How is age represented in the opening sequence of skins?

In the opening sequence of skins, we are introduced to one of the lead characters, Tony. Tony is seemed to be the leader of his friendship group and as the alpha male. He is presented to be a counter-typical teenager due to how organised he is, and how tidy his bedroom is, which is seen through the birds-eye view camera shot of his bedroom. This portrays a positive representation of age by Tony. We can also see the film posters hung in Tony’s room, which are intact indie films from the 1960’s, which again shows how Tony is a counter-typical teenage as he is going against the teenage culture of watching current popular films. We are also introduced to Tony’s dad in the opening sequence. We can immediately see that Tony’s dad uses bad language by swearing constantly, gets very angry and could possibly be having a mid life crisis due to how he behaves and acts. Tony’s dad and Tony show a juxtaposition between them, with the contrast of their attitudes with Tony’s dad acting like a petulant child and Tony acting intelligent. Sid is also introduced to us, he on the other hand is presented to be a stereotypical teenager, due to his messy room and the lack of organisation. Through costume, we can see a contrast between Tony and his Dad. Tony’s boxer shorts are a white colour, this represents a sense of innocence, however Tony’s dad’s boxer shorts show anger and rage as they are the colour rage. Later on in the scene, we see Tony in the bathroom, taking his time while his dad is outside kicking the door like a petulant child again, and swearing a lot. Tony is reading a book based on war, while sitting in the ‘thinker position’, this  again shows his intelligence. These are some ways that age is represented  to portray Tony as a positive example.

Through the use of editing in the opening scene, age is presented in several ways. At first, we see a montage of Tony’s morning routine. We see him working out, getting up and getting dressed. This shows us that he is organised and cares about his appearance, and this a positive representation of age. On the other hand, we also see quick cuts between Tony and his dad whilst Tony is trying to get one over on him. Eye line match is also used as this shows us that Tony knew he was annoying his dad. This is a very stereotypical representation of teenagers. Towards the end of the scene, we are also shown the family kitchen, where there is a typical set up of the mum cooking, with Effy (Tony’s sister) and Tony sitting at the table. There are quick cuts used between each family member that shows their lack of respect towards the dad due to his bad behaviour and swearing. This is reinforced by a close up of the dad’s ‘builders crack’, showing he is slob, which is a negative representation of a middle aged man.

In the opening sequence of skins, sound is also used to represent age. When Tony turns his music up, we hear the diegetic, loud, thrash metal music. This was done on purpose by Tony to annoy his dad, this very stereotypical for a teenager to be playing loud music, and shows Tony’s lack of respect towards his dad. At the beginning of the scene, we hear the diegetic sound of the church bell. Tony was already up at this point, giving a positive representation of age, as again shows Tony is organised as he is up bright and early. On the other hand, Tony’s dad portrays himself as a non-respectable character due to his rude rhyming slang. Whilst Tony’s dad is having an anger strop, there is a diegetic sound of him trying to kick the door down, and banging on the door. Again being presented as a petulant child. Another positive, counter-typical representation of age is during Tony’s montage. Where the non-diegetic music is upbeat showing Tony has a lively, energetic personality; And at the end of the scene, we hear the diegetic dialogue where the family roles are reversed as Tony’s dad is yet again acting like a stroppy child.

Age is also presented in the opening sequence through the use of camera. We immediately see a birds-eye view shot of Tony’s room, which we see is organised and tidy. Wr see he is laying in the middle of his bed underneath the duvet covers of a male and female body. This tells us that Tony is obsessed with sex like a stereotypical teenage boy. The point that Tony lays between the two bodies could show a sign that he is unsure of his sexuality. We see a wide shot of Tony jumping down his water pipe. This shows us that though Tony may be immature, it shows us he is intelligent as he knew how to get out of his bathroom. Tony and Sid are shown to be contrasting characters, as we also see a birds-eye view of Sid’s room which is very messy, dirty and unorganised. This represents Sid to be a stereotypical teenager. In the opening sequence, we are introduced to Effy, as she walks down the street in last nights clothes.  We see this through the eye-line match or over the shoulder angles of Tony looking at Effy as she walks down the road. From this we can learn that Effy is a rebellious teenager who stays out all night. Another over the shoulder shot is used where Tony is staring at the women across the road in the house opposite getting dressed. Later on in the scene, we see Tony outside his house, where there is another over the shoulder shot of the neighbour looking at Tony. This shows us that Tony is see to be more mature and wise for his years. At the kitchen table, another angles called low angle shot is used as Tony is talking to his dad. Tony being at the foreground of the shot shows he has the power, This is reinforced by the dialogue. At the end of the scene in Sid’s room, there is a close up of cigarette butts, dirty plates and a phone demonstrating Sid’s untidiness and lack of organisation. Again, negatively presenting a stereotypical teenager.