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Media Studies > LFTVD (Stranger Things) > Flashcards

LFTVD (Stranger Things) Flashcards

1
Q

Who created the story for Stranger Things?

A

The Duffer Brothers (Ross and Matt)

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2
Q

Who produced Stranger Things?

A

Monkey Massacre Productions and 21 Laps Entertainment

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3
Q

Who owns Monkey Massacre Productions?

A

The Duffer Brothers

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4
Q

Who owns 21 Laps Entertainment?

A

Shawn Levy

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5
Q

What is Stranger Things based on?

A

A conspiracy theory called the “Montauk Project” about secret government experiments during the Cold War

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6
Q

What media/directors/authors does Stranger Things take inspiration from?

A

E.T., Poltergeist, Alien, Star Wars, Silent Hill, The Last of Us

Stephen King, Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter

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7
Q

Who funded Stranger Things?

A

Netflix

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8
Q

Who bought Stranger Things and for how much?

A

Netflix for an undisclosed amount

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9
Q

What was Stranger Things’ budget for Season 1?

A

$6 million per episode

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10
Q

Where is Stranger Things available?

A

Only on Netflix

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11
Q

When was Stranger Things released?

A

15 July 2016 worldwide

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12
Q

How were Stranger Things episodes released?

A

All in one go for audiences to binge-watch

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13
Q

What was the critical response for Stranger Things?

A
  • 14 million viewers within 35 days of release
  • Research showed viewers were “hooked” on the show by the second episode
  • Received a 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes and an average rating of 8.2/10
  • Received a 76/100 score on Metacritic
  • Received a rating of 8/10 on IGN
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14
Q

How can audiences access Netflix?

A

Through a subscription service payment starting at £4.99 a month

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15
Q

How many views does Stranger Things have as of January 2024?

A

140.7 million views

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16
Q

How many subscribers does Netflix have?

A

Around 250 million

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17
Q

How many views did the first episode of Stranger Things have on release?

A

12.7 million

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18
Q

How many episodes are in Season 1 of Stranger Things?

A

8

19
Q

How long are the episodes in Season 1 of Stranger Things?

A

Between 40 to 50 minutes

20
Q

Where was the show filmed?

A

Atlanta, Georgia

21
Q

Who are the main characters?

A

Will Byers (boy who goes missing)

Mike, Lucas, Dustin (Will’s friends)

Joyce Byers (Will’s mum)

Jonathan Byers (Will’s older brother)

Nancy Wheeler (Mike’s older sister)

Hopper (police officer)

Eleven (supernatural girl)

Dr Brenner (leader of experiments at Hawkins Lab)

Steve (Nancy’s boyfriend)

Barb (Nancy’s best friend)

Benny (owner of the diner)

22
Q

What program was used to edit Stranger Things?

A

Avid Editing Progam

23
Q

What is the name of the first episode of Stranger Things?

A

The Vanishing of Will Byers

24
Q

When did Stranger Things filming begin?

A

November 2015

25
Q

How long did it take to film Season 1 of Stranger Things?

A

6 months to film the first season and 11 days to film each episode

26
Q

Who edited Stranger Things?

A

Dean Zimmerman

27
Q

What technology was used in the first episode of Stranger Things?

A

A mixture of practical and digital effects to create the monster/Demogorgon (they used real constructed props for the monster itself but for other scenes (such as the monster bursting through a wall) they used digital CGI effects)

A film grain was added over footage to make it look more old and outdated like the 80s; they achieved this effect by scanning in real film stock from the 1980s.

28
Q

How was the title sequence created?

A

Created digitally in post-production by the studio Imaginary Forces, who took inspiration from 80s media/pop culture, the show’s script, synth background music and book covers from authors such as Stephen King.

In the title sequence, they made letters vanish to reflect the “missing” theme of the show, and made letters cast shadows over each other to represent the “mystery” and “hidden” aspects of the show.

29
Q

How was Season 1 marketed?

A

DVDs of the first season had packaging that looked like VHS tapes to pay homage to the time period of the 1980s (when the show is set in and when VHS tapes were popular).

The show’s soundtrack was released on cassette tapes again as a reference to the 80s.

A 360-degree VR experience was created shortly after the release of season 1 to immerse the audience into the ST universe of Hawkins. Audiences could access the VR experience on YouTube (or use it in a Google Cardboard VR headset) and it gained at least 13.5 million views. This was an example of low cost strategy marketing with a high return.

A 4-hour long Twitch stream was held before the release of the first episode which featured Twitch influences playing games in the famous ST basement. This offered an interactive and immersive experience where the audience watching live could vote in the comments for “creepy” things to happen to the unsuspecting gamers, such as for the lights to flicker or for a door to slam shut.

Poster created by artist Kyle Lambert, hand drawn using Procreate on iPad and Adobe Photoshop, inspired by the work of other poster illustrators such as Drew Struzan, Bob Peak, John Alvin and Richard Amsel. The poster was designed to pay homage to the 80’s era of hand-painted movie posters.

30
Q

What spin-off products of Stranger Things are there?

A

West-end stage show “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” set in Hawkins in 1959 and follows the stories of a young Joyce Byers and Jim Hopper.

16-bit beat-em-up style mobile video game called Stranger Things 3, available to play on the Netflix app for Android and iOS, which is based off the 3rd season of the show. There is another mobile game called Stranger Things: 1984.

Original board game called “Attack of the Mind Flayer”

Monopoly collaboration

31
Q

How is the audience of Stranger Things responsible for the popularity of the show?

A

There are fanfictions, fan-made MVs and memes which help to circulate the product.

These are all examples of prosumer content.

Fans also cosplay characters of ST which helps to promote the TV show to new audiences.

There is a ST Wiki where people can read and learn everything about the show, as well as contribute to the wiki page with information.

There is a r/StrangerThings subreddit on the online forum website Reddit where fans ask questions about the show, answer people’s questions, post theories, discuss episodes, share Youtube videos and make polls (favourite character, best character etc).

This subreddit has 1.5 million members and is part of the Top 1% of subreddits on the website.

32
Q

What genre is ST?

A

mystery/sci-fi/horror/supernatural drama

33
Q

What does the episode intertextually reflect?

A

The episode intertextually reflects 1980s family and gender relations (Mike’s family as the conventional, nuclear, “American dream” family VS Will’s family as unconventional, “broken”, single mother household)

34
Q

Where is the episode set?

A

Set in the Spielbergian, suburban, mostly white American neighbourhood of Hawkins (white fences, mowed lawn, sprinklers)

35
Q

What family dynamics are explored and represented in the episode?

A

Stereotypical Western family dynamics of the mother being hardworking, looking after the kids, taking responsibility VS fathers being absentminded, distracted (Mr Wheeler) or not physically present at all (Lonnie)

36
Q

How are the young boys (Will, Mike, Lucas and Duncan) represented?

A

Young boys are represented as loyal to one another, close bond with inside jokes, sticking together in a hostile world (bullying, supernatural occurrences, Will going missing)

Stereotypical “nerds” / social outcasts; bullied at school, called “freaks”, made fun of for race/disability, love science and technology, part of the AV club, love D&D, X-men, Lord of the Rings etc

37
Q

How is Nancy represented?

A

Nancy represented as both a stereotypically feminine teenage girl (has a secret boyfriend Steve, wears dresses, likes pastel colours) and as subverting from conventional norms (academically intelligent, excels at science, traits stereotypically associated with masculinity

38
Q

What culture is the episode influenced by?

A

A cultural representation of small town America developed by Hollywood cinema, globally recognised as “80s suburban America” by audiences

39
Q

What does the episode contextually/socially reflect?

A

Reflects society’s anxiety about the power of the central state/US government during the Cold War; rising tensions between USA and Russia/USSR

Reflects the community’s lack of trust towards the government

Reflects anxiety about secret government experiments; Duffer Brothers stated that the Demogorgon could either be an supernatural entity or a government human experiment gone-wrong, it is up to the audience to decide

40
Q

How is the US government represented in the episode?

A

As an all-powerful, omnipotent secret state

Cold, evil and sinister secret enforcement agents

41
Q

How are local police represented?

A

As humanised and relatable

42
Q

How is Hopper represented?

A

As a local police officer, his identity is humanised through his relatable, gritty representation (messy house, beer cans, smoking, overweight = depressed) which evokes empathy from the audience

Finding out Hopper has a daughter who died from cancer at a very young age also personifies his character, allowing the audience to sympathise with him and see him as a real person with real issues

He is good-natured but lazy and complacent until forced into action

As a stereotypical American cop from 80s films (eating donuts, drinking coffee, lazy) as an intertextual reference

Anti-hero/maverick hero

43
Q

What economic contexts are reflected in the episode?

A

Reflects the continuing success of streaming services (Netflix) who need to maintain the brand with innovative and original programming

Media Studies (20 decks)

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