Shameless analysis

Throughout shameless, we see all different types of camera shots. At the start of every shameless episode, there are quick, 1 second shots of the estate, including barbed wire, graffiti, and vandalism. By including shots, such as these, it creates an instant impression of ‘lower class’, which is what the TV program is about. The director also uses a steady handheld camera convention, which creates the impression of the audience looking into their lives. During action, for example when “Paddy” beats up a man, the camera work is quick, and snappy. Also the camera work is a lot more shaky, which creates tension and thrills. The aerial shot indicates that the footage is coming from a CCTV camera, which is looking down on them. A sharp zoom is used a lot in shameless, usually to zoom in on objects, or facial expressions.

Shameless raises a lot of social, and political problems, such as child benefit problems, and money problems in general. It creates escapism for the audience, into a world that most of them will not be aware of. In my opinion, Shameless can be a lot more broader, with the message which the director wants to portray, because it is not shown in prime time, therefore they can touch on other subjects, which might not be suitable for a prime time television show, such as Eastenders.

The props in Shameless are very basic, and would be cheap to buy. This is so that the audience can relate to the characters more, because the objects on Shameless are not out of reach for an ordinary viewer. This relates to the work we did on ‘class and stereo type’, because the “working class” often only had the bare essentials, which is what is included in Shameless. Therefore the director is playing around with stereotypes, and status, which will enable the audience to be able to understand the text a lot more, because the stereo types will be familiar to other TV dramas, or even perhaps in real life. Although shameless is based around the stereotype of the working class people, in my opinion, I think shameless also breaks stereotypes, for example “Micky” is gay, and he doesn’t really fit into the “camp” category. I think this is interesting, because it goes against the stereotypes of other TV shows, and allows the audience to see gay people in another perspective, and not just camp.