Representation of Class & Status - Shamelss

In this clip from Shameless, It is apparent that the characters come from a low, working class background. The audience can see this from an over-the-shoulder shot, showing the state of the rooms that show the family is in. There are bottles and unclean dishes left lying on every surface which gives the impression that they are very unhygienic and dirty which is a stereotypical view of the working class. The walls where the characters are sat down look un-finished and have no paint on them, they are just large, grey bricks which shows they don't have the time or money to go out and buy paint to make their home look presentable. This is what we think most lower class people live like and so gives the image of the working class.

At the beginning, the mid-shot shows the father wander into the room and his appearance isn't very attractive. His clothes look messy and hanging off his shoulders, whilst his hair looks like it hasn't been washed in many days. This could mean that he either can't be bothered to groom himself or that he doesn't have the money too take care of himself, which conforms to the expectations of the working class. Also, on the staircase behind him, the paint seems to have peeled off giving the impression that they have little money to deal with this problem. This leads us to the assumption that they may live in a small, shabby flat owned by the council and with many previous tenants 

When a conversation begins between himself and the boy at the table, through the diegetic dialog, the audience may assume the characters aren't well educated and maybe a little rough. This is because of the taboo language used such as 'bollocks' and 'fucked'. A hand-held camera is in use which signifies a gritty realism and makes the viewers feel apart of the conversation. 

One of the characters sat at the table is holding a baby. She looks rather young but straight away we assume it belongs to her due to the conditions and assumptions the audience has already made. Low-class citizens are often linked to school dropouts and so we suspect that she has left school in order to take care of her baby. This means she would lack the education she should be having, leaving her dependant on government program money. This indicates the living conditions they are in support the lower class society as a majority of teenage pregnancies are from women who live in a lower class neighbourhoods.

When the father and his son continue to have an argument, a point-of-view shot is used at eye level. the distance between the two characters is very little showing the argument is getting bigger. In this situation, the father doesn't seem to know any answers and calls his son a 'smart arse'. This shows that he is a stereotypical low-class father as he isn't ful-filling the role he should be. He doesn't know how to control and it doesn't look like he can run his family and these are all things associated with the stereotypes of the working class. 

Fast-paced editing is used when the father uses facial expressions and shows that he is maybe 'not all there'. He starts going quite crazy and shows no formality which is a factor within working-class people. It is a close-up shot and canted angles jump from one way to the other to further point out his insanity which could be due to him living in low-class conditions and not happy or not yet satisfied. 

The mood changes from tense to saddening and more relaxed as the non-diabetic music in the background becomes fairly quiet adding a calming atmosphere. Despite the poor situation they live in, the father has come to the realisation that they all need each other and want to be a family. They become loving towards each other and the father claims that it is because of him that they are happy at that particular moment but he's only saying that to portray his father figure role. 

As the scene moves outside, the audience has more information which suggests they are living in poor conditions. It looks like a council estate which is stereotypical inviting towards those with little money. A close-up shot is seen on the turtle as the audience is shown how careless the family really are. They have no idea that the turtle is slowly wandering into the road which shows their lack of interest and awareness of their surrounding and upholds the idea that low-class families care only about themselves. 

The very last shot shows an aerial shot which establishes the location that the family are within. It also shows the audience of where they could be living if they had more money but due to the costs of living, they have had to settle with much less. The shot is moving onto another scene and creating a ground for a new sketch.