Characterisation in 90210 - Erin Silver

Erin, commonly called by her last name – Silver, (played by Jessica Stroup), is Kelly Taylor and David Silver’s half-sister. Originally a friend and confidant of Naomi and the rich, beautiful clique at West Beverly Hills High - her quirky nature eventually ostracised her from the popular crowd and she became something of a loner. Before the start of the first season, we learn that she has shared the information of her father's affair with her then-best-friend Naomi, who then made this public knowledge, causing Silver's mother to turn to drink. A true individualist, she has her own You Tube channel and has a distinctive sense of style and personality. She publishes her own blog called The Vicious Circle, which she uses to discuss intimate details (truth or fiction) about her peers at West Beverly High School and where she describes herself as a "wannabe socialite". She is very honest with everybody and speaks her mind and describes this YouTube series as "answers to life's inane questions answered by a 15 year-old in a bikini". She becomes best friends with Annie and develops a romantic interest in Dixon, which quickly blossoms into a relationship. She sees the beauty in things everywhere, is very artsy, yet she’s surrounded by a lot of fake things and people - a very fake environment. She deals with this by living in her own world, being very independent and tends to march to the beat of her own drum.

I have picked to analyse Silver because she’s so different to the other characters on 90210 and that’s why she blends so well with Annie. They have problems at first, but eventually, in Annie, Silver sees someone who has similar aspirations as her.

She is very independent and is her own person, not following the crowd. This is shown in many of her quotes:
Silver: “You'll learn to dig me, trust me”.
Silver: “You can call me Erin, but I won't respond”. - Insistence on calling her Silver, doesn’t want a ‘normal’ name, likes being different. Also doesn’t want to be associated with the name her mother gave her, they don’t have a good relationship – she’s an alcoholic, “my mom, she drinks. And when she's like this, she's a completely different person.”
Silver: “I just like being different. That's how I'm made.”

In The Lucky Strike episode we learn a lot about Silver’s character - Episode 3:

Costume:
Short patterned dress, dark pink/purple jumper, purple and grey stripy knee high socks over red/pink tights and flat grey shoes. Layered clothing, no fancy jewellery, simple thin scarf used as an accessory - quite an alternative style. Cross-over body bag, unusual amongst female students at Beverly Hills High – not typically feminine. Most girls carry handbags on their arms and would never choose a bag similar to Silver’s – again emphasises her differences.
Silver’s costume reflects her unique personality, and is considered to be quirky and eccentric.
Doesn’t care about the money of Hollywood and ‘typical’ Beverley Hills lifestyle and image - has her own mind set of the world around her.
Not the typical Beverly Hills high schooler.
She has her own personality and doesn't tend to succumb to the whims and wishes of others.
Her clothing also reflects her rebellious side which we see quite a lot of in the series.
Her clothes are not perfect and do not look expensive. This is a huge contrast to everyone at Beverly Hills, especially Naomi who puts a lot of effort into what she wears.

Body Language:
The closeness of the Wilson family is in direct contrast to her own. Problems with her alcoholic mother often cause her to leave home and seek out other places to live. This is reflected in her body language as she approaches the women’s shelter as a place to stay for the night. She seeks refuge here to get away from her mother and hide the fact that she is an alcoholic.
This all brings down Silver and she seems very depressed in this clip.
She’s walking with her hands in her pocket – connotes that she’s quite sad and miserable.
Looking down at the floor – signifies the fact that she is very down at the moment.
Her expression also shows that she’s unhappy.
Sighs when she looks up to the women’s shelter – feeling of another night alone isn’t very appealing, no family to turn to.
Walking slowly, dreads nights she has to spend alone.
The next morning when she is refused another night, she looks really disappointed and sighs showing just how much she hates home life. This makes the audience sympathise with her.

Dialogue:
The line before the clip of Silver is Harry and he says: “because it’s all about family,” – this just emphasises how alone and isolated Silver is with no family comforts around her.
The next morning at the women’s shelter, Silver asks: “can I stay again tonight? Just one more night, I promise.” The woman says no, and Silver replies with: “look you don’t know what it’s like there,” - showing just how desperate she is, she’d rather stay at a shelter than at home with her alcoholic mother. She has no one else to turn to and is alone.

Music:
The music reflects the mood.
Very solemn tone, sad.
Not very lively – just reflects her situation and how depressed she is.
No lyrics add to the sombre mood.

Camerawork – shots and movement:
Starts with an extreme long shot of Silver walking down the street towards the shelter, which is in frame so we are made aware that she is heading for here.
We get a clear understanding of the setting and the time as its dark so we know that it is at night.
This use of ELS emphasises just how lonely, alone and isolated she is. Cars pass by, but other than that there is no one around her.
The next shot is a close-up of her feet and then the camera tilts up to establish who she is and introduce her properly to make it clear. The camera then tracks and follows her, this adds to the realism as the audience feels like they are in the scene. We also know that she is going somewhere.
As she reaches the shelter, the camera then pans to follow her up the stairs but remains stationary – this emphasises the fact that she is going it alone, with no one to help/guide her.
The next morning, during her conversation with the woman in charge of the shelter, there is use of medium shots, MCU’s and over the shoulder shots. This helps the audience see Silver’s reactions to the woman’s replies and we get a clear sense of what she is feeling through her expressions.

Editing:
There aren’t many cuts as the scene isn’t very lively and exciting – this means the audience just concentrate on her, adding to the serious and sombre mood of the sequence.
During the conversation the next morning, there is use of shot reverse shot between Silver and the woman – this adds to the realism and places the audience in the action.