Question 4 Plan practice

Todorov’s theory of narratology

Meaning:

·      The structure and function of the narrative.

Todorov’s theory is the idea that all narratives share a basic structure which entails a movement from one state of equilibrium to another.

It’s the idea these two states of equilibrium are separated by an imbalance or disequilibrium.

The way in which narratives are resolved can have ideological significance.

Equilibrium- The overall balance within a narrative which can include changes in which characters gain more power as the story develops.

ST:

• The idea that the boys live a happy normal life 

• Will goes missing and then this causes a disruption in the equilibrium

• Then by meeting Eleven it causes more damage to the equilibrium

• When the government official kills Benny a power shift emerges.

D83:

• There is tension already due to the historical context of the cold war.

• Martin lives a happy life in East Germany

• Lenora is the disruption to the equilibrium and takes Martin away from his life

• There are moments of change in the narrative when Martin makes mistakes on his mission

• Also, when he gains the documents, the audience feels a power shift within the story.

Question 3 plan practice

Language

·      Levi Strauss- Binary Opposites

·      80’s Nostalgia is created in both ST and D83

D83

·      1983 the only time the world listened to German POP

·      Music unified East and West

·      Just like the music this is a technicolor drama, an antidote to the didactic procedurals and melodramas more typical of German television

·      99 Luftballons- Diegetic

·      Major Tom

·      West- Capitalist

• East- Communist
• Wall went up 1961
• West Germany lent East Germany a billion deutschmarks because they were running out of money.
• Social contradictions 
• Gilroy/Bell Hooks- The Americans- Racial diversity

ST

Boys Houses

·       Close up of demogorgon character then focuses on Mike ·       Walkie talkie chats between Mike and Lucas ·       The camera changes angles of the  mid shots when the boys change positions they are sitting in along with jump cuts between the two boys, to show the conversion. ·       Worried about Will ·       The camera continues to track in throughout their conversion to show the tension building and also the panic the boys are feeling. ·       Camera crabs to Mike leaving the house  ·       Mike sees steve climbing into sisters room , mike rides off as steve continues to climb  ·       The non-diegetic music is played to aid the mystery genre aspect

37:12- 37:20 37:19      37:19- till the end of scene 37:56

The scene is open ended as they were talking about looking for Will and Mike decides to sneak out in order to go find Will in the middle of the night. The camera crabs left following Mike as he leaves the house, which reveals the next scene with Steve sneaking into Nancy’s room.

Industry

·      Netflix for Stranger Things. Was released globally all in one go. Only on a small minority of platforms.

·      Channel 4, Sundance TV for D83. Was released in USA, Germany and UK later. Walter Presents helped in distributing the drama and helped make it popular in the UK. Sundance focuses on Spy aspect to attract audience and Channel 4 focused on the main story.

D83:

·      Luzzolino owns Walter Presents

·      Sundance Tv and Channel 4 distribute it

·        According to Symphony, within the first 35 days of its release, Stranger Things averaged ratings around 14.07 million adults between the ages 18–49 in the United States. This made it the third most-watched season of Netflix original content in the U.S. at the time

·      Stranger Things is an 80s inspired series, meaning it markets to a wide range of audiences.One of the ways they have successfully created a fandom for the show was through immersive experiences such as the 360° virtual reality video posted on YouTube shortly after its release.

·      To target the older audience, The producers have tapped into the 80’s nostalgia.

·      21 Laps Entertainment was the company that produced stranger things with Shawn Levy being the director. The Duffer brothers are the people who created it.

·      They are an American film and television production company run by the director Shawn Levy, they are a commercial company.

·      This company is an international distributor meaning they distribute all around the world.

·      Stranger Things is an original story created by Matt and Ross Duffer.

·      Writers: Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Paul Dichter, Justin Doble, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock

·      Season 1 consists of 8 episodes, season 2 is 9 and season 3 is 8.

·      Tools used: posters were used expressing the sci-fi image, this includes the lead character and the different important parts to tie the series together. Furthermore this is accompanied by the trailer, showing the different parts of the series giving an enlightenment and leaving the audience in mystery of what happens. 

·      Social media and campaign use to promote: social media was used to promote the drama, this included the likes of twitter and instagram to share information on the show along with links to posters and trailers. As well as this a more personal effect was taken, this was done with the use of twitch, 4 hour live streams were done with professionals playing games set in the 80s, this references to the setting of stranger things and adapts the audience to this setting, promoting the show. 

·      Synergy and merch: synergy can be referenced with the twitch streaming, using another game to market stranger things, coca cola is referenced frequently within the show but not necessarily in the marketing campaign.  Merch has been created alongside collabing with big brand companies such as nike to offer a shared product promoting the show and the clothing brands. 

 ST:

·      According to Symphony, within the first 35 days of its release, Stranger Things averaged ratings around 14.07 million adults between the ages 18–49 in the United States. This made it the third most-watched season of Netflix original content in the U.S. at the time

·      Stranger Things is an 80s inspired series, meaning it markets to a wide range of audiences.One of the ways they have successfully created a fandom for the show was through immersive experiences such as the 360° virtual reality video posted on YouTube shortly after its release.

·      To target the older audience, the producers have tapped into the 80’s nostalgia.

·      21 Laps Entertainment was the company that produced stranger things with Shawn Levy being the director. The Duffer brothers are the people who created it.

·      They are an american film and television production company run by the director Shawn Levy, they are a commercial company.

·      This company is an international distributor meaning they distribute all around the world.

·      Stranger Things is an original story created by Matt and Ross Duffer.

·      Writers: Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Paul Dichter, Justin Doble, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock

·      Season 1 consists of 8 episodes, season 2 is 9 and season 3 is 8.

·      Tools used: posters were used expressing the sci-fi image, this includes the lead character and the different important parts to tie the series together. Furthermore this is accompanied by the trailer, showing the different parts of the series giving an enlightenment and leaving the audience in mystery of what happens. 

·      Social media and campaign use to promote: social media was used to promote the drame, this included the likes of twitter and instagram to share information on the show along with links to posters and trailers. As well as this a more personal effect was taken, this was done with the use of twitch, 4 hour live streams were done with professionals playing games set in the 80s, this references to the setting of stranger things and adapts the audience to this setting, promoting the show. 

·      Synergy and merch: synergy can be referenced with the twitch streaming, using another game to market stranger things, coca cola is referenced frequently within the show but not necessarily in the marketing campaign.  Merch has been created alongside collabing with big brand companies such as nike to offer a shared product promoting the show and the clothing brands. 

Audience

Stranger Things:

• 15-49-year olds
• Why they love it- 80's nostalgia
• How is the audience been targeted?
• Synergy with Netflix
• Extensive Narrative Enigmas- Always wanting to know more about the story
• Emotive representations
• Realism- Friendship/loyalty, young protagonists, collective identity
• Retro styling- Nostalgia, soundtrack, hybridisation- sci-fi, thriller
• Must see appointment tv 

Gratifications theory- Personalisation (identify with characters), Information (anything that it teaches you), Entertainment (what viewers want), Social interaction (water cooler chat)

• Escapist, non-realist entertaining drama- Diversion
• Discussed, written about, hyped and virally sold- Social interaction
• Identity is key appeal e.g. Personal identity with notions of difference
• Information is given on 1980's cultural history- Surveillance culture

D83

·      Highest rated foreign Tv drama in history

·      Industry is appealing to audiences via the spy genre to open a larger audience, rather than focusing on a niche topic of the cold war.

·      October 2015- released in USA

·      January 2016 on Channel 4 in the UK

·      ABC1 audience

Representation

·      Stuart Hall- Stereotypes

·      Family: Stereotypes used in this are shown through power hungry men who want to be in control however, someone like Lenora is very powerful in Martin’s family as she works for the government.

We also look at Annete who stands up to Martin’s mum because she is keeping secrets about Martin’s whereabouts. However, she is represented as a strong woman, but she is also stereotyped as a helpless girlfriend as Martin has been taken away from her and she can’t do anything as he is in the West.

Martin is stereotyped as a young adult and conforms to this stereotype as he is a family man and is always wondering and asking if his family is okay.

In Edel’s family Wolfgang is the powerful one as he is the general. But his son Alex wants to be in charge but is always overlooked by his dad’s success. He seems to be friendly towards Martin but seems to feel jealous about him getting a higher role than him. Could show signs that his dad doesn’t respect him or give him any love. He is represented as a power hungry individual and conforms to this stereotype as he is the son of the general and therefore, has the same mindset. Yet he subverts to this representation as he comes across as friendly and welcoming.

ST:

Woods ·       Boys discover Eleven

·       The significant focus is the supernatural and Eleven as she has met the boys. This is important because the stories of how Eleven got there and how the boys got there has now joined.

·       Representation in this scene is from ET as Stranger Things uses an Easter egg to represent this. It’s like ET as the boys discover Eleven in the woods the same as how ET was found. This representation is then used throughout the entire scene.

·       The representation is kept throughout the scene. The boys being curious shows their geeky side into the supernatural and how they are living out movies they worship.

·       Not only that their curiosity shows the love and bond between the boys and Will because they want to save their friend. This then links to the significance of the boys within the story.

·       The stereotype used in this scene is curious teenagers. This is because the boys know it's dangerous outside yet they don’t listen and are curious to know where Will is and what happened to him.

·       Their parents apart from Joyce are seen as bad parents because they don’t know where their kids are and the fact they are outside in a dangerous environment.

Theorists notes and Tv drama Industry and Regulation

• Curran and Seaton- Power and Media: The idea that a small group of businesses control the media and concentrates it which is limiting creativity. socially diverse patterns of ownership help create more varied and adventurous media production.

• Livingstone and Lunt- Regulation: Tv regulated by OFCOM but Netflix is controlled by a company in Holland so they don't abide by UK rules. Parents regulate kids and what they see. Makes it a lot harder to regulate stuff.

• David Hesmondhaigh- Cultural Industries: Minimise risk and Maximise audience through horizontal and vertical integration, formatting cultural products. Large conglomerate operates across different cultural industries. Internet has been contained to some extent by large profit orientated set cultural industries.

If ST is rated 15:

• Strong language
• Brief or comic sexual nudity
• Sexual activity usually without a lot of detail
• Threat and horror
• Violence without dwelling on the inflection of injury or pain
• Verbal references to sexual violence
• Drug taking

9pm watershed traditional television Channel 4- D83- Post watershed scheduling. Now irrelevant due to catch-up.

OFCOM rules:

• Protect under 18s
• Prohibited material doesn't appear
• Don't insight hatred
• Commercial reference needs to be regulated

Terrestrial- Regular TV

OFCOM has no power to issue sanctions on Netflix, as it is regulated by the Dutch regulator.

Essentially the part to evaluate is the idea that the rise of convergent technologies puts traditional regualtion at risk.

ST and D83 revision grid

	ST	D83
Language ·      Genre ·      Narrative ·      FAM ·       CLAMPS ·      STOPS	Woods ·       There is a night search for Will  ·       The groups of volunteers are shown by using a mixture of long shots which indicate how many people are helping to search for Will, showing the support the local community has for his disappearance. ·       The camera used a mid shot angle to focus on who the significant characters are and the camera is shot from behind the trees to make it seem like someone is watching Hopper and Mr Clarke. This adds to the mystery genre and can create suspense. ·       There is a mid shot of Mr Clarke and a woman approaches to tell him about Hoppers family and says his daughter died a few years back. ·       Long shot of Hopper walking off to show that he is alone in his thoughts. ·       Hopper spoke about family and the camera tracks them from in front. ·       The low key lighting makes the torches only a spotlight with very minimal visibility, adding to the sense of the mystery genre. ·       Throughout the scene the diegetic sound is used as background noise of people shouting for Will along with the noise made by the characters footsteps. 35:50- scene starts 36:20 37:00 37:00-37:03 35:50- 36:20- Continues till 36:40 ·       The scene is unresolved because Will is still missing yet we learn more about Hopper’s family as he reveals that they are in another city. Boys Houses ·       Close up of demogorgon character then focuses on Mike ·       Walkie talkie chats between Mike and Lucas ·       The camera changes angles of the  mid shots when the boys change positions they are sitting in along with jump cuts between the two boys, to show the conversion. ·       Worried about Will ·       The camera continues to track in throughout their conversion to show the tension building and also the panic the boys are feeling. ·       Camera crabs to Mike leaving the house  ·       Mike sees Steve climbing into sisters room , mike rides off as Steve continues to climb  ·       The non-diegetic music is played to aid the mystery genre aspect 37:12- 37:20 37:19      37:19- till the end of scene 37:56 ·       The scene is open ended as they were talking about looking for Will and Mike decides to sneak out in order to go find Will in the middle of the night. ·       The camera crabs left following Mike as he leaves the house, which reveals the next scene with Steve sneaking into Nancy’s room. Nancy’s Room ·       The camera crabs from the last scene to reveal Steve and then jump cuts to him knocking on Nancy’s window ·       Steve sneaks into her room ·       Nancy tries to revise ·       Steve falls in through the window  ·       Diegetic sound of the window opening and closing along with music being played from the stereo which references 80’s POP culture. 37:56- 38:10 38:16- 38:45 38:10-38:16 38:31 ·       Open ended as the scene continues later on and leaves the audience wondering what will happen next. Benny’s Diner ·       Benny is killed and the camera shoots through the diner counter to create the viewpoint that Eleven can see. ·       Eleven eating ice cream while Benny washes ·       She is completely silent only smiles ·       Agent arrives looking for Eleven ·       Eleven escapes ·       Camera pans to the woods to lead onto the next scene ·       Diegetic sounds of pots and pans hitting each other. Along with a knocking sound of the door. ·       Non-diegetic music is played when Benny is killed which adds to the drama and mystery aspect and continues until the following scene after the camera has panned. 39:46 38:45-39:16 39:16 40:10 40:21 ·       Unresolved as Eleven escapes however, Benny is killed and we are introduced to the department of energy's head leader for the first time, rather than in a flashback.	·       Verisimilitude (realism) ·       Coffee, Shakespeare book and briefcase- props- Mise-en-scene ·       Historical advice and military advice from NATO. ·       Shot around Berlin ·       Variety of choice in West Germany- Moritz in West Germany for the first time in the supermarket ·       Soundtrack helps to represent the year 1983. 99 Red balloons are a diegetic sound ·       Music unified East and West Germany ·       Potentially sexualised narrative with romantic sub plot
Industry ·      Producers ·       Distribution ·       Marketing ·      Technology	·       According to Symphony, within the first 35 days of its release, Stranger Things averaged ratings around 14.07 million adults between the ages 18–49 in the United States. This made it the third most-watched season of Netflix original content in the U.S. at the time ·       Stranger Things is an 80s inspired series, meaning it markets to a wide range of audiences.One of the ways they have successfully created a fandom for the show was through immersive experiences such as the 360° virtual reality video posted on YouTube shortly after its release. ·       To target the older audience, The producers have tapped into the 80’s nostalgia. ·       21 Laps Entertainment was the company that produced stranger things with Shawn Levy being the director. The Duffer brothers are the people who created it. ·       They are an american film and television production company run by the director Shawn Levy, they are a commercial company. ·       This company is an international distributor meaning they distribute all around the world. ·       Stranger Things is an original story created by Matt and Ross Duffer. ·       Writers: Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Paul Dichter, Justin Doble, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock ·       Season 1 consists of 8 episodes, season 2 is 9 and season 3 is 8. ·       Tools used: posters were used expressing the sci-fi image, this includes the lead character and the different important parts to tie the series together. Furthermore this is accompanied by the trailer, showing the different parts of the series giving an enlightenment and leaving the audience in mystery of what happens.  ·       Social media and campaign use to promote: social media was used to promote the drame, this included the likes of twitter and instagram to share information on the show along with links to posters and trailers. As well as this a more personal effect was taken, this was done with the use of twitch, 4 hour live streams were done with professionals playing games set in the 80s, this references to the setting of stranger things and adapts the audience to this setting, promoting the show.  ·       Synergy and merch: synergy can be referenced with the twitch streaming, using another game to market stranger things, coca cola is referenced frequently within the show but not necessarily in the marketing campaign.  Merch has been created alongside collabing with big brand companies such as nike to offer a shared product promoting the show and the clothing brands.	·       Sundance created the digital marketing strategy to create the East Berlin now, East Berlin then and West Berlin now, West Berlin then ·       Interview with Jonas Nay ·       Owen Jones has an ABC following which helps in promoting the show to a larger audience ·       Industry is appealing to audiences via the spy genre.   ·       Sundance Tv trailer focuses only on the spy element to attract audiences ·       Channel 4 is very left wing- they get into the action to provide the best news and programmes
Audience ·       Who ·       How ·       Access ·       What pleasures ·       Uses + gratifications	15-49 year olds Why they love it- 80's nostalgia How is the audience been targeted Synergy with Netflix Extensive Narrative Enigmas- Always wanting to know more about the story Emotive representations Realism- Friendship/loyalty, young protagonists, collective identity Retro styling- Nostalgia, soundtrack, hybridisation- sci-fi, thriller Must see appointment tv  Gratifications theory- Personalisation (identify with characters), Information (anything that it teaches you), Entertainment (what viewers want), Social interaction (water cooler chat) Escapist, non realist entertaining drama- Diversion Discussed, written about, hyped and virally sold- Social interaction Identity is key appeal e.g. Personal identity with notions of difference Information is given on 1980's cultural history- Surveillance culture	·       Highest rated foreign Tv drama in history ·       Industry is appealing to audiences via the spy genre to open a larger audience, rather than focusing on a niche topic of the cold war. ·       October 2015- released in USA ·       January 2016 on Channel 4 in the UK ·       ABC1 audience
Representation ·       DR CAGES ·       Relationships ·       Political	Woods ·       Boys discover Eleven ·       The significant focus is the supernatural and also Eleven as she has met the boys. This is important because the stories of how Eleven got there and how the boys got there has now joined. ·       Representation in this scene is from ET as Stranger Things uses an easter egg to represent this. Its similar to ET as the boys discover Eleven in the woods the same as how ET was found. This representation is then used throughout the entire scene. ·       The representation is kept throughout the scene. The boys being curious shows their geeky side into the supernatural and how they are living out movies they worship. ·       Not only that their curiosity shows the love and bond between the boys and Will because they want to save their friend. This then links to the significance of the boys within the story. ·       The stereotype used in this scene is curious teenagers. This is because the boys know it's dangerous outside yet they don’t listen and are curious to know where Will is and what happened to him. ·       Their parents apart from Joyce are seen as bad parents because they don’t know where their kids are and the fact they are outside in a dangerous environment.	·       Contains loads of history that the audience is accessing which is very niche. However, D83 is a spy drama which opens a much larger audience which leads to its success. ·       West Germany lent East Germany a billion deutschmarks because they were running out of money. ·       Channel 4 is very left-wing, get into the action with their news. ·       The representation of power-hungry individuals within the families is very unrealistic especially for Martin as his life in East Germany was very calm and he spent time with his family. Everyone was represented as if communism was the right way to be living. However, this representation of power becomes more realistic when Lenora (the catalyst) is introduced into the story and disrupts the equilibrium of Martin’s East German life. ·      The idea that Wolfgang is powerful i feel is misinterpreted as he comes across as a powerful person in the Western army. ·       Stereotypes used in this are shown through power hungry men who want to be in control however, someone like Lenora is very powerful in Martin’s family as she works for the government. ·       We also look at Annete who stands up to Martin’s mum because she is keeping secrets about Martin’s whereabouts. However, she is represented as a strong woman but she is also stereotyped as a helpless girlfriend as Martin has been taken away from her and she can’t do anything as he is in the West. ·       Martin is stereotyped as a young adult and conforms to this stereotype as he is a family man and is always wondering and asking if his family is okay. ·       In Edel’s family Wolfgang is the powerful one as he is the general. But his son Alex wants to be in charge but is always overlooked by his dad’s success. He seems to be friendly towards Martin but seems to feel jealous about him getting a higher role than him. Could show signs that his dad doesn’t respect him or give him any love. He is represented as a power hungry individual and conforms to this stereotype as he is the son of the general and therefore, has the same mindset. Yet he subverts to this representation as he comes across as friendly and welcoming.