Skins news

Skins 4 - the first video

12/11/2009 12:31:00

Firstly,

If you're still here... Big thanks to you all for making a show that runs for less than three months a year into a year round online event.

We hope you like this video. It's launched as part of Channel 4's Winter Press Launch. But because you lot are so loyal and brilliant, we're able to release it to you at the same time.

Skins 4 returns next year and it's going to be the HUGE. Until then there's loads of extra stuff coming up on the site. Soon we'll finally have every other cast interview we filmed. We have to make sure everyone's happy that no plot secrets are revealed which always takes ages.. The same with pictures. I guarantee you won't be disappointed when they do arrive. You will be rewarded with tonnes of stuff.

Thanks for making Skins such a success

Layla

Mash up - new finalist

11/11/2009 13:30:00

Ooh it's like some sort of TV talent show Deadlock. One of our three finalists has informed us they're unable to proceed and so we have another person who has been promoted to shortlisted.

Step up the almost made it who now has only gone and done it:

The new shortlisted entrant will now be contacted very soon to arrange an interview. Congrats!

Here are the other two entrants who are one interview away from a week's paid work experience on the set of Skins 4.

Can you smell the excitement? That sounds a bit gross on second thoughts.

Layla

Mash-up Editor's picks

9/11/2009 16:45:00

We really captured your imagination when we gave you all that Skins 3 and 4 footage and asked for your mash ups didn't we? 825 entries later we're a little dazed but very impressed with the standard and just how many of you entered from as far afield as Australia and the US (though we couldn't consider these for the comp due to the rules, we still enjoyed watching them).

This has been our most successful Skins competition so far. It took us ages to whittle down to our final three, and before we announce our shortlisted three, here are the ones that almost made it. Ladies and gentlemen, let me present, not the also rans, but the almost made it:

The Almost Made It

Great mash-ups we particularly enjoyed watching (in no particular order).

The Too Youngs

These vids were created by people who were 16 so too young to be considered. They're ever so good though so have a watch.

The top 3 will be announced on the website and contacted on Tuesday 10th November (if you're reading this in real time and not the past, that's tomorrow).

We won the BBC Switch Award

9/11/2009 08:57:00

Thanks so much guys, we've won ANOTHER audience award thanks to you lot. This is what is known as 'doing a BAFTA' (when Skins fans go the extra mile and vote like crazy for us).

This award was the BBC Switch Live Awards and we're the 'Telly Turn On' beating X Factor (again!) and Eastenders, as well as our label mates The Inbetweeners.

Thanks so much for all your support, everyone at Skins loves you for it.

Layla

Skins Website Editor

Skins Mash-up pointers

5/10/2009 16:18:00

Hi all, I’m Jack Clough and I make a lot of the videos here on the Skins website. I’ll also be one of the judges of the Skins Mash-up competition.

As I said in my mash-up intro, I thought it would be a good idea to let you know of a few things worth considering when you are editing.

Starting point

A good place to start would be to just play the clips we’ve given you at the same time as the track you want to use. Watch it carefully and you’ll be surprised at how some clips will just seem to fit the music as you watch. Remember these moments as they can often be a good starting point. You’ll also see how much each track affects the mood of the clips. You also don't have to use a whole track, you can cleverly cut out a verse or fade it out early.

When putting together your mash-up, listen to the beat and key moments of the tracks and try and find clips that match camera movements, character action and emotional moments. Also, if the music is building up to a crescendo, think about how you can mirror that with the clips you choose. In other words you could build up to something, too; Naomi and Emily’s first kiss, a fight or a rave. If it slows, try and match that too. This really helps give a structure and a purpose to the mash-up and stops it from just being a random collection of cool shots.

The video clips

The video clips we’ve provided are in 6 parts. Parts 1-4 are mpeg1 files that you can import directly into most editing programs and will work in Windows Movie Maker (which is on most PCs). Part 5 is a collection of series 3 clips (again in mpeg1) and part 5b provides the dialogue in these scenes in an mp3 format. We would have given you more dialogue but, Skins being Skins, there is very little talking without music playing somewhere and we didn't want anything to clash with the tracks you're cutting to.

I could go on for pages and pages about how to use editing programs, but your best bet is to google user guides to the editing program your computer comes with (Windows Movie Maker for PC's and iMovie for Macs).There are loads of them out there and they can really help if you get stuck with something, or you want to know how to do an effect.

Anyway, that's all from me, so good luck and I hope you have fun with the clips! We can't wait to see the results...

Jack Clough,

Online Video Editor and Director

Kaya video with Elle

4/9/2009 12:20:00

Kaya recently modelled for Elle magazine, and she sat down them to discuss a bit of skins, London life, and Effy's very personal style.

Check out the video below:

Layla

Skins Website Editor

First interview is UP

1/9/2009 18:34:00

Hello, hello,

I went on set recently to interview the skins cast and find out everything in store for series 4 (poet, know it).

We were originally going to do this yonks ago, but as skins 4 was confirmed we realised it would be much better to go on set for a couple of days and report back from there. So that's what we did. Plus it meant I could discover lots of secrets about skins 4. Which I also did.

I asked a bunch of your questions, see if you can spot yours.

First up is part 1 of Kat and Lily's interview. I hope it was worth the wait.

WATCHITHEREWATCHITHEREWATCHITHEREWATCHITHEREWATCHITHERE

Layla

Skins Website Editor (this one!)

On set with Skins 4

25/8/2009 17:42:00

Thanks everyone who came along yesterday to be a part of the series 4 opening scene. The crew would like to say a big thank you to everyone for sticking with it for such a long day. You all did amazingly.

I'll be putting pictures up soon, we just need to make sure we don't give too much away first, and it's gonna take a while as I took 1.2 million or thereabouts.

If you guys have any pictures with the cast/others involved you would like to share, then upload them here. Please don't upload anything that reveals what happens though as they'll be removed and you will be shunned.

Hope you all had a great time yesterday, and I hope you enjoyed being involved in something special, because it will be.

Layla

Skins Website Editor

Series 4 stuff

29/7/2009 18:20:00

OK, so we've been working ever so hard behind the scenes and now have some great news to announce with you.

Interviews
Firstly, we'll be interviewing the skins cast and asking them YOUR questions, so if you haven't already submitted a question, do it here. We KNOW this has taken ages, but behind the scenes there'slot's of other stuff to do when the show isn't on (and I'm the only one who works on this site you know)

On set
Secondly, next week we'll be on the set of skins 4, and while we're there, we'll be taking pictures, chatting to the cast and crew, and tweeting as much as we can. We'll try and get as much info onto the site as quickly as possible, but as we'll be in Bristol on set for two long days, please be patient.

Getting involved
The other news is that we're looking at new ways to involve you all in skins 4, and more details will be released when everything is agreed. We're very excited about this, and skins 4 (we've seen the first four scripts).

T4 on the Beach
Until then, we'll have a couple more T4 on the Beach pictures some videos from T4 on the Beach.

sshhhhh
There's an announcement about how you can take part in skins 4 very soon indeed. Here's a clue: it starts with an e and ends with an a and is five letters long.

Thanks everyone for your continuing support on a website and show that keeps evolving. The success is down to you, and the fact you're still leaving comments and discussing the show before series 4 even airs is testament to you all, and what supportive fans you really are. I'm trying to do as much I can inbetween series' to reward you all, so please bare with us.

layla, skins

skins 4 episodes

29/7/2009 12:32:00

A little word from the skins bosses at E4 on what you can expect from series 4:

'Filming of series 4 is well underway and we can confirm there will be 8 new episodes.

It's all about quality not quantity and we promise all the characters will be back, bigger and better than ever before.

Series 4 is set to be an explosive continuation of series 3 with powerful new storylines that finally answer some of the big questions about the gang; who they are and where they have got to in their lives. The fantastic Skins fans will not be disappointed.'

skins