Deutschland 83

Ep 1 - Quantum Jump
Oct 2015/Jan 2016 Channel 4

Targets older gen through sponsorship with Lexus
Targets younger gen through action and also young main character
Binary oppositions using Levi-Strauss established from the opening eg East v West, Soldier v Spy
Genre - Cold War spy thriller set in 1983 (Period Drama)
Early action sequences (Barthes proairetic code)
Personal identity with young central protagonist - elements of naivety (facial expressions)
Iconic 80s signifiers - Ronald Reagan, ex US president voice over and Frankie Goes To Hollywood

‘Two Tribes’ (song/music video that mocks the ‘cold war’ - reading/context dependant on cultural capital)
Action sequences as USP, high production values.
Educated ABC1 demographic 

80s reference points
Spy thriller but also hybrid coming of age drama - see Steve Neale repetition and difference theory. Fast paced action thriller
We identify with Moritz Stamm/Martin Rauch
Using Barthes, its full of 80s cultural signifiers as with Stranger Things within a postmodern context
Its a medium/high production value drama
High production values, intended to be a culturally relevant German Export
Article links with prestige of German Expressionist Cinema
East German Socialst ideology almost seen as aspirational through the character of Martin Rauch but then reverts to stereotype.
Using Gauntlett D83 oscillates between diversity encoding at times a singular, straightforward east/west identity
Premiered at the Berlin FIlm Festival, globally distributed
Critical success - not least for its fashion and 80s soundtrack
Commercial success - highest rated subtitled drama in UK, but flopped in Germany
Creates by a husband and wife team Anna and Jorg Winger
Reagan’s ‘Evil Empire’s speech references the 80s nuclear threat and East v West symbolism through the then Berlin Wall
Sundance TV and RTL TV German/American co-production
Sundance are US pay TV channel owned by AMC
RTL largest free to air TV channel in Germany
June 2015 Sundance TV premiere - first german language series to air on any US network, then germany in 2015 and UK in 2016

Stranger Things Industry

Scene by Scene Representation

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRkamY6U-Xc8iF4zy1YsL9eXyKrh2VUNNb9_g63vEw7QQKR683nVtdXsT3bkwOuVaUq2_OgZhw153x1/pub

Stranger Things Essay - 519 Words

Throughout Stranger Things Season 1 episode 1, social groups of vast variety are portrayed, especially in the last few scenes. For example, Mike, Dustin and Lucas are out searching for Will, where they are having a conversation regarding the supernatural and other topics, commonly considered geeky subjects. Therefore, the key social group that are represented in this scene are nerds which are shown by the boys discussing the supernatural. Thinks interlinks to other significant films, such as ET, which is demonstrated by the boys cruising around on their choppers and using torches out in the woods, along with the final shot of the boys discovery of Eleven. The way in which the media demonstrates realism within the scene. In addition, the boys only have each other to tackle society in Hawkins, showing their reliability on one another. This means that in the scene when the boys are searching for Will, they share a passion and love for Will and sympathy for Will’s disappearance.

In the next scene, the story reverts to Nancy studying and Steve interrupting via sneaking/climbing into her room to share his feelings towards her. Nancy and Steve are the sole focus of this scene with their social group being teenagers, and this story is a side narrative of episode 1 to distract the focus of the main story. Furthermore, the relationship between the two characters plays a significant role in how the episode finishes. This representation of ‘love’ is shown through part of the scene. The fact that Nancy switches her focus back to her revision shows the power Nancy has and therefore, this changes our entire opinion of Nancy. The social group of ‘teenagers’ that’s focused on in this scene indicates that teenagers have a lot of drama around love and relationships.

As this sequence enravels, the story leads to the Byers’ household in which Jonathan and Joyce are reminiscing about Will being in their lives. The social group that is analysed in this scene is love, family and absent fathers. Initially, family love is presented through the characters emotions, and the fact that they're very close to one another shows the affection that the characters have. Also, Jonathan has to step up and look after Joyce and Will as the father figure, where he cooks and cares for the house whilst Joyce works. Therefore, due to being in this situation, Jonathan is trying to break his characters stereotype of being the weird, quiet kid to the man of the house in Joyce’s time of need.

In the final scene when the boys discover Eleven, the social group highlighted is geeks, previously stated, and the genre is described as Sci-Fi and the supernatural. These genres correlates throughout all intertextual references to ET, and other films such as The Goonies . This refers to the scenes in ET where the children find the alien in the woods. This reference within Stranger Things is shown at 2 scenes within the first episode; one where Dustin, Lucas and Mike are cycling on rainy, dark woods on their choppers, and secondly, with the discovery of Eleven to the boys. 

NEA Blog Link

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