Stranger Things
What are long form TV dramas?
A series of episodes which form a
cohesive season of media.
Why are they popular with audiences?
Most long form television dramas have a
consistent cast and narrative across all episodes, making it popular for
audiences as it enables the audience to be interested in the evolving narrative
which continues over the episodes.
How is LFTV different to traditional TV?
Long form television dramas have a
consistent narrative. Traditional TV often does not have a consistent
narrative.
What are the multiple narrative strands
in Stranger Things?
Flexi narrative, crosscuts, cinematic
look, flashbacks, genre hybridity, well known actors.
What should be established in the first
episode and why is this important?
Genre. It is important to show aspects of
the genre so that audiences can establish whether or not they like this genre,
and therefore, whether they will continue to watch the series.
Setting. It is important to know the
setting as it gives context to the characters actions in the narrative.
Characters. It is important to know the
characters as the audience is going to see the development of them as the
series goes on.
What are crosscuts?
An editing technique that will cut away
from one scene/location to another scene/location, which could suggest the
simultaneity of these two scenes/locations
What settings within Hawkins do we see in
episode 1?
Hawkins Lab, the high school, the woods,
the Wheelers’ house, the Byers’ house, the police station, Benny’s Burgers.
What other conventions can you think of
that are typical for LFTVD?
Todorov’s theory, Propp’s theory, well
known theme tune.
‘Multiple narrative strands are the
key convention of long form television dramas’.
Discuss how far you agree with this statement in relation to the set episode of
the long form television drama you have studied.
Long form television dramas are a series
of episodes which form a cohesive season of media. Many people consider long
form television to have replaced cinemas as serious entertainment due to the
shift of interest towards long form television dramas. Most long form
television dramas have a consistent cast and narrative across all episodes.
This form of tv is popular for audiences as it enables the audience to be
interested in the evolving narrative which continues over the episodes.
Stranger Things starts with ‘The Vanishing of Will Byers’. This episode shows the encounter Will Byers has
with the eerie creature. This portrays to the audience a sense of the
sci-fi/horror genre. It is important to show aspects of the genre in the first
episode so that audiences can establish whether or not they like this genre,
and therefore, whether they will continue to watch the series. The opening
episode of Stranger Things also portrayed the setting and the characters. The
day after Will disappeared, the community of characters were introduced, for
example, Chief Hopper is introduced as a lazy, carefree officer who is in
charge of the on going search for Will Byers. The flexi narrative and use of
different locations is used in this episode due to the crosscuts to Hawkins
Lab, where there is a group of scientists investigating a mysterious area in
the lab. Crosscuts are an editing technique that will cut away from one
scene/location to another scene/location, which could suggest the simultaneity
of these two scenes/locations. The flexi narrative and different settings set
up different strands of the story. The locations are Hawkins Lab, the high
school, the woods, and Benny’s Burgers; where a girl with a shaven head is
introduced. The narrative is interwoven as the story unfolds and the characters
are introduced. The interweaving challenges audiences and keeps them curious
about how the many narratives will develop. Therefore, being an important
feature for the first episode as it will encourage the audience to keep
watching the series.
The cinematic look of the set is
important for audiences of the long form television drama. As many people have
shifted from the cinemas to watching long form television from home, the
production needs to be of high quality in order to level with the quality of
movies in the cinema and to keep the audience interested in the series. The
Duffer Brothers also used the narrative feature of a flashback. This happened
when Joyce Byers is in the woods at Will’s hideout, surprising him with tickets
to a movie. This flashback helps develop the narrative as it enables the
audience to see the relationship between the two characters and the location of
the flashback is a key part of the story in the upcoming episodes.
Additionally, genre hybridity is seen in Stranger Things. There is a mix of
horror, sci-fi and teen movie. This is effective as it means there is a variety
of audiences who will be interested in this series, increasing the viewings of
Stranger Things.
Furthermore, the use of the cast is
effective way of getting audiences to watch long form television dramas. For
example, in Stranger Things, the actor who plays Joyce Byers is Winona Ryder;
an American actress and film producer. She is known for her roles in Edward
Scissorhands (1990) and Beetlejuice (1988).The use of this well known actress
will appeal audiences to watch Stranger Things if they are a fan of hers or if
people know of her success, they will think that Stranger Things will be a
successful series so will decide to watch it. Therefore, all of these narrative
strands enabled Netflix and the Duffer Brothers to make high quality content
for audiences and shows that these narrative features are the key convention of
long form television dramas.
Stranger Things Characters in
Episode One
Joyce Byers –
A financially poor single mother of Will
and Jonathan Byers. Discovered that Will has gone missing. After Will's
disappearance, Joyce enlisted Chief Jim Hopper to find him as well as posted
several missing person's posters with the help of her other son Jonathan.
Will Byers –
A sensitive kid. He was abducted by the
Demogorgon and taken into an alternate dimension called the Upside Down in the
Hawkins Lab.
Jonathan Byers –
Older brother of Will. Helping Joyce with
the search of Will. Feels it is his fault that Will has gone missing as he was
working late so didn’t see if Will came home. He has a strong bond with his
family.
Nancy Wheeler –
Girlfriend of Steve. She wants to do well
in school as she is intelligent and studies for her tests. She isn’t that close
to her siblings and can be mean to them and his friends. Can be easily
influenced by Steve.
Steve Harrington –
Boyfriend of Nancy. Doesn’t really care
about school. Seems to be popular at school but has a bad attitude.
Mike Wheeler –
When Will goes missing, he and his
friends made it their mission to find him. Highly committed to his friends. A
creative thinker, he was the dungeon master when playing D&D. He quickly
drew a parallel to Will’s defeat at the hands of the Demogorgon. Finds Eleven
in the woods.
Lucas Sinclair –
The most sensible of the kids. He keeps
the friendship group grounded. Wants to help find his friend Will with his
other friends. Finds Eleven in the woods along with Mike and Dustin.
Dr Brenner –
He is a senior research scientist and the
director of Hawkins National Laboratory. He raised Eleven in the lab, testing
and pushing the limits of her psychic abilities through various experiments.
Eleven –
A scared kid, who has escaped from a lab
where she got telekinetic powers. She seems curious about the normal world as
she has been isolated from the real world in the lab being tested and used for
her powers.
Dustin Henderson –
Wants to help find his friend Will with
his other friends. The comical character in the friendship group. Gets bullied
by two boys for his disability.
Barbara Holland –
She is seen to be a kind, cautious,
sensible and smart girl. She is best friends with Nancy and wants to make sure
Nancy is doing the right thing.
Chief Jim Hopper –
The loss of his daughter and family life
has left Hopper emotionally reserved. To manage his pain, he regularly drinks
alcohol and smokes several cigarettes a day. Despite being the Police Chief, he
doesn't care about his job, as he sleeps in and shows up late and has an
overall laid back attitude in the office even with the Byer’s case.
Demogorgon –
A predatory humanoid creature. The
creature originated from the parallel dimension known as the Upside Down.
Captures Will Byers and takes him to the upside down.
Mr Clarke –
He is the science teacher of the boys at
Hawkins Middle School. He is keen to support them in various ways, such as
acquiring specialist equipment for them to play with.
