Youth

• Drug addicts/alcholics 
• Sex addicts
• Troublesome
• Chavvy (swear a lot)
• Lazy
• Anti-social
• Ruthless
• Miscreants 
• Thugs
• Messy

In 1904 Stanley Hall wrote Adolescence in 2 volumes in 1904, in this text he puts forward a theory known as the ‘Storm & Stress Model’, despite being written over 100 years ago it is still relevant to modern youth stereotyping in music magazines. In short, Hall argues the following:
“ Adolescence is inherently a time of storm & stress when all young people go through some degree of emotional and behavioural upheaval, before establishing a more stable equilibrium at adulthood." Hall also argued that:
1. The common mood of teenagers is a state of depression.
2. Criminal activity increases between the ages of 12 & 24.
3. Young people are extreme and need excitement; “Youth must have excitement and if this is not at hand in the form of moral intellectual enthusiasms it is more prone to be sought in; sex, drink or drugs.”

However, Osgerby goes onto argue that; “The portrayal of youth is not entirely pessimistic,” he argues that “Mixed metaphors” appear when analysing the representation of youth. He claims; “Dual stereotyping of youth,” creates these mixed metaphors that Dick Hebdige (1988) termed; “Youth as fun,” and “Youth as trouble maker.”

It is seriously worth noting that theory concerning disability can be applied to the elderly with ease. According to Evans (1998):

"Old people in our culture are also segregated and treated as though they are waiting to die. There are close associations between dependency, illness, dying and death. It seems that increasingly in our culture there are pressures that encourage a reversion to infantile feelings which have to be madly defended against."

Practice Essay

How is youth portrayed in the extract of Skins through:
Camera work
Mise-en-scene
Sound
& Editing

In the extract of Skins the theories of Stanley Hall (1994), and Osgerby and Hebdige (1988) are both disrupted and supported through the media language present in the clip. I will now explore this in more detail with reference to how; camera work, mise-en-scene, sound and editing contribute to constructions of youth representation.

The opening credit for Skins use very upbeat music along with a stylised title sequence that involves a variety of shots of the characters being rebellious (doing drugs, making out etc) but having fun, which supports Hebdige and Osgerby’s theory that youth are mixed metaphors- they can be betrayed as trouble makers, but also as fun. Effy’s character seems to more so represent Stanley Hall’s theory that the common mood of teenagers is a state of depression as during the title sequence her character is shown as looking quite depressed. The editing used is also very exciting with a fun like appearance, so along with the music and bright colour palette used for the images and editing, supports Hebdige and Osgerby's theory of youth also being fun. 

The very first shot of it is an extreme close up of the protagonist, Tony, that zooms out. The lighting used is very particular, as it makes the character's face appear half light and half dark, which is a subtle form of support to Hebdige and Osgerby's theory- the dark being a metaphor for his rebellious side, and the light being a metaphor for his fun side. Rather than just supporting Stanley Hall's theory that argues, "Adolescence is inherently a time of storm & stress when all young people go through some degree of emotional and behavioural upheaval". It begins with no music, just the diegetic sound of a bell ringing in the background. The zoom out reveals to the audience mise-en-scene of the bedroom to help construct the character. It reveals hid bed sheets- with two naked people on them. This supports Hall's theory that youth are obsessed with sex, but his theories are disrupted when a diegetic sound effect of an alarm rings out, connoting that the character isn't lazy (which is further proven by the fact he works out in the next few shots). The character the proceeds to turn on the stereo which is vital towards representing the youth as the diegetic music playing is hip hop with sexual lyrics, further going along with Hall's theory that he's obsessed with sex. This is further proven when he's seen checking out the naked next door neighbour (who seemingly supports youth theories, despite being an adult). This is shown with the editing- shot reverse shot and eyeline match, to show the protagonist and what he's looking at. The camera movement used for his point of view is shaky, further emphasising his sexual excitement, which further supports Hall's theory. His sister, Effy is shown in one of the following shots. Once again the mise-en-scene is used to represent youth as she is dressed provocatively and her appearance is disheveled, giving the impression that her night has been spent partying and having one night stands. She also appears miserable, and all of this supports Hall's theory that "the common mood of teenagers is a state of depression", and his other youth theory that young people are extreme and need excitement; “Youth must have excitement and if this is not at hand in the form of moral intellectual enthusiasms it is more prone to be sought in; sex, drink or drugs." High angle shots are used when looking at her character, and although this comes across as it being from Tony's point of view, by looking down on her. This makes her appear inferior, which more so represents gender as he is given all the power via a low angle shot, following Gauntlett's theory that argues men are presented as independent and strong.


After this scenario Tony turns up some loud rock diegetic music on his stereo. A cut in is used to show that Tony is purposely being trouble, and a close up of his face is used to show how much fun he's having. This follows Hebdige's theory that termed "Youth as fun," and "Youth as trouble maker".  Diegetic dialogue from outside the room is used to introduce Tony's father before he's actually shown, straight away telling the audience a lot about his character as when people describe others as you hear them before you see them, it only has negative connotations. His father is a peculiar character, as despite a lack of theories revolving around middle aged men, he breaks the stereotypes by following Hall's youth theory that adolescence is inherently a time of storm & stress when all young people go through some degree of emotional and behavioural upheaval, before establishing a more stable equilibrium at adulthood. This makes the audience view him as immature due to his foul language and bad temper towards his son. The mise-en-scene, in this case focusing on his father's facial expressions, and the sound, focusing on his father's tone and dialogue, suggests that Tony is no stranger to winding up his father, which supports Osgerby's theory that argues “Mixed metaphors” appear when analysing the representation of youth. Parallel editing is used to show Tony with his father and Effy escaping upstairs and getting changed to clearly contrast the two representations of fun. Tony is clearly following Osgerby and Hebidge's theories, whilst Effy (helped by her attire and high camera angles used) follows Hall's theories that the common mood for teenagers is depression, and that young people are extreme and need excitement; “Youth must have excitement and if this is not at hand in the form of moral intellectual enthusiasms it is more prone to be sought in; sex, drink or drugs.” After the argument, a cut in shot is used of Tony's drawer to bring attention to the fact it's tidy. Youth are stereotyped as being messy and lazy, but Tony's organisation skills of his clothing proves that he's breaking stereotypes.

A zoom out shot is used whilst Tony is sat on the toilet, to slowly show the scene off to the audience. The mise-en-scene is vital here, as he's showing reading a penguin classic. This disrupts Hall, Osgerby and Hebdige's theories of youth being depressed, needing excitement, being troublemakers or fun. Very rarely are youth represented as being academic. The dialogue between Tony and his father show that he's a troublemaker, but Tony's facial expression shows that he's also fun- supporting Hebdige's theory. A series of shots are used in a short space of time, cut ins and close ups, to emphasise the length of time Tony is taking in order to wind his dad up. An eyeline match is used again once Tony is in the garden to show the audience that he is once again checking out his neighbour and smirking, supporting Hall's theory that teenagers are obsessed with sex. Although an adult, she is represented as being no better than him in this department. When in the kitchen, a low angle shot is used to show the father character speaking to Tony. Although this angle is typically used to give the character power, in this context it becomes ironic as he attempts to have power. Whilst his father is getting a drill out from under the sink, a close up shot of his bum is used, along with medium close up/close up shots of the family reacting in a comical fashion.  Because Skins is through a teenagers perspective of life, it supports Hebdige's theory that youth can be fun, so disrupts Hall's theory that their common mood is being depressed, as Tony's character clearly appears to get enjoyment out of small events.

A tracking shot of Tony is used as he leaves his house, and then parallel editing is used to show off the character he is attempting to call- Sid. This character is represented purely through mise-en-scene (his horrifically untidy room) and partially dialogue (his grunts and cussing). This character, quite unlike Tony's, very accurately represents the stereotypical view of a teenager- lazy. A close up shot of his phone is used, with the mise-en-scene in the background, in this case a bong, supports Hall's theory about youth being strongly associated with criminal activity, which he argued increases between the ages of 12-24. When the camera goes back to Tony a tracking shot is used yet again, which appears to emphasise (especially in contrast to Sid's character) how he breaks the stereotypes of being lazy. Tony's line of dialogue to his friend, although not much supports Hall's theory yet again that youth are obsessed with sex- this character in particular had sexual like bed covers, sexual music playing, checked out his naked neighbour and spoke casually to his friend about it. In the first five minutes of Skins, the audience can easily see that youth are represented as sex crazed.