Discuss the ways in which the extract uses camera shots, editing, sound and mise-en-scene to construct representations if teenagers/generations

In the clip of ‘Some Girls’ teenagers are represented in different ways using camera shots, editing, sound and mise-en-scene.

Firstly, at the start of the clip, a theme song and montage is played, as any other television series would have. The montage is used to show short frames that slide across (a wipe) of the four main teenage girls being typical teenagers. Camera shots are used to construct representations of this. The very first slide is of one of the girls talking on her mobile phone and making a ‘stroppy’ facial expression, this is showing a stereotypical teenager which is what this series is all about. The camera shot shows a close-up of the teenager on her phone to show the audience her facial expression and the fact that she is using her mobile phone. Towards the end of the montage an extreme close up is used to show the same girl putting on her makeup before school. We can identify that is she is going to school because she is in her uniform. This constructs a representation of teenagers because many stereotypical teenage girls of today are now seen with lots of makeup on and ‘re-designing’ their school uniform by wearing short skirts, knee-length socks, short ties and their own cardigan or jumper over the top. Therefore, the audience would know that from seeing the girl who is applying makeup before school is just a stereotypical teenage girl. At the end of the montage, one of the girls is shown on camera walking out of the estate she lives on to get to school. Two boys not in uniform are shown pushing around a shopping trolley and one of them falling out of it, a wide shot is used to show this and how they are being typical teenage boys as they are behaving badly in public and not in uniform, this could be showing that they are not going to school meaning they may have been expelled or are too misbehaved for school. This constructs a representation of typical teenagers.

Secondly, I looked at types of sounds that was used in the extract to construct representations of teenagers. A lot of non-digetic sound is used throughout the episode of ‘Some Girls’. Throughout the montage at the start of the episode, the frames of the 4 main characters are being shown being ‘typical’ teenagers, sound is played over the top and their voices and sounds have been cut out (non-digetic sound) whilst the theme song is being played, which is a funky, girly, modern type of music which relates well to the series. This type of music constructs representations of teenagers, as anyone who was to only listen to the music would know that the episode would be about young/teenage girls. A series that is about crime would most probably have a theme song at the start that is quite tense and dark to relate to the series. Once the montage at the beginning ends, the music is still playing but behind the sound of the actors speaking (digetic sound). The start of the episode is quite happy and fun, we can see this because one of the main characters of the series is riding her bike in her school uniform and smiling whilst incidental music is used to enhance this particular atmosphere which is happy. The sounds/music that is used throughout the episode is very girly and ‘funky’ which constructs representation of teenagers because the music relates directly to the episodes storyline which is about teenage schoolgirls.

Thirdly, the editing of the extract gives a construction of teenagers through use of fast editing and slow motion shots. The extract begins with a montage in which different frames use a wipe effect to show shots of the four main characters. The montage is very important to the whole episode because this is where the audience can gain an impression of what sort of characters the actors play. The montage is played at the start of every episode and uses short frames to show clips of the characters, which is where the construction of teenagers are shown the most. A key example of this is when the four main characters are shown dancing around in a bedroom but has been edited to be played in slow motion. The slow motion has been used to show the facial expressions that the teenage girls have at this point and to also show their clothing, which can actually determine what sort of character they are and to most importantly construct the representation of a typical teenage girl.  In this part of the extract, all girls are seen smiling and jumping around together looking into the cameras direction. The slow motion edit has been used to show what the girls are wearing. They are wearing their school uniform, and as I previously discussed, it has been re-styled to make it their own. The ‘slow-mo’ effect allows us to identify that their school ties are very short, one of the girls is shown with their own cardigan and they are all clearly wearing a lot of make up. When a wipe effect has been used to switch to this slow motion effect, it is to clearly show the audience how they are presenting their idea of teenagers.

Lastly, mise-en-scene is also another component which is used in the extract to construct a representation of teenagers as it shows the different characters and their environments and when they are out of those environments. For example, when in the montage the four girls are showing dancing and jumping around in one of the girl’s bedroom, the audience will quickly be able to identify that it is a very girly, teenage bedroom due to the bright pink walls and slight ‘clutter’ over the floor. This has been constructed to represent a typical teenager as they are stereotypically known to be quite messy, but also the bright pink walls shows us that it is a very girly, young adults bedroom. Mise-en-scene is used to represent teenagers outside of their environment too. An example of this is right at the end of the montage when the four girls are shown with their backs to the camera walking together by a parade of shops, this constructs a representation of teenage girls because it shows that they are in quite an urban area and stereotypical teenagers are often found ‘hanging around’ the local shops. One of the girls on the far right of this clip is shown walking with a bicycle, this can also be constructing a representation of teenagers because the four of them are shown walking with one walking along side their bike meaning that they do not drive as not as many older people would be seen walking in a big group or riding a bike.

In conclusion, the representation of teenagers in the extract is constructed through the use of close-up camera shots, and also slow motion editing to allow us to identify what sort of teenagers and characters they are. Moreover sound is used to create a ‘funky’ and ‘girly’ representation and one of the most important components, mise-en-scene which is used to represent the teenage girls inside and outside of their environments to allow us to decide what sort of representation they are trying to create.