In this lesson, we looked at how family is represented in Shameless. In this extract we find out that “Philip's” girlfriend, “Karen”, has been sleeping with “Philip's” Dad, “Frank”. “Karen”, whilst being “Philip's” girlfriend is also the daughter of “Frank's” agoraphobic girlfriend “Sheila”. This particular family in Shameless have many different representations, but the most obvious representation being shown is how dysfunctional the two families are. A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehaviour and even abuse on members of the family occur continually and regularly, this is definitely being portrayed in the extract shown and we see it mainly showed through the plot.
The clip starts with “Frank” staggering home and a car creeping onto the screen almost stalking “Frank” on his way down the road. The camera then cuts to track “Frank” as he comes around the corner, and then the music starts to get faster and heavier as the car comes into view again, and at the same time getting faster. “Frank” stumbles onto the road and there is a long shot showing the car come behind him. “Frank” gets out of the way of the car, and the driver (still unknown at this point) crashes into the side of a parked van, this sequence shown by a series of fast cuts from different camera positions. Match on action is also used here to build a feeling of danger and show a fast pace. A hand held camera shaking cuts to a close up of “Frank's” face to show his reaction as he looks who the driver is. His expression is shock as the camera cuts to “Philip” running towards “Frank” on the floor. His expression is shock, because he realised that it is his son who attempted to run him over, and who is also running towards him with rage. These shots show a POV shot from “Frank's” perspective as he watches “Philip” run towards him, and an over the shoulder shot from “Philip's” perspective as he is running.
The next shot is the start of the fight scene where “Philip” is punching his Dad whilst he is on the floor. There are lots of short, fast cuts here between punches showing different points of view, “Philip” giving the punches and then “Frank” receiving them. Whilst the fight is going on, there are cuts to the house where “Sheila” and “Karen” are, and they realise that it is “Philip” and “Frank” having the fight. The music is still playing to build a sense of urgency from the women's point of view.
The fight is then broken up, and there are constant cuts between “Frank” and “Philip” as they are separated, the camera used is a hand held camera and is shaking quite a lot to show how distressed they both are after the fight. The fight scene reinforces the idea of the “Gallagher” family being dysfunctional, as they have just had a fight in the middle of the street.
The clip then cuts to an extreme close up of “Frank” lying on “Shelia's” sofa showing the wounds on his face after the fight. The camera, still shaking, then zooms out to show “Sheila” nursing “Franks” injuries, and after the zoom out it then becomes a two-shot. During the conversation that “Frank” and “Sheila” has, “Frank” lies to her about why “Philip” beat him up, once again showing another representation of the family, as liers.
The clip starts with “Frank” staggering home and a car creeping onto the screen almost stalking “Frank” on his way down the road. The camera then cuts to track “Frank” as he comes around the corner, and then the music starts to get faster and heavier as the car comes into view again, and at the same time getting faster. “Frank” stumbles onto the road and there is a long shot showing the car come behind him. “Frank” gets out of the way of the car, and the driver (still unknown at this point) crashes into the side of a parked van, this sequence shown by a series of fast cuts from different camera positions. Match on action is also used here to build a feeling of danger and show a fast pace. A hand held camera shaking cuts to a close up of “Frank's” face to show his reaction as he looks who the driver is. His expression is shock as the camera cuts to “Philip” running towards “Frank” on the floor. His expression is shock, because he realised that it is his son who attempted to run him over, and who is also running towards him with rage. These shots show a POV shot from “Frank's” perspective as he watches “Philip” run towards him, and an over the shoulder shot from “Philip's” perspective as he is running.
The next shot is the start of the fight scene where “Philip” is punching his Dad whilst he is on the floor. There are lots of short, fast cuts here between punches showing different points of view, “Philip” giving the punches and then “Frank” receiving them. Whilst the fight is going on, there are cuts to the house where “Sheila” and “Karen” are, and they realise that it is “Philip” and “Frank” having the fight. The music is still playing to build a sense of urgency from the women's point of view.
The fight is then broken up, and there are constant cuts between “Frank” and “Philip” as they are separated, the camera used is a hand held camera and is shaking quite a lot to show how distressed they both are after the fight. The fight scene reinforces the idea of the “Gallagher” family being dysfunctional, as they have just had a fight in the middle of the street.
The clip then cuts to an extreme close up of “Frank” lying on “Shelia's” sofa showing the wounds on his face after the fight. The camera, still shaking, then zooms out to show “Sheila” nursing “Franks” injuries, and after the zoom out it then becomes a two-shot. During the conversation that “Frank” and “Sheila” has, “Frank” lies to her about why “Philip” beat him up, once again showing another representation of the family, as liers.
