Stranger Things Overview

Ownership

Who is the owner?

• Stranger things is owned by Netflix a subscription based streaming service.
• Netflix produce many other 'Netflix originals' like stranger things such as 'Riverdale' and 'Dynasty' which have been similarly successful and popular.

How is it funded?

• Funding for 'Netflix originals' comes from the subscriptions that viewers pay monthly to watch Netflix content.
• Netflix diversified by introducing the 'Netflix originals ‘their first being 'house of cards' released in 2013.
• This is because Netflix must pay companies to stream content that doesn’t belong to the. By producing their own content, they can keep it on the site forever with no charge. This is an example of vertical integration.

What aspects of production, distribution and circulation do they own?

• Netflix is the only distributer of its original content.
• This helps fund their products because it attracts more people to watch more Netflix originals thus gaining subscribers to the      streaming service.

How do they reach their audience?

• Netflix has around 100 million subscribers with a global reach however content differs country to country,
• Within its first 35 days on the streaming service stranger things averaged 14.07 million adults aged 18-49.
• Audience is measured by the public by 'Nielsen ratings' as Netflix is based off subscribers not viewership.

How do they maintain their audience?

• Netflix maintains its audience by releasing new series constantly and releasing episodes weekly whilst keeping previous episodes up so you can start watching or re watch whenever you like.
• Netflix uses social media like Instagram, twitter and YouTube to market its content and they are successful in engaging with their audience.

Production

Who produced it?

• Stranger things was produced by 21 laps entertainment a commercial American film and television company.
• They have produced other tv series such as 'last man standing' and films such as 'night at the museum'.

 How much did it cost?

• Stranger things season 1 had about an approximate $48 million budget.
• The cast consisted of famous 80's stars such as Winona Rider and David Harbour. Alongside an unknow group of children such as Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard.
• 100s of crew members were involved in the making of stranger things.

Pre Production?

• Stranger Things was created by Matt and Ross Duffer, known professionally as the Duffer Brothers. The two had completed writing and producing their 2015 film Hidden, which they had tried to emulate the style of M. Night Shyamalan, however, due to changes at Warner Bros., its distributor, the film did not see a wide release and the Duffer Brothers were unsure of their future.
• The premise of stranger things was written around the Duffer Brothers fascination with the cold war and experiments that took place during the cold war such as project MKUltra a mind control experiment thus inspiring the character 11's mind control abilities.
• The concept of the 2013 film Prisoners, detailing the moral struggles a father goes through when his daughter is kidnapped was inspiration for the disappearance of Will and the effect that has on Joyce and Jonathan. 
• Other influences cited by the Duffer Brothers include Stephen King novels and films produced by Steven Spielberg. Such as 'it' and 'stand by me'.
• Stranger things is told throughout 8 episodes which would be unconventional for a regular broadcast tv series however With Netflix as the platform, the Duffer Brothers were not limited to a typical 22-episode format. Eight episodes allowed them to give time to characterization in addition to narrative development; if they had less time available, they would have had to remain committed to telling a horror film as soon as the monster was introduced and abandon the characterization.

Production?

• The filming of the first season began in November 2015.
• The brothers had desired to film the series around the Long Island area to match the initial Montauk concept. However it was difficult to shoot in Long Island in the cold weather, and the production started scouting locations in and around the Atlanta, Georgia area.
• Filming for the first season concluded in early 2016.
• Director of photography Tim Ives shot the first season with Leica lens and the 6K Red Scarlet Dragon to "make sure that our images had the soft and round tones that are in '80s films"; this is achieved through digital image processing. Ives said that these cameras allow them to create an adaptable quality to the recorded film that is adaptable to a wide range of viewing experiences, including support for newer and future television technologies such as high dynamic range video that was just becoming adopted at the time of filming.

Post Production?

• Season 1 was edited by Kevin Ross and Dean Zimmerman.
• To create the aged effect for the series, a film grain was added over the footage, which was captured by scanning in film stock from the 1980s.
• The brothers had wanted to avoid any computer-generated effects for the monster and other parts of the series and stay with practical effects, so they created an animatronic to play the part of the demogorgon. However, the six-month filming time left them little time to plan out and test practical effects rigs for some of the shots. 
• They went with a middle ground of using constructed props including one for the monster whenever they could, but for other shots, such as when the monster bursts through a wall, they opted to use digital effects. 
• Post-production on the first season was completed the week before it was released to Netflix

What was the distribution release strategy?

• The first 8 minutes of season 1 episode 1 was release on YouTube on July 14 2016.
• The whole season consisting of all 8 episodes was then release on July 15th 2016.
• The season was released in keeping with the premise of Netflix’s 'binge watching' nature.

Marketing

Who marketed it?

• Netflix is responsible for marketing surroundign all of their originals

What was the marketing strategy?

• By releasing the first 8 minutes on youtube this creates a cliff hanger enticing people to want to watch the whole series and creating a media 'buzz'. This is a traditional marketing tool.
• Stranger thigns was advertised on social media such as twitter and instagram launching specific stranger thigns pages for fans to interact on.
• The fist post on the 'strangerthingstv' instagram page was posted on the 14th june 2016 only 1 month prior to the 8 minute release on youtube.
• Posters for stranger things were made in the style of fmaous movie posters from the 80's to attract an older audience to feel nostalgic and ebcome interested in the series as it will take them back to the 80's.

What is the role of the audience in marketing?

• Fans become prosumers by creating memes and fan art that circulate the internet which in turn become free press.
• Trending twitter hasttags such as #justiceforbarb start an online buzz which is also free press.

Circulation

Release

• Within its first 35 days on the streaming service stranger things averaged 14.07 million adults aged 18-49.
• It was released in the UK on July 15th 2016
• Rotten Tomatoes gave the first season an approval rating of 96% based on 82 reviews, and a weighted average rating of 8.04/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Exciting, heartbreaking, and sometimes scary, Stranger Things acts as an addictive homage to Spielberg films and vintage 1980s television."
• Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker also applauded the series and wrote, "This is astoundingly efficient storytelling, eight hours that pass in a blink, with even minor characters getting sharp dialogue, dark humor, or moments of pathos."
• In a negative review, cultural critic Grafton Tanner called the series "wish fulfillment" and "a window through which the present-shocked can gaze at a clichéd past."Similarly, Marinna Guzy of The Establishment wrote: "When confronted with a story like Stranger Things, a recycled retelling of an old story being marketed as homage and good, clean nostalgia, one has to wonder whether or not studios and content creators like the Duffer Brothers ever ask themselves whether or not the story they are telling is the one that should be told. What purpose does Stranger Things serve beyond reinforcing the status quo in the media landscape and perpetuating the dangerous delusion that things were better way back when?"

How can it be viewed

• It can be viewed on Netflix.
• The series is released as a whole not by weekly installments.
• You can purhcase stranger things box set or on DVD.

Additional spin off material

• The stranger thigns mobile game was releaesed 4th October 2017. A second game was announced to be released following the 3rd season in 2019.
• Dark Horse Comics announced a partnership with Netflix for "a multi-year publishing line" of stories set in the Stranger Things world. The first title would be a four-issue miniseries written by Jody Houser and interior art by Stefani Martino. The story would be set during the events of season 1, showing Will's perspective throughout his time in the Upside Down. The first issue of the miniseries was released on September 26, 2018.
• With the release of the second season of the series, Netflix also released Beyond Stranger Things, an aftershow hosted by Jim Rash. The guests of the aftershow are composed of cast and crew from the series, including the Duffer Brothers and the series' stars, to discuss the development and behind-the-scenes production of the series and its larger mythology.

Role of the audience in circulation

• Online have created a plethora of digital tools to celebrate the hit show. One popular example, Make It Stranger, is a type generator that allows you to “strangify” any words you choose into the show title’s unique font. These images can then be downloaded, Tweeted, or shared on Facebook.
• The “Stranger Things” synth machine, means you can customize your version of the theme song with Robert Vinlaun’s ramsophone.
• On Reddit this hub of fan activity showcases everything from video essays on ‘80s pop culture to real tattoos that were inspired by the series.

The Killing Overview

Ownership

Who is the owner?

• The Killing is owned by DR which is the Danish broadcasting corporation. It is a public service organisation (similar to the BBC)
• DR have produced many other similar dramas to The Killing such as 'Borgen' and 'The Bridge'.

How is it funded?

• DR is funded through the media license, costing 2.492 DKK per year per household since 2017.
• Revenue also comes from commercial activities such as concerts and events in the Koncerthuset, from book, CD, and DVD sales, and from overseas sales of its catalogue of programmers.

What aspects of production, distribution and circulation do they own?

• DR owns the production and distribution of The Killing.
• It was produced by DR and initially released on DR1.
• Since its success it has been released on Amazon Prime.
• It has also been bought by the BBC and was shown on BBC4 in 2011.
• As well as the UK, DR also sold the series to a number of other broadcasters worldwide, and The Killing was eventually shown in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Russia and Spain with varying degrees of success.

How do they reach their audience?

• DR is a Danish National corporation that reaches all of Denmark.
• The Killing season 1 episode 1 on its release on 7th January 2007 amassed 1,550,000 Danish viewers.
• Season 1 in total amassed around 30 million views.

How do they maintain their audience?

• DR reaches its audience by trailers and advertisements on DRs channels to reach their core audience.

Production

Who produced it?

• It was produced by DR.
• DR is a nonprofit public broadcasting service.
• DR is the Danish national broadcasting service.

 How much did it cost?

• DR dramas typically come in at about €1m (US$1.1m) per episode.
• There is no significant cast member who would have required a large fee. The main cast is Inspector Sarah Lund: Sofie Gråbøl Inspector Jan Meyer: Søren Malling.
• Hundreds of crew members were involved in the production of The Killing.

Pre Production?

• Søren Sveistrup, series creator and head writer, worked closely with lead actress Sofie Gråbøl throughout the writing process to successfully develop the character of Detective Inspector Sarah Lund. 
• Gråbøl had a history of playing emotionally demonstrative characters on Danish television.
• The drama is told in 20, 50-minute episodes.

Production?

• The Killing was filmed in 2006.
• The Killing was filmed and set in Copenhagen.

Post Production

• Editors of the series include Elizabeth Kling and Amy Duddleston.

What was the distribution release strategy?

• DR distributed The Killing onto its main channel DR1.
• The first ten episodes were shown on DR1 each Sunday from early January to the middle of March 2007 and the intention was to show the remaining ten episodes in January–March 2008 however it was so popular in Denmark that in early March it was announced that the final ten episodes would be brought forward to the autumn of 2007 they were shown from late September to late November 2007.

Marketing

Who marketed it?

• DR was responsible for the marketing campaign.
• Traditional marketing tools such as trailers and posters were used.

What was the marketing strategy?

• Audiences were invited to engage and participate through a website made by DR which allowed viewers to answer polls on what they thought was going to happen next.

What is the role of the audience in marketing?

• Consumers of The Killing have answered to a blog set up by the guardian in the UK to discuss what Sarah Lund means to them which brings together a community of people all with a love of The Killing.

Circulation

Release

• The Killing was released in Denmark on 7th January 2007.
• It was released in the UK during the spring of 2011.
• The American version was made in 2011.

How can it be viewed

• The Killing can be viewed by purchasing the seasons.
• It can be viewed on amazon prime.
• On its original release one episode was released weekly on a Sunday.

Additional spin off material

• Due to the success of The Killing in the UK an American version was made by fox to broadcast in the US rather than the subtitled Danish version.

Role of the audience in circulation

• Prosumer content can be found online such as fan made merchandise.
• There is a community online for The Killing mainly located on forums such as Reddit to discuss plotlines and theories of what is going to happen next in the series.

Evaluate The Relevance Of Clay Shirkys 'End Of Audience' Theory To Long Form Television Drama

Clay Shirkys end of audience theory argues that in the 'new' media every consumer is now a producer. Behaviour is variable across different sites, with some of the audience creating content, some synthesizing content and some consuming content. According to this theory user generated content creates an emotional connection between people who care about something. The 'old' media created a mass audience. The 'new' media provides a platform for people to discuss. This theory applies to Stranger Things because fans have taken the content from Stranger Things and used it to produce their own content such as memes, fan art and edits. This is known as becoming a 'textual poacher'. Similarly, on twitter fans have created viral hashtags such as #justiceforbarb and #weareallbarb this allows an entire community to come together of people who all love Stranger Things who can discuss and share ideas and theories. This in turn develops a community known as a ‘fandom’. This can have a positive impact on Netflix because the content the prosumers create acts as free press for Stranger Things exposing the content to an even wider audience. On the other hand, this could also have a negative impact on Netflix because negative reviews and criticisms can also go viral quickly which may deter people from watching. Likewise, with The Killing DR have created their own webpage where viewers can take part in polls to see what the audience believes is going to happen next, however this platform was created by the producers of The Killing DR which does not make it fully audience driven. A blog was also made on The Guardian with this site for people to say what Sarah Lund meant to them, this again is allowing people to come toegther on the 'new' media to discuss their common interests and create a communtiy for The Killing.