Representation Essay

Industry Presentation Notes

Who Produced the Drama?
21 Laps Entertainment  sounded by Shawn Levy
Above the line is gross profit and amount of money they will need for marketing eg. trailers, posters etc
Below the Line is free things like twitter, memes, word and mouth etc.
Andrew Stanton wrote some episodes, he has also written Toy Story 1, 2 and 3, Finding Nemo, Monsters inc. etc.

Where did the idea come from?
There were rumours of secret government work in Montauk (a real place in USA), The Demogorgon was supposedly inspiredly the 'Montauk Monster'.

The drama was filmed in Atlanta, Stockbridge etc.
Season 1 took 3 months to film.
Filming per episode took 11 days.
Editing took 3 days to edit
Kevin Ross and Dean Zimmerman were the lead editors for Stranger Things.
A film grain was added over the whole production to make it look more like the 80's.

Stranger Things Distribution:
Netflix distributed it, Laps Entertainment initially produced it.
Stranger Things was a Netflix original released on July 2016, Season 1 episodes were all released at once so it allowed the audience to binge watch it.
The drama was released in 130 countries in the world.

Circulation:
Received 104 nominations Teen Choice Awards 2017, Best Supporting Actor in Drama series.
Age Group: 18-29 and 30-34
Made Beyond Stranger Things
Penguin Random House partnered with Netflix to release a series of books related to Stranger Things starting in late 2018.
Dark horse Comics announced a partnership with Netflix
Merchandise: Stranger Things Cookbook
Sony Interactive Entertainment releasing a Play Station 4 exclusive game

Stranger Things Scene by scene (timings)

Stranger Things - Representation

• Goes 'beyond the binary'
• Characters move beyond simply good or bad
• Steve and hooper-complex characters
• Novelistic- multiple storylines and characters that are over a number of episodes and seasons
• Flashbacks that explain their background
• Systematic change- isn't just focussed on one individual
• Communities facing challenges and dealing with them by embracing or rejecting their own diversity (Jeff Gomez.)

Key Representations

Teenagers

• Disobedient
• Grumpy
• Typical
• Social divisions
• Imaginative

Family life and relationships:

• Interdependent
• Communal 
• Conventional/Dysfunctional
• Typical
• Arguments

Government:

• Questionable
• Corrupt
• Manipulative
• Secretive 

Mothers:

• Caring
• Worried
• Hardworking
• Dominant

Absent Fathers:

• Mikes dad
• Idiotic
• Distant
• Wills absent father
• Stereotypical

Police:

• Carefree
• Smoking/playing cards
• Has feet up on table
• Laid back 

Appearance Vs Reality

Mikes family appear conventional but are very dysfunctional, they show a normal family eating dinner in an 80's setting, although an argument starts and 'dysfunctionality' is shown. 

Social worker is someone we're supposed trust
Government are people we are supposed to abide by
Sheriff is really lazy when we should be relying on him to keep the town safe
↳This all leads to a sense of mistrust

Key Terms:

Dominant ideology
Constructed realism
Paranormal elements
Family life
Suburbia
Self reflexivity

Themes:

Isolation (Eleven doesn't't fit in, she doesn't know what is going on)
Darkness
Light
Fear 'the monster'
Social groups, events and issues

Social Groups

Age
Gender
Class and social status
Ethnicity
Sexuality
regional identity
Ability
Appearances
Lifestyle interests or preferences
Political values
Professions

Two main narratives:
-Will goes missing
-Eleven appears
-Appearance of paranormal

Paranormal themes:
Paranormal noises when the man runs into the lift
Light flickering on garage
Eleven stops the fan
The monster growing on the wall


Social Groups:
Government and scientists
Families
Teenage groups

Issues:
Family issues
Paranormal issues

Narrative Structure

Linear Narratives:

• Have a clear beginning, middle and end.
• They follow a chronological time-frame
• Action A leads to action B with leads to action C

Fragmented Narrative:

• Called non-linear, disrupted or disjointed narratives e.g. Joyce's family, Hopper and scientists.
• Don't have a clear beginning, middle and end.
• Events or actions may be shown out of chronological order and not in order they would naturally be shown in so C might happen before A.
• Its a narrative technique that can help show parallel stories, a story within a story, dreams and so on within the same episode or serial.
• They make the audience participate in the story to try and piece the story together.

Enigma Codes:

• Man in elevator is taken-why do't they care about the first character and what attacks him?
• Social worker shooting, who is she, why?
• Will Nancy get together with Steve?

The events in my episode occur in a fragmented order and chronological 

The flashback gives some context to Joyce and Will's disappearance. Hoppers past is known to us through the casual conversation between the lady and Mr Clark in the woods when we find out his daughter died when she was young. 

Restrictive Narrative 

• We experience the story through the senses and thoughts of just one character.
• Almost always the main character (protagonist)
• Narrative cannot tell the audience things the main character does not know, we find things out from the story the same times the character. (dramatic irony)

Omnipresent Narrative

• A panoramic all-seeing view of the world of the story, not just one characters point of view.
• Provides the point of view of many different characters and their experiences and feelings within the story. 
• Helps the audience see a broader background to the story, from a number of contexts. 
• Used for telling stories in which the contexts, views and feelings of many characters are important. 

The narrative type helps appeal to the audience by....

Narrative Endings

Closed Ending

Open Endings

• When an episode or season ends on a cliff-hanger 
• A story telling technique 
• Open endings make people want more because they want to find out what happens. 
• In LFTVD, open endings indicate there will be a continuation of the 'story' or possibly a resolution in the next episode. 
• Each episode of Stranger Things has an open ending making it more exciting for the audience.

TODOROV: Equilibrium Theory

• Traditional narratives follow a 3 part structure

1. Narratives begin with a state of equilibrium
2. Equilibrium is disrupted by an event to create a disequilibrium 
3. There is then recognition of the disruption by the central character
4. Central character goes on a quest to restore the disruption (search for Will/protecting 11)
5. Quest is successful, there is a happy ending and a return to normality or new equilibrium. (However, the first episode doesn't end with a normal equilibrium). 

• E.g. Benny's Disruption, Lift disruption, Joyce's disruption, Nancy didn't know she was going to end up with a disruption.
• To make the story interesting you have to have obstacles.

Strauss- Binary Oppositions

• He identified that we understand the world nay the relationships two have together. e.g. we understand bad behaviour by knowing what good behaviour should be
• He believed narratives are arranged around the conflict of binary oppositions
• Some oppositions could be:

Man vs Woman

Good vs Bad

Day vs Night

Old vs New

Right Vs Wrong

Justice Vs Injustice (government are injustice- we are normally supposed to trust the government)

In stranger things, the conflict between the oppositions help to drive the narrative structure forward....

Conventions of LFTVD

Representations in Stranger Things

Narrative Questions

Reflect on the class timeline you have made and the sequence of events as they occurred in the episode. Answer the questions about the episode’s narrative below:

1.         Is the narrative structure linear (chronological) or fragmented? How?

The opening scene is has a linear narrative structure itself because it just follows the scientist before he gets taken, it never goes to a flashback at any point. However it then goes to the next day but we don't know what day the attack on the scientist happens therefore it could have flash-backed unknown to the audience. The scenes following this are all linear as well because it goes in chronological order following the children playing the game and Nancy on the phone to Barb and then Will's disappearance. It then goes to the next morning where we first see Hopper then we see Joyce and Jonathan. The linear narrative goes through all the scenes until the Castle Byers scene. This is when it breaks the linear narrative and changes to a fragmented narrative, we know this because there is a flashback to Joyce and Will in the castle talking about a situation when will wasn't missing. The story then goes back to linear narrative because we are back to the 7th November 1983 in Benny's Diner right. The linear narrative continues until the end of the scene where there is an open-ending. 

2.         How many different storylines are introduced in the first episode? What are they?

- The first storyline follows the scientist who is taken by the creature chasing him.

- Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Will are in the next storyline playing Dungeons and Dragons and then the parents. This continues when they are confronted by their bullies at school

- Nancy is in the next storyline talking to Barb on the phone. This goes on to Nancy talking with Barb and then Steve in the toilets. Nancy and Steve's love story. 

- The next storyline is Wills disappearance 

- Hopper's sad life, he realises Wills disappearance is a serious matter, his determination to find Will

- Joyce's storyline of her desperately trying to find her missing son 

- Dr Brenner as the scientist in the government building

- Benny chasing after 11 and then him taking care of her and eventually he gets killed by 'social worker'

- Teacher and his friendly relationship with Dustin, Mike and Lucas and the AV club.

Stranger Things Character Analysis

Stranger Things Episode 1 Scene Analysis

Stranger Things

Stranger Things Intertextuality:

• ST is an homage to E.T. Also inspired by The Gremlins, The Shining, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Poltergeist (communicating through the walls)
• Weaponised intertextuality- when fans realise it is a reference to a previous film, also called fan service.
• Known as a pastiche, celebrates other films eg. from the 80's 
• Eleven is constantly compared to E.T. through the camera angles

General Facts:

• Stephen King retweeted ST, who is the king of horror 
• Described as a creepy sci-fi
• People who grew up in 80's watching it for nostalgia as well as new audience watched the show-Winona Rider was iconic from the 80s
• Duffer brothers were inspired by films they watched as they grew up
• Fan work inspired by ST
• Were rejected many times by Hollywood but Netflix industry likes to break the rules as they're notarially regulated
• Season 1 set in November 1983

Stranger Things: 80's Film Research

LFTVD Lesson 3

What does a television drama need to have?

• Various locations
• Stock characters
• Multiple narratives
• 1hr episode
• Dramatic cliff hangers
• High production values

What does LFTVD mean?

- A tv drama that has a number of episodes that helps create a narrative and tell a story to an audience.

Stranger Things:

General Facts

• Created, written, directed and co-executive-produced by Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen.

• Set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana in the 80's, 1st season focusses on the investigation of the disappearance of a young boy amid supernatural events.
• Themes and directional aspects were inspired by Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, Stephen King.
• Series was released on Netflix on July 15, 2016.

Intro to Long Form TV Drama

- Paper 2

- Historical contexts

- LIAR

- Theorists

Institutional Context:

US network broadcasters must satisfy their advertisers and hold market share.

↳Controlled by federal regulation.

Impact on Context:

Reliance on highly formalised genre conventions 

- HBO launched in 1970's→ the first national subscription cable tv channel 

- BY 2000's, The Sopranos and The Wire won awards→ this eventually created 'water cooler tv'.

'Water Cooler' TV 

- This effect occurs when employees at a workplace gather around the office water cooler and chat about recent TV dramas.

- It is sort of a TV drama gossip

Trouble with UK TV Drama:

- UK broadcasters failed to meet the challenge of US cable channels (risk-taking content and style)

- BBC and ITV relied on genre based, formula drama (period drama)

ABC1 Audience:

Intelligent kind of people who want to watch 

programmes like this→Change 4 and BBC 4 have identified foreign language TV dramas; eg. The Killing or Deutschland 83. 

Changing Platforms?

- Content viewing via TV still dominates in UK.

- 3/4 of households (UK) have PVR (personal video recorder) uptake but it has plateaued.

- Use of time shift is increasing

- Growth SVOD (subscription video on demand) web based channels such as Netflix, Amazon and Now TV (Sky).

- Netflix dominates with 24% of UK market and 5 million subscribers 

- 10% growth in 2015-2016

Audiences:

- Rise of binge-watching started with DVD in late 90's.

- A move from 'water cooler' TV to 'shared universe' fandom (cinema)

- US long form drama often uses Easter eggs and mid-season breaks to generate fan intensity and maintain media profile. 

'Easter Eggs'

- Long running hidden jokes in TV shows.

- You want to be the one that spots them.

- They can be in TV, video games. 

Why do audiences love LFTVD?

- High quality drama.

- Multiple episodes, hours, years.

- Content can be dark and difficult but innovative.

- It now attracts some of the best and innovative writers and actors.
- Time shifting, easily accessible.
-Rise of streaming services means that people can more easily catch up at home.

TV Drama compared to movies?

- Movies are expensive and you have to watch the whole thing before you know what the audience makes of it.
-TV is producing a higher volume of creative quality programming that people are watching at home.

'State of the nation' TV?

- Long form shows challenged the simplistic storylines and stereotypical characters that dominate network TV e.g. CSI in US

-HBO launched The Sopranos in 1999 (to 2007), which was a huge commercial and critical hit. increasingly→ these shows were about the crisis of US identity and hegemony.
↳The Sopranos made people see a different side to criminals e.g. mental illness


Deadwood:
Genre- Western
Themes: Race, prostitution, misogyny, violence, politics and immigration
Narrative structure and storylines: The town of Deadwood, South Dakota in the weeks following the Cluster massacre is full of crime and corruption. there is a disillusioned and bitter ex-lawman and a man hoping to find a new start for himself. both men find themselves quickly on opposite sides of legality and morality.
Character types: criminals, a woman with cerebral palsy.
Visual Styles and production values: quite slow-paced, seamless integration of CGI effects with sunlit western landscapes.
Memes/accessories:

Mad Men:
Genre- Period drama
Themes:  Identity and memory, Gender and sexuality, Alcoholism, Counterculture, Racism, Smoking
Narrative structure and storylines: Set in the 1960's, it follows the lives of the competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising living in an ego-driven world where key players make an art of selling.
Character types: ruthlessly competitive men and women
Visual Styles and production values: every episode has immaculately composed shots where lighting, framing and performance combined tell a whole story in a single image.
Memes/accessories:

The Returned:
Genre- Supernatural, Mystery/suspense, Fantasy and Drama
Themes:
Narrative structure and storylines: opens in a small mountain community when it is disrupted by local people who are presumed dead and re-appear at their homes even though they had passed away years earlier. The 'dead' people are determined to reclaim their lives and start over. a gruesome murder is similar to a serial killer from the past.
Character types: Ghostly characters
Visual Styles and production values: French style
Memes/accessories:

The Handmaids Tale:
 Genre- Utopian and Dystopian drama
Themes: Women in subjugation in a patriarchal society
Narrative structure and storylines: it follows a Second American Civil War wherein a totalitarian society subjects fertile women called 'Handmaids' into child-bearing servitude.
Character types: Young women
Visual Styles and production values: the series has captured the eeriness of the story in the mist en scene. Shafts of light shine through windows making the rest of the room dark and the light is only natural (low-key). use of symmetry and close ups. the entire show lacks vibrant colour , each shot has a pale mix of neutral colours instead to make the show feel more like early 20th century.
Memes/accessories: Big hat

Walking Dead:
Genre- Horror fiction, zombie apocalypse
Themes:
Narrative structure and storylines: the only thing that stops people is the 'Walkers' aka the zombies. the Walking Dead tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse. It follows a group of survivors led by former police officer, who travel in search of a safe and secure home.
Character types:
Visual Styles and production values: opening scene has a lack of characters in the setting, use of abandoned settings makes the audience feel isolated and uneasy to fit in with the horror genre. Most of the shots are sort of yellowy/faded.
Memes/accessories: Coral (carl)

Oz:
Genre- Crime drama
Themes: is about political cynicism and a morally bankrupt penal system.
Narrative structure and storylines: Set in 'Emerald City'. in the experimental unit of the prison, unit manager emphasises rehabilitation. Emerald City is an extremely controlled environment with a carefully managed balance of members from each racial and social group, indeed to ease tensions among the various factions.
Character types: criminals

Visual Styles and production values: dark style, mainly set in prison 

Memes/accessories: