D'83

Language -        "Don't they have phones in Braunschweig"- wasn't allowed access in east Germany due to fear of the outside world, shows restriction "East Germany 546, Soviet Union - 548. We monitor east Germany in building G and Soviet Union in building H" -        Shows how people were always being monitored and watched by the government even then. No trust of anyone. "Aren't all of the Americans on our side?"  -        Unsure of anyone's true alliance. "Cuban Jazz" - what eastern German has for music because its also communist, not used to eastern music, mistake "Piano" -        Western German trait Lots of non-diegetic sound through the episode to seem more realistic Cigarettes and coffee represent addiction and Intoxication of luxury items and upper class features. – Chess -        Shows intelligence, allowed to play chess in east Germany. Blackmails to get what they want In East Germany - "if math') world for us, icon get you on the kidney transplant list"- as well as being drugged so having no choice about his situation.	Representation -        Family Representation: Martin sees his mother - caring and loving devotion, the way family is represented in the Media, elders should be respected. -        Martins mum conforms to stereotype Martins mother talking to Lenora about her disagreements of Martin being a spy - protective, knows It’s dangerous. -        Communism vs capitalism - luxury items that Lerona has e.g. Coffee, cigarettes etc. from the West. shows the divide between the west and east -        Upper class - party of the upper class in West Germany and how it differs to the party on the east of the lower/middle class - exaggerates the divide, the rich become richer and the poor become poorer. -        Lots of formalities Threat of nuclear war - uses real speeches by government officials - verisimilitude East Governments - Breaks matins finger to show authority. -        Uncommon to see east Germany represented in the media nut shows the general opinions of the caste government. -         Restriction of goods and purchase of everyday supplies showing how the east German communist government is run and how strict it is. -shown whenMartin walks in the supermarket and is surprised by all the colour and variety, as well as, when Lenora giver her sister the coffee as a present. West Germany - shows the authoritative powers rather than having undercover agents, less secretive. -        More open.. Shows authoritarian and libertarian. Race - Germany did not have a diverse racial population during this time, general Jackson also being American shows how much further ahead America was than Germany. Ingrid (Martins mum) Is a PE teacher - subverts the stereotype of it being a male only job.
Deutschland ‘83
Industry -        Co-production of AMC Networks', Sundance TV, and RTL television. Budget £35 million Premiered 17th June 2015 on Sundance TV channel in the US becoming the first German -        Language series on air in the US - surprising it was successful due to being subtitled and wasn't 'accepted' in US Released in Germany in November 2015  -        Wasn't successful at first due to being a bad reminder of this time, successful once it was successful in the US -        Released in the UK January 2016 October 2018, Nay confirmed on Instagram that there would be a third season to be released in 2020 -        Sundance TV created a digital marketing strategy that reflected the use of locations in Germany that were meant to create East and West vibes in 1983 -        D86 was written in English and then translated into German	Audience -        Who - ABC1. historical based therefore a more intellectual audience -        Pleasures - enjoying the historical contexts, awareness of the 80's for the older audience -        Access - Channel 4, YouTube, Google Play, Sundance TV, RTL -        3 million viewers across the entire 1st season.

Stranger Things

Language -        Benny calls Eleven "boy" despite being a girl, shows her androgyny and diversity and is more expected of the audience to display a wider range of representations. -        "Step right up and get your tickets to the freakshow" - referring to Jonathan, showing the typical 80's, American high school atmosphere and how Jonathan is an outsider, much like Mike, Will, Lucas and Dustin. -         Steve sneaking into Nancy's bedroom while Will is also sneaking out shows the attitude of teenagers. -         Chopper bikes - iconic 80's bike for kids and young teenagers. Important that aspects of the time like the bikes is shown throughout the series and amplifies the verisimilitude from an audience perspective. -        Hawkins lab relates to the American government at the time - threat of nuclear war, constantly being watch, you never know what the government is doing. "I don't get scared like that anymore" - shows how brave Will was trying to be before he went into the Upside - literally becoming a part of a horror movie. -        Intertextuality link to poltergeist Dustin and Lucas fighting over a reference to either the 'Hobbit' or 'Lord of the Rings' showing their nerdy side before later in the series. Mike being the leader and taking charge in the scene with Hopper in school shows his authority over the group. Eleven wearing the torn, muddy hospital gown, enigma - wondering what happened and why she's in this state.	Representation -        Defies 80's stereotypes - while a lot of characters in ST are typical for the time mainly e.g. Karen Wheeler, Dustin, Steve etc. -        Throughout the series a lot of these characters evolve as the events take place - the jock becomes the nice guy, the nerd falls in love, the loner gets the girl etc. -        Eleven is the most obvious character to be atypical in terms of her looks and personality. Whilst these stereotypes aren't as common in 2016 and onwards, due to a more diverse western culture, due to be set in the 80's it shows younger generations how narrow minded older generations used to be and creates nostalgia for older generations -        "Teenagers - free to go out when they wanted, less danger, irresponsible etc "Family life and relationships - Joyce love for Will and Jonathan compared to the Wheelers family atmosphere "Mothers "Absent fathers "Police "Government Supernatural
Stranger Things
Industry -        American, sci-fi, web television series. -        Written, directed and co-executive produced by the Duffer Brothers, as well as, co-executive-produced by Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. -        Netflix gave them creative freedom. -        Set in a fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana in the 1980s. -        First season focused on the investigation into the disappearance of a young boy amid supernatural events occurring around the town. -        Important that its based in a small urban town rather that a city to make the idea of crime and mystery more surprising. -        Phylogenetic girl (Eleven) - controls things with her mind. Came out July 15th - American summer holidays and just before the British summer holidays Popular across all ages. -        Nostalgic for older generation. -        Takes stereotypes and twists them. Typically, in horror movies the pure, virgin is the last alive, however, in ST she's the first to die. -        The Duffel brothers were rejected by Hollywood until accepted by Netflix who likes breaking rules and boundaries Netflix brands Stranger Things.	Audience -        Synergy with netflix - ability to binge watch -        Narrative enigmas (Roland Barthes) - involved with characters -        Realism - friendship/loyalty, young protagonist etc Retro styling Uses and gratifications -        Personalisation -        what can we relate to Information - knowledge about the time (80s, berlin wall etc) -        Entertainment - finding out what's happening to Will and why he was taken - Mike, Dustin and Lucas' journey -        Social interactions - water cooler moment -        Stranger Things is an escapist, non-realist entertaining drama – diversion -        Much discussed, written about hyped and virally sold - social interaction -        Identity is a key appeal e.g. personal identity -        Information is given 1980s cultural history - surveillance culture. -        Intertextuality to other horror/sci-fi films; ET, Carrie, Shining, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Stand By Me, Alien etc

D83 Context

D83 Characters

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pWoQ5GldEv68QeV6nNprO5bw3bcOHivgRD2Mzc45P5k/edit#heading=h.gjdgxs

D83 Representation

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XAq2LszxWnkxBz0Mee3wkbL8EzmqOk2lT0Gd2R0mlOE/edit

D83 Scene by Scene

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LJ2Sa-c1owXNrTL9-D7yfNkJWTVjx78MspVtXdyurg0/edit?usp=sharing

Stranger Things Character Representation

Representations

Write a paragraph on each of these areas

Teenagers

In Stranger Things, Mike, Will, Dustin and Lucas have been shown in a very geeky light. This is due to them playing a role playing board game downstairs, creating own campaigns, staying after class to use geeky equipment and having a lot of pop culture references which no one else but them get. However, Johnathan is presented as more of an adult due to his duties of cooking breakfast, taking extra shifts at work and getting his little brother, Will, ready for school. Nancy is the typical nerdy student whom studies and sticks to the rules; however, with the bad influence of Steve Harrington, the high school ‘Jock’, she is slowly putting Steve as her main priority rather than studying and going to class.

Family life and relationships

Mike Wheelers family life is the perfect definition of a 1980s white suburban, middle class household. With heterosexual white parents and two healthy sisters the family can be classes and privileged. His father is a typical Dad, who leaves all the household duties to the mother and just sits back and relaxes while at home. Will Byers is from a loving family whose parents have split but has a male role model to look up to, his brother. The family seems to financially struggle, due to John taking extra shifts at work, as well as Joyce working night shifts. The monetary issues has little effect on the families happiness; however, Will is presented to be an outlier in the group and doesn’t quite fit anywhere due to his quirkiness. Hopper used to have a family, however at the end of the episode it was revealed that Hoppers daughter died and his relationship with the mother is unknown.

Mothers

Joyce Byers is a hard working committed mother, however, cannot carry the whole load of the house, which is why she has delegated house duties to John due to her working late night shifts. Although financially unstable, Joyce still finds the money to spoil the kids, such as taking Will to a show which he thought he couldn’t go to. This shows her strong affection to her kids although it may not seem that way due to her always working.

Absent fathers

Jim Hopper is somewhat of an absent father as he previously had a family but doesn’t like to mention the fact his daughter died. Will Byers father is an absent father in the fact that he split with Joyce. Unlike Joyce, Mr. Byers has moved on and started a new life in a city with another woman, most likely younger due to her brief moment on the phone.

Police

Jim Hopper is a lonely, isolated officer. He has late nights and passes out on the couch opposed to sleeping in a bed. He wakes up with a cigarette and uses alcohol as mouthwash. These late nights cause him to come to work early, however he is the Sheriff which may show he believes he has more authority than the other policemen. Due to the death of his daughter he plagues himself with alcohol and cigarettes and lives a boring life. The police is shown to be more of a community service for the town as the worst thing that has happened in the city was a resident getting attacked by a bird as the bird thought her hair was a nest.

Government – Scientists

The government is represented in a very mysterious light. Episode 1 only shows brief glimpses of what appears to be the government but isn’t totally obvious as to who they are. They appear to listen in on the whole city, with workers just listening in on peoples conversations whilst smoking. Their main focus seems to be capturing Eleven and will go through killing innocent people just to do so. This makes the government seem corrupt; however, they have appeared to of created a monster, which already killed one person and has taken Will Byers.

Supernatural

Supernatural activity occur throughout the first episode. Some sort of creature is features briefly throughout the episode, however never fully shown. The creature has been distinguished from eerie sounds it makes, as well as glowing eyes. Will Byers crashed his bike due to seeing this creature in the middle of the road. Supernatural is further represented through the lightbulb constantly flickering, which seems to be being controlled by the creatures presence, as well as the weird telephone exploding in Joyce’s ear.

Stranger Things Characters

Character	Information
Joyce Byers	Major or Minor Character? Major Stereotype?  Single Mother Characteristics? -        Anxious -        Caring -        Unorganised Contribution to Narrative?  Mother to Will Byers, the missing kid. Wants to know what happened to him.
Jim Hopper	Major or Minor Character? Major  Stereotype? Lazy police officer Characteristics? -        Lazy -        Lonely -        Leader Contribution to Narrative? Sheriff of the town. Currently leading investigation on the Missing of Will Byers.
Mike Wheeler	Major or Minor Character? Major  Stereotype? Nerdy teenager Characteristics? -        Nerdy -        Courageous -        Smart Contribution to Narrative? Friend of Will Byers. Forces group to go searching for him.
Dustin Henderson	Major or Minor Character? Major  Stereotype? Nerdy teenager Characteristics? -        Nerdy -        Scared -        Outgoing Contribution to Narrative? Friend of Will Byers. Afraid of whatever took Will.
Lucas Sinclair	Major or Minor Character? Major  Stereotype? Nerdy teenager Characteristics? -        Nerdy -        Brave -        Smart Contribution to Narrative? Friend of Will Byers. Follows Mike into the woods to search for Will.
Will Byers	Major or Minor Character? Major  Stereotype? Outlier Characteristics? -        Quirky -        Awkward -        Outsider Contribution to Narrative? Focus of whole narrative, kid gone missing.
Eleven	Major or Minor Character? Major  Stereotype? Supernatural hero. Characteristics? -        Quiet -        Scared -        Dangerous Contribution to Narrative? Is the only one that appears to have the powers to get will back.
Jonathan Byers	Major or Minor Character? Minor Stereotype? Caring older brother Characteristics? -        Helpful -        Outlier -        Caring Contribution to Narrative? Is Will Byers older brother, seems to be the fatherly figure of the Byers house. subverts teenage role
Nancy Wheeler	Major or Minor Character? Minor Stereotype? Geeky student. Characteristics? -        Smart -        In love Contribution to Narrative? Brother of Mike. Currently flirting with Steve Harrington.
Steve Harrington	Major or Minor Character? Minor Stereotype? Nerdy teenager Characteristics? -        Nerdy -        Scared -        Smart Contribution to Narrative? Subverts typical Jock
Barbara Holland	Major or Minor Character? Major  Stereotype? Lazy police officer Characteristics? Contribution to Narrative?
Benny Hammond	Major or Minor Character? Major  Stereotype? Lazy police officer Characteristics? Contribution to Narrative?
Mr Clarke	Major or Minor Character? Major  Stereotype? Lazy police officer Characteristics? Contribution to Narrative?
Connie Frazier (Social Worker)	Major or Minor Character? Major  Stereotype? Lazy police officer Characteristics? Contribution to Narrative? Subverting female role
The Scientists	Major or Minor Character? Major  Stereotype? Lazy police officer Characteristics? Contribution to Narrative?
Ted Wheeler	Major or Minor Character? Major  Stereotype? Lazy police officer Characteristics? Contribution to Narrative?
Karen Wheeler	Major or Minor Character? Major  Stereotype? Lazy police officer Characteristics? Contribution to Narrative?