Stranger Things

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.