An analysis of Age in Skins

From my experience with Skin’s I believe that Skins relies very much on visual representations; as a result Mise-en-scene is used a lot in the clip. The clip contains the morning of a teenager after a party – many things are represented in the clip.
The element of color design is used consistently throughout the clip to portray age. An example of this is the bright colour scheme used; the blanket covering ‘Cass’ as she wakes up is green with multiple colours and images upon it. These vibrant colours represents that the show is focused upon young characters. Furthermore, the strange mix of bright colours could be seen as quite hectic; this could connote the stereotype that teenagers are often unstable and insecure as well as signifying Cass’s mental disorientation.
The next section of mise-en-scene that is used to portray age in the clip is lighting; the lighting throughout is most defiantly ambient natural lighting. Not only does this connote the day time but it also presents a very vibrant feel to the image. This consistent energy acts a denotation to represent how teenagers are full of life and energy. What’s more, as Cass is leaving the house through the yellow fly-screened doorway the lighting becomes very bright and almost artificial. This dream like imagery of Cass walking forward into full key lighting could act as a signifier for the stereotypical view of young adults being immature. However, this image could be polysemic as an oppositional reading could be that the full key lighting is positive as it connotes to the audience that the young people are full of sparkle and fun.
The aspect of acting is also used as a very efficient denotation of age in the clip. The actress playing Cass is extremely skinny; this is emphasized through production design as she is only wearing underwear as she stands up. This specific casting and use of costume signifies that Cass is young as well as being an anchored representation of the stereotype that all teenage girls suffering from weight problems. As Cass leaves the house two things are connoted; from the dialogue it is clear that Cass doesn’t reveal to the mother (Anna) that her house has been ruined. This lowers the mother’s status in the scene as it presents her as naïve. This could signify that teenagers are in actual fact becoming more intelligent than parents and challenges the stereotype that teenagers are failing in school and often anti-social. However, this denotation is yet again polysemic as a contrasting view could be that Cass’s reluctances to tell the mother connotes her as arrogant and passes the comment that all teenagers are ‘know it alls’. The second signifier is the physical movements from Cass; as she is talking to the mother it is clear that she is always retreating due to her backwards motion. This movement acts as a signifier to the audience that Cass could be scared of the mother; this supports the view that teenagers often do not like to be associated with adults.
Production design is used in the clip as a signifier in many instances. For the majority of the clip, the setting is in the house that is in a mess; there is food everywhere, people naked, writing on walls etc. This setting, added to the teenage cast present could act as a denotation that often relates teenagers. It could represent that teenagers are messy and uncivilized due to the habitat that they are sleeping in as well as the actor’s internal characteristics such as Jal as she simply doesn’t mention the mess surrounding them.
To conclude, I feel that the signs and representations in Skins are far from being anchored; causing the audience to thinking and gain there own opinion. This effect on the viewer is also a representation of the opinionated teenager of the time, placing them in the shoe's of a teenager. Due to the polysemic style of the text I think that teenagers are either presented positively or negatively depending on the audience. If an older person is watching they will automatically sway towards the negative stereotypes connoted whereas teenagers will relate and often choose the positive representation.