Inspiration for storyboard - Sketch the Stalker from Skins - OBSESSION/STALKING

I used to be a big fan of the first series of Skins and especially thought the episode focussed on a girl called Sketch was brilliant. Sketch stalked a guy called Maxi in the year above her. She lived close to him on a council estate, took pictures of him through her bedroom window (which she kept all over the wall) and watched his every move as much as possible. In one of the scenes, Sketch manages to get into his bedroom and under his bed while he is doing a daily routine of getting ready. She recalls every step he shall make before he does them which shows her obsession exactly. This had a great impact on me. In ones own bedroom, they should feel safe. One would never expect to find a stalker lying under the bed with a creepy grin. An invasion of privacy and safety are the big points of this scene. I am now going to analyse the shots, lighting, dialogue and music used to see why this scene had such an impact on me as a viewer.

On Youtube, there are various versions of this part of the episode with other parts all compiled together by another maker. They are not the original. As I cannot find an original clip, I shall use this one!













Recently in my research, i mentioned the ability to engage an audience can be by letting the camera roam freely as if the audience is looking around themselves. A shot similiar to this is one of the beginning shots of the video, yet it is a point of view of Maxxie, looking up at the council flats where he just saw a camera flash come from. Here is a screenshot of it on the left.










There some shots which show Sketch's obsession with Maxxie by the angle of the shot used. An over the shoulder shot with her in shadow and Maxxie's window in the far foreground with him walking around in it is very creepy. He stillness and her with no features enhances the obsession she has and the concentration she has on him and not on herself. Here is the shot on a print screen.



Other shots use the lighting to portray emotions and again, her compulsion to know everything he is doing. In the next screen shot I have taken (below) you can see Sketch at the window. Her face is unclear, the lighting is dark with a tinge of orange which represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation. All of these qualities we see in Sketch as she watches him. Furthermore, Dark orange can mean deceit and distrust.Red-orange corresponds to desire, sexual passion, pleasure, domination, aggression, and thirst for action. Apparently, these are how our brains react to the colour orange and so the choice of lighting obviously works very well. When watching that particular shot, it makes the audience feel unsure and unnerved, not happy with the situation due to her obvious desire and silent aggression towards Maxxie.




I do not have the original track to analyse music so I have researched the music that was playing in the bed scene! The track was 'Spread Your Love' by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The music is not disturbing or creepy, it is a soft rock type genre which one may think would fit into the age group of teenagers. This fits with the age of the actors/actresses and target audience. But because it is a normal song instead of the typical creepy type usually heard when being watching or followed in a film, it is actually a little more unnerving. The contrast of the stalking and the normal song has an actually disturbing effect! Perhaps more so than if she were to be under the bed with a scary bit of music on. It probably wouldn't fit as she is just lying there and not creeping up of Maxxie and it fits in with their age and style.


From looking at these scenes in this particular episode, I have gained a few ideas on how to put across a stalker to an audience as being a not very nice person, especially when the stalkee is involved. I have learned that the lighting has a huge effect on ones reaction to the scene being watched, as does the music. The absense of dialogue has a brilliant effect also.