Stranger Things Essay

What meanings are created in the sequence you have studied and what do they tell us about narrative, character development and genre?  1000 words

·            Using appropriate technical terminology, and with some reflection on the meaning their use creates, you will annotate when we see different technical elements in the sequence.

To complete this successfully you will need to:

1.          As you play through the sequence, annotate when you see examples of different camera, editing, sound and mise-en-scène features. In your annotated analysis you must identify:

a.           which technical elements are used (using correct terminology)

b.          when they are used (give a time code)

c.           what meanings they create and what they tell us about the sequence in terms of:

                             i.           plot development/narrative/genre

                            ii.           the characters

                           iii.           how we should respond to the sequence at that moment as a viewer.

There are many conventions in which allow you to identify a long form TV drama. Some of these include mystery and strong soundtracks. Within the sequence which we studied, these conventions are obvious along with others. You can identify these within the six minute clip which was studied, and they allow the audience to entice themselves into the drama move, as the scene ends on a cliff hanger. The final scene in which the group of boys find Eleven, allows the audience to see the themes, see a development in the storyline and also proves the genre is sci-fi. 

Throughout the sequence we have studied, we see the fragmented narrative through the use of multiple parallel plot lines such as the boys looking for their friend Will, Nancy and Steve's relationship and Eleven's escape from the government. This structure of narrative helps create enigmas for the audience who have to figure out connections by piecing the story together and seeing how they all crossover eventually. This is answered slightly in the end of the sequence where we see two of the narratives crossover with the 3 shots of the boys looking for Will shining their torches into Elevens's face whilst she is running away from the social services. The sequence contains many features of a long form tv drama with the start showing an idealistic world between Benny and Eleven eating together looking happy but is quickly interrupted by a loud off screen diegetic knocking at the door creating a disruption in the narrative as this leads to Benny, who is represented as innocent, being shot by the social worker. Later in the sequence, it is clear that the social worker is linked in with the government as we see Brenner, the lead antagonist, by her side. This is a clear sign of the disruption in the narrative which helps the audience engage more to the story. Throughout the sequence I have studied, we see the fragmented narrative through the use of multiple parallel plot lines such as the boys looking for their friend Will, Nancy and Steve's relationship and Eleven's escape from the government. This structure of narrative helps create enigmas for the audience who have to figure out connections by piecing the story together and seeing how they all crossover eventually. This answered slightly in the end of the sequence where we see two of the the narratives crossover with the 3 shots of the boys looking for Will shining their torches into Eleven's face whilst she is running away from the government. Later in the sequence, it is clear that the social worker is linked in with the government as we see Brenner, the lead antagonist, by her side.  

Stranger Things has a diverse range of characters within its omnipresent narrative, allowing us to watch the plot unfold through many points of view instead of us just following a single protagonist. This lets the audience empathise with certain characters which they find relatable. Teenagers are a main representation within Stranger Things showing two groups: the pre teens and the older teenagers. We see the group of boys develop over the sequence as in the beginning they are portrayed as typical type boys playing Dungeons and Dragons but develop in the end to be brave. We also see a change in the older teens where we see in the beginning of the episode where Nancy is shown to be studious with her geeky friend Barb whilst Steve is portrayed as the stereotypical arrogant jock. Nearer the end we see a development as Steve is shown to be caring as he helps Nancy study but we see that Nancy has become rebellious as she gets distracted from studying to be intimate with Steve as we hear the contrapuntal sonf Africa connoting the romantic mood. 

In conclusion, within the sequence there are many meaning which show the genre development, characters and narrative. I think that the main scene is the end in which there is loud non-diegetic sci-fi music when the boys find Eleven. Alongside other meanings which highlight the themes of sci-fi, mystery and crime throughout the whole episoe which make the audience want to continue watching with hints of future themes and the mystery in which the audience want to find out what is going to happen.