Making of the C4 drama series Skins

E4’s award-winning home-grown drama series Skins returned for its third series in January, introducing a gang of new faces but filmed in the same iconic, fast-paced style that stood out in the first two series. Dev Patel, the star of multi Oscar winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, has left the cast, and Skins 3 features a mix of young actors, led by Kaya Scodelario as Effy, and British comedy actors such as Harry Enfield and Mackenzie Crook. It follows a group of dysfunctional teenagers in and around Bristol in the UK.

“We're very excited about series three of Skins and feel that our new cast are shining in roles, stories and characters which have been created by young people to a greater extent than ever before,” says executive producer Bryan Elsley. The production is made by Company Pictures, the company behind many leading drama series, such as Shameless, Wild at heart, The Devil’s Whore and Mansfield Park.

Director of photography for Skins 3 is Nick Dance, who was nominated for a BAFTA and RTS Awards for Photography and Lighting in 2008 for his work on two episodes in series one and was also responsible for series two. All three series have been shot on HDCAM camcorders, with the addition of XDCAM EX on the latest series for at least two action sequences.

Shooting with the HDW-F900R

“Technically, we upgraded the camera to a newer camera for series three, but from my point of view, the style of the shoot was much the same as the previous series,” Dance says. “I used the Sony HDW-F900R camera for this series, a newer model – I shot with the HDW-750P before.” Panavision supplied all the HDCAM kit.

Dance describes the shooting style as “free and easy”, with a lot of leeway given to the teenage actors. “About 60-70 per cent of the actors hadn’t been in front of a camera before, so we spent a couple of days rehearsing and showing camera techniques and took them through the pros and cons. It helped that it was the same crew for the whole series, so we were able to have a bit of fun as well.”

The decision to upgrade to the HDW-F900R was made after testing various systems.

“We wanted to give the series a film look and tested the Pro 35 adapter, but decided it would probably be too slow for what we wanted to do. We wanted to react to the action. In the end, we resorted to two film-style zoom lenses for the camera. We could still achieve a filmic look by using longer lenses, because it compresses the background and has a shallow depth-of-field like film.”

Dance says he kept the lighting the same as before, retaining an almost traditional style of shooting, but was able to produce a film-style image quickly.

“We didn’t want the actors to go off the boil, we wanted to capture the moment. I was able to give a filmic look and work quite quickly,” he says. “I was producing a filmic image at speed and the schedules were really tight. We had to do a lot in a day. We don’t have the time we used to have. But even if we do have the time, with Skins the energy is captured through the speed of shooting.”

Tapeless options

Dance says for series four he is looking at possibly migrating onto a tapeless system, though he isn’t convinced the workflow of Skins merits it. But the series has already used XDCAM EX to shoot two fast action sequences, as well as shooting the behind-scenes action for Skins’ sophisticated internet presence. Skins has won plaudits for the add-ons that go with the series, from exclusive videos online, character blogs and behind the scenes footage to competitions and club nights round the country.

The opening sequence of episode one features one of the characters, Freddie (Luke Pasqualino), skate-boarding down a steep shopping street, dodging around cars and people. It was shot with both the HDW-F900R and PMW-EX1 camcorders. “I’m very impressed with the EX1. I think when intercutting directly with the F900R there is a slight difference, but very little after it’s been graded. It has a very impressive quality and cuts in very well.”

Overall, Dance is happy with the HD quality. “I came from a 16mm film background shooting drama and documentaries, then Digital Betacam and now HD. Producers want to shoot HD now to help guarantee overseas sales, he says. Skins is doing very well in the US. “The vibrancy of HD and the brightness and colour saturation works well for Skins. It’s the perfect format,” he concludes.

24 March 2009