Some Girls

Discuss the ways in which the extract uses camera shots, editing, sound and Mise-en-scene to construct representations of teenagers

In the short extract from the new BBC Three comedy, we can see that there are some stereotypical representations of teenagers, and there are also some unique representations of teenagers, and these are shown through the use of camera shots, editing, sound and Mise-en-scene.

One representation of the teenagers in this extract is the stereotype that most teenage girls are irrational and exaggerate situations. In the scene, 7.00-7.09, the main character is at home and has just been told that her step-mother is pregnant and that her room will be used for the new baby; she is not happy about it. In the scene, the character is shown in close-up when she shouts “Well why I don’t just leave now then?!’ This shot type is used to show the characters facial expressions, which is anger. The shot then slides down to show her snatch her coat, this could be used to show her aggression but it could also be used to show that she is still a teenager and the action of ‘snatching’ is quite childish. The shot then goes to a wise-shot which shows the rest of the family to be relaxed, and not bothered by her reaction, which might show that this happens a lot or that it was expected as she is a teenager. The editing transition in this scene is a cut to the parents to show their reactions which are a little shocked but not taking it seriously and not really that bothered by the situation. Another way in which the scene shows the main character to be a typical teenager, over-reacting to a situation is through the sound in the scene. There is the diegetic sound of the door being slammed. This could be used to represent the stereotype that teenagers slam doors and storm off when they are angry but it could also be used to show the conflict and tension between the two generations. There is also the non-diegetic sound that comes after the door slamming, which is upbeat and happy music to show that the scene is not serious and that the main character is just over-reacting. Another way in which the stereotypical teenager is shown is through the dialogue in the scene. “Well why don’t I just leave now then?!” shows a typical outburst from a teenager, threatening to leave home when they don’t agree with their parents, when they over exaggerate the situation.

Another representation of teenagers in this extract is a very unique one that shows role reversal between the parents and the child (6.00-6.15). In this scene again, the main character has just been told that her step-mother is pregnant, to which her reaction is to tell them to get rid of it. The Mise-en-scene of the scene shows this role reversal between the different generations. The main character, who is a teenage girls starts a rant at the parents about pregnancy and says: “How? Why? We have to listen to endless lectures about contraception and you two can even…! You’re going to have to get rid of it”. This reaction would normally be one of a parent finding out about a teenage pregnancy, so for the teenager to be saying it to the adults shows that she is different to the stereotypical teenager, in that she is the responsible one and is almost acting as the parent in the relationship. Also in the scene, there could be a hint at role reversal by the styling of the characters. Although the teenager is in her school uniform, she is wearing it smartly and has some school badges on her uniform, maybe suggesting that she has some school achievements. However the step-mother (adult) is in a short dressing gown that most people would think inappropriate to wear around teenagers. Another way, in which the teenager is shown to be the adult in the relationship, is through shot-types. The main shot type used in this scene is a medium close-up, which shows the characters facial expressions, but also shows her arm movements which seem to be at first short and firm, to show frustration and second calm movements to show that she is trying to be logical about the situation, which again suggests that she is acting as the adult in the relationship. The other main shot type used in this scene is close up of the parents, to show their reactions, which seem to be confused and a little shocked, but the shot also shows the woman to be sitting on the man’s lap, which seems a bit like something teenagers/young people would do, enforcing the idea of role-reversal between the generations.

In conclusion, the extract uses many different editing techniques, sounds, camera shots and different Mise-en-scene, such as door slamming and costumes, to create different representations of teenagers, whether they are stereotypical or not.