Representations in skins

1. What can you deduce about the setting (and specifically the house) from the mise-en-scene?
The setting of the house and in the house shows a middle class family due to a street with nice looking houses and with large amount of greenery.  His bed sheets in the opening shot show two nude bodies and can show not only his desire for sex but also shows his control in the house as adult especially his mother would not approve of them. The bedroom is organised and tidy which is almost the opposite of a common teenage boys bedroom this could hint at the level of control the character likes over his surroundings. When he is in the bathroom he was reading a philosophical book which shows his ability in higher education and his higher intelligence level.
2. What do you think Tony's representation is? Think about camera shots and his behavior. Are stereotypes or/and counter types used?
The opening shot shows an extreme close up of his face which is unusual for a drama and also makes it clear to who is the main focus of the story line. He looks at the women getting changed across the road as she looks back at him and this is what some male teenagers ideal situation is. He also makes things as hard as possible for his father as he is the character with the highest level of control in the household.
3. What is the genre? How does Tony's representation fit in the genre?
The genre of Skins is a comedy drama. Tony's representation works well because from an outsiders position looking in on the situation it is comical the things he does to his father just to annoy him. His representation also works with the drama side because he is an ordinary teenage boy and many in the audience would be able to relate to him and his situation due to being in the same situation themselves.
5. We start the with the shot of Tony in bed with the camera in a close of him - why use this shot? Then we see him in his underpants - why?
We see Tony at the beginning on his own in the center of the shot. This was done to highlight the importance of his character to the storyline. It also suggests that he is the most dominant character in the story and that he has a higher level of control than even those of his parents. He is then seen in his underwear due to the high level of sexuality in the opening especially with the woman across the street.
6. Discuss the mise-en-scene, particularly of his bedroom. Does it tell us anything about Tony's lifestyle?
Tony's bedroom is very tidy and has a large amount of light coming into the room. His cloths are all organised and put away in draws. Tony in ways contradict stereotypes of the regular teenage boy with a tidy room and organised belongings which shows a high level of care in his possessions as well as the character preference for being in control as much as possible. The ways Tony's character agrees with stereotypes is with the antagonising of the father which is very similar to the common teenage boy that challenges the parents for their own personal benefits.
7. How is Tony's sister Effy represented? How is their relationship represented?
We first see Effy when she is walking down the street in the morning looking like she has been out all night at a party. She is wearing heavy make up that has been smudged which implies she has been up all night. Their parents are oblivious to what she is doing under their noses, and when she gets back she gets Tony to cause a diversion so the father would be shouting at him while Effy enters the house and gets to her room. This sequence shows how Tony and Effy have a mutual stance and almost work together against the parents especially the father. When in the kitchen the mother notices the tiredness of Effy but looks over it and the look exchanged between the siblings shows that they know that they have gotten away with it as well as it is enhancing the bond between them.
8. How are the parents represented? How is their relationship with the children represented? 
The father was introduced when he barged in to Tony's bedroom when the music is turned up to cause a distraction for Effy. This gives an the audience an immediate impression of the father as a very angry, short tempered man who reacts irrationally. The parents are also seen as a bit stupid due to it being shown that their children are going out and staying out all night with the parents being completely oblivious to this. The parents also don't seem to see eye to eye on every thing and do not particularly seem to try and help each other. The mother is seen only in the kitchen in the opening making breakfast for the children and is shown as being contempt with her role in the family.