Locations in Skins

L O C A T I O N S

Episode 8: 'Effy'

This episode is a good example of how significant locations are, at reflecting mood and creating atmosphere in episodes.

The episode starts in Effy's house:

- Effy's bedroom - there is no establishing shot; we are taken right into the action.

- bathroom - Effy has a shower after sleeping with Cook again - apart from anything else, in the next scene, she tells her mum Anthea that she and Cook have broken up.

- kitchen - Effy walks into the kitchen as her mother is sitting at the table, flicking through magazines and angrily pointing and shouting "Bastard!" at random men, including Jamie Oliver and Stephen Fry; Effy stands behind her by the sink as she talks to her, but Anthea is not really paying attention, which we can tell from the dialogue - so Effy picks up a nearby vase and drops it on the floor with a loud smash, then walks out.

We then progress to Freddie's:

- Freddie's shed - as Effy comments, "the shed's changed" - their relationship has changed, Freddie has moved on, & Cook is no longer welcome there; also, an intimate & special place

The scene changes to Effy driving the rest of the gang, bar Cook, to Gobbler's End, after Katie asked her to in the previous scene:

- car - small space that shows their relationships and their moods - Thomas and Pandora are sitting apart - there is a widening gap in their relationship as Panda (repeatedly) cheated on Thomas with Cook, and doesn't know he knows; Freddie & Katie are not sitting together, & he and Effy catch eyes in the mirror often - they're all generally in really good spirits though, laughing, chatting, apart from Effy, who is hurt by Freddie & Katie's relationship, but tries to hide it; all the gang are together, and the only one not there is Cook - shows his ultimate separation from the group

- petrol station - it's in the middle of nowhere, the gang are lost, no one is behind the till; tension is easy to build, especially when creepy poachers arrive

- car

- Gobbler's End - they are in a forest, which is isolated (the isolation also reflecting that of some of the characters - Effy at first, Katie when they all start taking magic mushrooms, then later when Cook turns up and the stirs things up), very, very atmospheric, and gets dark quickly; a very conventional horror setting - after poachers, audience suspects something bad will happen and tension & suspense are built as we wait

The next change is the next morning after they've all slept there, and Effy remembers she hit Katie with a rock in self-defense, and they begin the journey home, having been unable to find her.

- car - difference from chatty, happy, laughing atmosphere beforehand - there is wary, tense, silence, & anxiety & sadness - Thomas left and Panda is upset, Effy found out about Cook & Panda, Emily worries about Katie, and Freddie feels especially guilty because he slept with Effy

- field, as Effy calls an ambulance - she goes there alone - isolated location and distancing from group - literally and metaphorically

Everyone gets home:

- Effy's bathroom - she breaks down completely and sits in the bath as Anthea washes her hair - she looks very very young all of a sudden, and her vulnerability is clear - last time she was in the bathroom she was having a shower after just having had sex with Cook - no innocence there

- Effy's room - we get to see her in her own room, where she is alone and in her own environment, in private - she seems to be herself in her room, as in JJ's episode when he walks in on her; she reflects and does the right thing, phoning round the gang one by one till Freddie phones her back and says Katie is in hospital and needed nine stitches...

- Hospital corridor - separation and attack, others ganged up - Freddie, Pandora, and Emily quite far down the corridor standing together, staring at Effy - distance between characters

- stolen car with Cook - just the two of them, as opposed to everyone in the car like before - big contrast; now Effy is on the outside with Cook.

End of episode.