented emotions. As the drawings progress to the sadder situations we can see that their is no longer the use of colour and the drawings are in black. The use of the story board shows that he has not got the intellectual ability to convey his emotions through simple communication such as talking, which is what those of an older age would most likley do.
Dialouge is the main use of sound in regards to their age. Once chris has expressed his emotions through the use of the drawings, Jal takes on the situation with a more mature approach, and talks bluntly, she also appears more clued up on life and states ‘ you think you are the only one with problems’. This demonstrates how she understands that his problems , and both her problems are not the only problems in the world. In addition her range of emotional expression such as crying , talking and ripping up the paper. This again shows her maturity as she can express her emotions in more diverse ways. Once chris hears this , he again takes on another immature response saying things to lighten up the situation such as ‘ Kick grannies in the tits’. He knows this will make her laugh, and help her to forgive him , which she does almost instantaneously. This demonstrates how naive they both are, and how they don’t totally understand the seriousness and gravity of love. In the final moments on the scene we also hear the non-diagetic sound of ‘lala’, this is quite repetitive and shows how one problem leads on to another.
Sexuality
The shot involves a male and a female. Through their costumes, their sexes are stereotypically represented Jal , like a typical girly girl is wearing a dress with a bow, and Chris is wearing a suit. However during the scene , the mental roles are reversed. He is the one who opens up his emotions first , whereas typically it is known for the women to open up and want to discuss her emotions. In addition, Jal shows more masculine characteristics in the beginning of the scene, in which she comes across blunt , however this is juxtaposed with her tears, of which is a typical female characteristic, to cry. Again chris begins to open up his emotions even more, he does this by getting down on one knee in an almost proposing situation, however this also demonstrates how he is bringing himself down to her level and her level of vulnerability. In addition it shows how caring it is , which again does not fit into the conventions of a stereotypical man, they are usual seen as hard-faced and emotionless. We can also see a wide shot in which we see Jal sitting and Chris standing. This uses the typical conventions to show power, the man is standing therefore he is more physically powerful whereas Jal is sitting showing that she is weaker. However analyzing the dialogue it is apparant that chris is in fact the weaker one , whereas Jal appears to be the more stronger one within the situation, although they are both vulnerable.
Ethnicity
This scene does not really focus on the racial aspect , it concentrates more on the relationship and the situation.However it does highlight the aspect of interacial relationships and this ethnic divide is shown through a close up of Chris and Jal looking as they are about to kiss. Usually in a drama or film it is the person of the ethnic background that is known to make the mistakes, whereas this time its Chris, a white male that has made the mistakes. In addition its stating that this type of interracial relationship is socially acceptable , as the camera regularly shows them on the same level. There is also the aspect of the sound bridge with the ethnic music , when this plays it focuses on Jal , to signify how the next scene or situation is going to focus on her.
Class and Status
We immediately hear that both characters use standard english, however given the scene , we are not given insight into their social economic backgrounds. Although we are aware that the house is not actually is it looks as though it would belong to someone from a working or middle class background , which implies that he is acquainted with people of this sort of social class. Furthermore through the drawings chris has made , show that he was part of a typical nuclear family, which was his ideal situation, however towards the end of the drawings we can see that he is now apart of a lone parent family , and therefore his social status is not as high anymore.
Physical Appearance
