STRANGER THINGS
Source of extract: Stranger Things, season 1, episode 1
Genre: Science-fiction
The sequence: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-853-gdNbe2mnjs8czWJIr2S4H5I9XAI/view?usp=drive_link
Source of pictures: Pinterest
NOTES
Narrative theories
Levi-Strauss: Binary oppositions
The theory was supported by the hint of an "entity" at the beginning of the sequence, making weird noises (low-tone growling and high pitched shrilling). The existence was also further suggested by the scientist being dragged upward by an unknown force, which is against the gravity rule and encodes for "abnormality".
The opposite was the nuclear family in the 80s, including a married couple and their two kids, an older girl and younger boy. This depicts a conventional family during this time, encodes for "normal".
According to the theory, there will be a conflict between the two sides in order to enhance the narrative.
Todorov: Equilibirum theory
The opening sequence only gave the audience a "peek" to the second act out of the 5 acts structure.
1. The diegesis at the beginning => day-to-day life of the characters.
The boys were seen to be hanging out on a school night playing a board game. Nancy (the girl) was shown to be talking on the phone with her friend on her bed. In the other hand, the mother was doing the dishes (presumably after dinner) while the father was trying to fix the broken TV. All of the above add up to a typical night in a family household, which is the "equilibrium"
2. The disruption => the event that changes the equilibrium
Unlike the theory suggested, this event occured before we were introduced to the "equilibrium" of the characters. However, it served the same purpose of raising action code, hinting there will be certain consequenes of the event in the future and possibly involving the characters.
At this point, the characters hadn't recognised the disruption yet, therefore evoking curiosity of the audience of what will happen.
★🎸🎧⋆｡ °⋆
Camera work:
🍕First setting
Vertical planning at a wide angle (Master shot) showing the outside of a laboratory - US Department of Energy
Slow pace vertical panning and slow zooming in motion to the door
Medium close-u of the scientist's legs as he runs through the door into the hallway
Shaky/unstable camera while tracking the scientist's running movement
Long shot to show scientist running with a larger view of the background
Medium close-up to show the scientist's facial expression as he continuously presses the elevator button
Close-up of his fingers tapping the button furiously
Medium long shot, showing him stepping into the elevator
Switches to a centered point of view (still at medium long shot)
A long shot of the hallway shows the scientist's POV looking into place.
Zooming in a medium close-up as he slowly tilts his head upwards
High angle as a close-up (focusing on his eyes encoding emotions)
Medium shot as he is dragged towards the top of the elevator, presumably where the "unknown creature" was waiting
➡️Change in setting
Close-up of the sprinkler.
Master shot showing a house.
Close-up of the main character's face (Mike)
Over-the-shoulder shot - introducing characters.
Wide angle + long shots for an overview of the current setting
Medium close of each of the characters as they talk and interact non-verbally
Fast pace + medium close-up of all of the characters as they argue
Long shot; wide angle - the boys split up to find the dice.
Low angle of Mike's mother calling from the top of the basement's stairs
High angle (Mike looks up the stairs to talk to his mom)
Medium shot of Mike as he turns to his dad(using the rule of thirds, each character standing at separate spaces in the frame)
Tracking - Dustin coming up to the corner of the floor
Over-the-shoulder - Dustin looks into Nancy's room.
Zoom out/track Dustin walking out the door into the garage.
Long shot of all characters and a full setting of the garage
Medium shot of Will standing beside Mike on his bike
Long shot of Mike turning off the lights\
Editing:
🍔First setting
Slow-paced introduction to the first setting - the Department of Energy
Cutting on action as the scientist ran through the door
Becomes more fast-paced(each shot lasting a shorter amount of time), matching the pacing of the scientist as he runs across the hall, encoding turbulence
🍟First setting
Lots of straight-cut/cutting-on action while he roams the pathway
Eyeline-match of the scientist observing behind his back, looking at the hallway
Eyeline-match: as he was frantically tapping the button, an eyeline-match cut showed his hands pushing those buttons
Cutaway: from the scientist standing in the middle of the elevator to a shot of the hall, then back
Straight cut to a close-up high angle of the scientist's face
Straight cut to the scene where he was taken by the "entity"
➡️Change in setting*
Abrupt cut/smash cut: the sprinkler
Continous straight cuts showing characters and them playing the game
Sound design:
crickets: encodes for isolation; secluded area
Scientist appears: loud, defeaning alarm; encodes for a lock-down or evacuation of the area due to an emergency
Heightened sounds of the scientist's big breath after running
Low-pitch, slow-paced “thumping” - large footsteps (possibly from the "thing" that is chasing the scentist.
Shaky breaths
unnatural; heavy breathing and growling signaling that the entity is above the man
The scientist screams: indicating panic and fear.
➡️Change in setting*
J-cut to the family home - overlap the sprinkler
=> creating Juxtaposition (contrasts in sequence)
L-cut to the boys in the basement
Dialogue: “Something’s coming,” as if referring to the monster that disrupted the laboratory. However, Mike didn't know what had happened at this time.
D&D - Mike replicated the “monster’s” noise
non-diegetic sound effects when placing the mini figure down.
Overlapping, quick-paced dialogue - building tension, representation of male friendship
Thumping footsteps as Mike runs up the stairs
A musical score building up in the background: involvement of a synthesizer in the track, refers to the 80s => envokes nostalgia, innocence, calming and slow-paced. Later on became louder and more up-beat.
Heightened sound: when Nancy shut the door
Sounds of bicycle gears as the boys ride their bikes
Mise-en-scene
🧃First setting
The Department of Energy: may remind the audience of Science. Physics, and that thishas technological details.
A hallway with huge metal doors: through the durability of metal, we can correlate it to the intense security of the place.
Not many props in the scene: encodes for good-hygiene, cleanliness; in relating to a laboratory, it can connotes the act of disinfection. Also encodes for emptyness.
flickering lights: suggesting problems with the electricity, raises enigma code as to what may have caused the disturbance
A man in long, white coat and dark pants: encodes for a doctor or scientist
He is seen bolting in fright - being chased
His facial expression showing terror and great anxiety. Constantly looking back as if waiting for something to appear
His eyes seen suprised and frightened as he looks up: came to a realization
The scientist's only presense can also hint that he may be the only person who managed to escape the room in which he ran away from.
➡️Change in setting*
Juxtaposition: lighting looks a lot more warm and welcoming (as the scene was in a basement of a family house); yellow lights used
The boys are seen laughing and discussing about the game => having fun
Their seriousness as the storyline of the game took a dark turn also indicated that they are heavily invested in the game
Mike's mom calling him from the upper floor indicates that they are in Mike's home
Lucas told Will to not tell Mike a certain detail as to not ruin their game
Nancy's appearance: more mature; talking to a friend on the phone, encodes an older teen, presumably Mike's older sister.
Will telling Mike the truth before heading somewhere else, connoting that he is honest and truthful.
No comments:
Post a Comment