Writer research & ideas: 'Skins' // Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain

Bryan Elsley, Jamie  Brittain & Skins

Skins is a British teen drama series which was broadcasted on E4 between 2007 - 2013. The series was written and created by Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain whom are both father and son. (pictured below) 

Before taking his career towards the theater industry, Bryan Elsley then went onto making short comedy sketches (Dusty and Dick) with Harry Enfield whom he met at university. Bryan continued to progress through his career after making a quite a few mini TV series but it wasn't until his adaptation of Lain Banks's 'crow road'  that Elsley received the recognition that he needed within the television industry. 

Elsley has also written 'Dates'. A British mini series exploring all the possibilities that can occur whilst meeting someone for the first time. Dates have received quite high ratings overall and especially on IMDB.

With an average of 7.8 out of 10 I think Bryan Elsley did a great job. I also think that one of the reasons this was so successful was the idea that most people can relate to it in some way. Everyone more or less have had to meet someone for the first time whether it be a first date or even an interview. So by taking realistic situations and adding a somewhat exciting bit of drama to it could make the viewer really interested. I think by creating compelling characters that the audience can relate to is a great thing and that is something I am trying to do with my scripts and projects. 

What I find interesting about Elsley is what he said in an interview for BBC writer's room. He claimed that he "sometimes believes that the 'building block' method is sometimes not the most useful and sometimes your character can come from the tiniest little thought about them", he also thinks it's "interesting to exist in the moment of uncertainty with characters and bring other characters to them, then you can discover how they're meant to function". This is an interesting perspective on contrary to what we have been learning to do. The fact that Bryan is a successful writer and has been able to create compelling, memorable characters whilst admittingly not completely following the traditional way of  creating  is inspiring for me. This just goes to show that you can break the boundaries and still create something good since there isn't really much of a set rule on how to do this. I also followed a similar process because although I did full character profiles, I found it more helpful to jot down different scenarios down and have a play around with the characters, it felt less mechanical to me.

The fact that Bryan Elsley's work is usually dialogue and relationship based, it is very similar to my screenplay as it focuses on relationships and engagement between characters also. His work is what's inspired me with my ideas and I have been looking closely at his series 'Skins' to give me a greater insight into how different characters could react with each other.

SKINS

• Skins is a British television series co created by Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain
• Broadcasted on channel E4 from 2007 - 2013
• Later adapted into a less successful U.S version which only survived 1 series.
• Most established characters are from the most popular series 1-4; 'Effy,cook,Freddie, Tony, Anwar'. Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) also had a main role in the first two seasons.
• Introduced new set of characters roughly after 2 seasons
• had a popular audience within the 16 - 25 age group.

Skins explored the themes within the lives of young, experimental teenagers who loved to have fun and explore different elements in their lives. When this show was broadcasted, it slowly became one of my favourite shows to watch. I think because of my age at the time, I felt like I could relate to some of the characters even though the themes where so much more advanced than I was, I still indulged in the lifestyle that they portrayed weekly. It was rather fun to watch because it made me wonder what it would be like to meet people like they portrayed in the show. My friend's and I would tune into this weekly, we all then became attached to different characters and it became something to always talk about during school times which was fun. 

My favourite series from skins was series 3 and 4. It featured Kaya Scodelario and Luke Pasqualino (pictured below) I grew to like them because of the relationship they had, Freddie was a caring boyfriend and Effy was rather rough around the edges who ended up with mental issues, especially after the death of Freddie. It was an intense relationship which became fun to watch and so this is kind of what shaped my idea. I wanted to create relatable characters and show an intense relationship because I felt like that is a theme that everyone could somehow relate to in some way or another.

All images from Google images

Ratings are from IMDB