It is a three season sci-fi horror drama on Netflix written and directed by the brothers Matt and Ross Duffer. The series is set in the 1980's in a fictional town in Indiana. The reasoning behind this was because Sci-Fi horror isn't very prominent at the moment so setting it in the 80's helped some viewers to draw similarities to 80's films. The opening series was released on the 15th July 2016 with season 2 following on the 27th October 2017 and season 3 being released on the 4th of July 2019. Season 3 broke records by being watched by 64 million people in the first four weeks. The show has won Prime Time Emmy awards and has been nominated for Golden Globes and BAFTA's.
Netflix:
It was founded in 1997 making it a year older than Google. But it only started streaming in April 1998 under the name of Kibble and had 925 titles available to watch. As of 2019, there are 151 million paying subscribers using Netflix worldwide and there are 13,941 titles now available to watch as of April 2020. It also generates 15% of the worlds internet traffic.
Season 1 Episode 1
The episode opens with the camera panning down from the night sky and the location of 'Hawkins National Laboratory.' It cuts to inside on a man in a white lab coat running. There are a collection of wide shots and point of view shots.
This wide shot shows the viewer the relief of the scientist as he has escaped what has been chasing him.
However, the POV shot shows the viewer that there is still something coming and he is not out of the dark yet.
The final shot of this scene is an extreme close up birds eye shot which highlights the fear on the scientists face as you can see the sweat on his forehead and the worry in his eyes. It could also be argued that this shot comes from the creatures perspective which is on the roof above him.
At this point the four boys have been playing their game and are about to head home. Dustin and Lucas have already ridden off leaving Will and Michael.
They have a conversation before Will leaves using a collection of over the shoulder shots. Little does Michael know that this is the last time he will see Will.
As Will rides away, it cuts to a wide shot showing Michaels house. It highlights the flickering lights, like those in the laboratory at the start, foreshadowing something bad is going to happen.
This wide shot highlights the danger Will is approaching. The signs are for the same Laboratory as the opening scene.
The camera then cuts to a medium shot of Will riding his bike. His light can be seen flickering which is another link to the opening.
It then cuts to a point of view camera of what Will can see. The loud sound effect also at this point is cleverly designed to scare the viewer, just like Will.
Straight after this there is a close up shot of Wills reaction to what he has just seen. You can clearly see his fear and confusion.
Later in the scene, there is an extreme close up of his hands which show them violently shaking in fear. This is very effective in building up the fear and tension in a multitude of different ways.
There are also other key settings in episode 1 such as the school when we find out that the main characters are nerdy and are bullied and also the woodland area where there is the large hunt for Will.
Genres:
There are many genres apparent in Stranger Things such as Science Fiction and Horror. The Sci Fi aspect is heavily present throughout the first episode. From the beginning in the Laboratory. The horror genre soon follow with the creature that follows. There are repeated motifs that come with this genre such as the sudden surges in electricity.
Representations:
The main characters are the four boys. They are not popular and only have each other. This shows a clear contrast from when they are alone together and act lively and bounce off each other but when they are at school they are very much trying to keep their heads down and stay under the radar. In the first episode, the representations of family also juxtapose. Michael is from a nuclear family and is very well off which is why the four friends come around to his house to play. However, Will's parents have split up and is living with his mother. When he gets home, there is nobody there and he is found by the creature.
A good post here. What you need to do with this is:
ReplyDelete1] make all the font white [either dark background and white font or make your background a light colour and use a black font.]
2] Look more in depth at the genres in Stranger Things eg Science fiction: futuristic lab experiments
3] Consider the various representations eg nuclear family versus single mom, gender, age etc
Challenge: why do you think it was set in the 1980's?
I really like your analysis of the shots - you are already considering perspective and if is is a subjective shot. Well done!