stranger things

Question 1

who wrote stranger things?

Answer 1

= the Duffer brothers

Question 2

who directed stranger things?

Answer 2

= the Duffer brothers & Shawn Levy

Question 3

who produced stranger things?

Answer 3

= the Duffer brothers

Question 4

who distributed stranger things?

Answer 4

= Netflix (vertically integrated company)

Question 5

what was the stranger things budget?

Answer 5

= $6 million per episode

Question 6

what was the profit of stranger things?

Answer 6

= $378 million

Question 7

how many views did season 1 of stranger things have?

Answer 7

= 14.07 million

Question 8

when was season 1 of stranger things released?

Answer 8

= July 15 2016

Question 9

what marketing techniques did stranger things use?

Answer 9

= 1. PARTNER FOR POWERFUL PROMOS –> Netflix partened with Lyft and launched a spooky car ride
2. EXPERIMENT WITH VIRTUAlL REALITY –> Netflix partened with Twitch streams and invited them to play games in the famous stranger things basement
3. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX –>
an installation at Australias Bondi beach appeared for promotion
4. USE OUTDOOR ADS CREATIVELY –>
Netflix used billboard for their marketing but included Hawkins Power & Light company and the number connected to the audience to talk to the new chief
5. CREATE EXPERIENCES –>
they worked with coca-cola to create an arcade space for customers to come and enjoy life as it is in stranger things

Question 10

How does Claude Levi-Strauss (binary opposition) link to stranger things?

Answer 10

= narratives are made up contrasting themes such as male/female hero/villain normal/abnormal light/dark

Question 11

How does Todorov link to stranger things?

Answer 11

= all narratives have a basic three-part structure. the main phase is disruption as this involves drama, conflict, tension and climax

Question 12

Q
How does Henry Jenkins link to stranger things?

Answer 12

= work of active audiences (fans) creating their own tributes through imitation and reinvention e.g creating a Stranger Things parody video, musical, own story etc

Question 13

How does Steve Neale link to stranger things?

Answer 13

= modern media products are usually hybrid in form and consist of ‘instances of repetition and difference’ some elements obey predictable genre conventions, other elements subvert these conventions and diverge from generic expectations. The interesting aspect of the modern genre is how they break the rules. → horror, thriller, comedy, 80s nostalgia, kids adventure, family drama, love, high school romance

Question 14

How does Roland Barthes link to stranger things?

Answer 14

= we live in a world of signifiers. Objects have a symbolic meaning; audiences as well as writers play a part in creating meaning. Its all about connotation → Eleven; her books, her tattoo. Lights, dogs, bikes, torches, wood, D&D, X-men comics. Technology; walkie talkie

Question 15

How does George Gerbner link to stranger things?

Answer 15

= TV gives audiences a depressingly negative, pessimistic view of the world - creating ‘mean world syndrome’

Question 16

How does David Hesmondhalgh link to stranger things?

Answer 16

= media production is controlled by large corporations, in this model - audiences are passive consumers. The aim is to create ‘mass’ demand for media products and to make money by attracting audiences. The pressure to make money means that companies tend to avoid risk by keeping to familiar formats, genres and recognised stars. Use vertical integration to have a tighter control over marketing and distribution. Use horizontal integration to buy up rivals and get rid of competition

→this applies as Netflix is driven by the need to be commercially successful, it produces popular programmes which are aimed at global audiences. successful formats are used again and again. A successful series will be re-made. ST is already about to air another season. As well as Netflix buying programmes they consider will be popular to audiences, it produces its own content, using considerable income to spend big budgets on making programmes. It also controls its own streaming platform which it uses to cleverly target individuals suggesting products based on previous viewing.

Question 17

How does Stuart Hall link to stranger things?

Answer 17

= [media encodes for the audience to decode] a range of preferred readings can be identified e.g communication between the boys, playing d&d foreshadows / presentation of characters

Question 18

How does Butler link to stranger things?

Answer 18

= the transition of Eleven from rootless outsider in episode 1 to the feminised Elle at the end of season 1 reinforces Butler’s work regarding gender performance, in episode 1 Eleven is born into the narrative without any identity, her lack of contact with mainstream society resulting in the creation of a genderless persona. It is only through performance - through learning the feminising rituals of the real world, that Eleven’s female persona is constructed. Eleven says ‘pretty good’ in response to her pink dress transformation in episode 4 before she falls in love with mike. Female identity is presented as a