Analysing conventions of TV programmes

 Stranger things 

Stranger things is a netflix original meaning it was created and written by Netflix executives.

Each episode is lengthened at 1 hour or more.

The Production company behind stranger things is known as 21 laps entertainment based in the United States. Run by director-producer Shawn Levy. They have co-produced for such films and tv shows as:

.night at the museum

.the internship

.fist fight.

Stranger things is mostly a hybrid between the horror and action genre as it consists of horror themes such as 2nd dimensions, monsters and death. While also having chase scenes and action spectacle mixed in with it.

Stranger things season One+ take place in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana. However the real life location is set in Atlanta, Georgia, a small suburban American town.

The cast of Stranger things are of multiple ages and ethniticies such as Millie Bobby Brown who plays the character Eleven in the story can appeal to teen girls as she is a strong independent women. Also Joe Keery, Finn Wolfhard and Noah Schnapp can appeal to teens and teen girls. While Caleb McLaughlin can appeal to the Black minorities. Characters such as Winona Ryder (Who was also an 80s star) and David Harbour can appeal to the older demographic as they both play parents. However the show is mostly appealing to the younger generation and generation x as the product placement is very teen oriented, while also being very retro and nostalgic for the older. 

The props in the show are always very retro and nostalgic for people who were born in that era. The use of props such as:

New coke,

Milk cartons,

Skateboards,

Plus a lot of the costumes including very 80s caps and very colourful and expressive clothes. This all suggests a very 80s feel. It makes it feel comical and a parody of the 80s decade with all the constant product placement with coke and Burger King give a very commercial experience, which is what the 80s mostly consisted of with new clothing brands becoming popular and the whole rebranding with coke, along with fast food restaurants and the very authentic 1980s American stereotypes.

Set in 1983 Indiana, The story of Stranger things is about a young boy, Will Byers, goes missing near a top-secret government laboratory. On the same night a strange young girl appears at a diner in the town. A group of friends and the boys mother attempt to uncover the secrets of the town and rescue Will. All the while there foe the Demogorgon is let loose in Hawkins. Plus mysterious people and scientists attempt to cover up the story and stop the children from finding out about the upside down.

Due to the show being told in the 80s the story, setting and characters almost have a Spielbergian feel, as the show feels white washed and devoid of any ethnic characters bar from Calbes character. The show presents this town as a average white surbuban town in America during the 80s. In the show the “mothers” have the stereotypical role of holding the family together while the men are the stereotypical hero of the situation.  The men are shown as problem solvers or people who put the job in there own hands. However this time is reversed when one of the mothers is able to solve a way to contact her son who is in another dimension. Showing a binary opposite as the women have now become the promblem solvers, taking the job into her own hands when the men seemed ineffective.

The cinematography in stranger things is mainly dark and it puts an emphasis on dark rooms and areas to emphasise the horror in the show. It also builds tension and the show like to use lighting to bring the attention to the audience. Such as with the Christmas lights and how they are used in the story and what they are shown with.

There are a lot of interesting editing techniques used in stranger things, all of which make the audience terrified.the way they deliver there story through lighting special effects and the use of editing to create a continuous story. They use such cuts as the classic L cut and the smash cut which both offer a way to make invisible cuts.