Stranger Things: Editing Case Study

 

Today, I'm doing a case study on my latest obsession: Stranger Things! Even in just the opening sequence, the show is able to instill fear, worry, and anticipation within the audience. The preliminary scenes do a great job at setting the tone for the rest of the season, with certain cuts and shots particularly helping do this. In this blog post, I will be analyzing the editing techniques used in beginning of Season 1, Episode 1 of Stranger Things.

This scene is showed in the first seconds of the episode. The camera tilts down to show this laboratory, which looks slightly mysterious. This is known as an establishing shot. It introduces the location where a scene will take place. The dim lighting, ambient nature noises, and fact that it's nighttime help set a foreboding mood, painting this building in an eerie light. This alludes to the action that's yet to come. Additionally, a major element of title-card scenes are text. This clip's typography establishes the town the story is taking place in, which is named Hawkins. The building being shown belongs to the government--specifically the U.S. Department of Energy--which makes it rather formidable. A viewer may suspect serious business will go down in the next scene, potentially business that the government is trying to hide...

After panning into this door for an uncomfortably long time, a scientists bursts out of it and runs. Alarms blare behind him. A swift cut transitions from a medium-shot of the guy running to a close-up on his feet. This is an example of an insert shot. It inserts the man's feet into the scene to emphasize his fear and hurried movements. It picks up the pace of the overall episode--the original title card and "zooming-into-door" clips build expectation and lack in action, but this adrupt scene moves the plot forward. Unlike the scene before, which was much more tame, this scene carries a strong sense of urgency. It keeps the audience members on their feet, specifically by prompting the question of why this character is running. 

The man enters an elevator and tries to catch his breath, believing he escaped what he's been running from. However, he hears growling above him. Screen direction is used in adjusting the camera. At first, an eye-line perspective shows him inside of the elevator. But, when he looks up, the camera moves with him, changing to a birds-eye view. This exhibits screen direction. The camera angle changes with the character's actions. Here, this technique is used to build fear and anticipation within the audience. It shows that the scientist hasn't truly gotten away--something powerful and otherworldly is towering over him, foreshadowing his death that comes right after.

The elevator door closes, and you hear the scientist scream. Then, the scene changes. This shot depicts the outside of someone's house. But, before the next clip is shown, a little boy starts speaking. This is an example of an L Cut because you hear the audio for the next clip--in this case, the kid's voice--before you see him onscreen. This is done to introduce a new sequence and new characters. 

This scene reveals the source of the voice heard in the L Cut. The boy talking is named Mike, whose playing Dungeons & Dragons with his friends Lucas, Will, and Dustin. The first shot shows him narrating an intense story to his friends, helping immerse them into the game. Reverse shots are used to reveal the faces of his friends, specifically Lucas and Will, who are seen gathered around and actively listening to him. This scene doesn't introduce new characters. It creates irony. The children are playing a fictional game involving monsters. However, none of them know there are currently real ones roaming in their town.

After Mike's mother cuts their D&D game short, Lucas, Dustin, and Will bike home. This scene shows Dustin and Will riding home together after Lucas had left. Dialogue between the two reveals they are going to race to Dustin's house, and whoever gets there first gets a comic. A nostalgic-sounding synth plays in the background. Continuity editing shows the two boys biking together from different perspectives: the first clip being at a straight-ahead view, the second from an angle, and the final at a distance. Despite the contrasting camera positions, this clip still exhibits a continuity editing style. It's used in film to create a continuous and seamless course of action. This is seen here, as the varying point-of-views and cuts take you along the characters' bike race, allowing the scenes to flow into one another. It emphasizes how far ahead Will is in the lead, which explains Dustin's play-aggravation. The music helps pull everything together. Many can relate to this scene, and or recall similar experiences with childhood friends--from racing to eachother's houses to the banter. Overall, the scene is framed as one very pure; a memory from a happier time.

Will is on his way home. This scene doesn't have any background music. Instead, there’s only ambient noise. This scene should feel tranquil. But, the lack of sound and clip right before this—which showed Will had passed a “Do Not Enter” sign—makes viewers worry for him. A smash cut solidifies their fear. This abrupt scene is used to frighten the audience, going straight from calm to chaos. It shows a tall, dark creature standing in Will's path. The Demogorgon. Smash cuts are often used in jump-scare scenes like these to create disorientation. Here, it does this while introducing the climax. In the next scenes, the viewer can expect the real Demogorgon to go after Will. 

In shock, Will swerves his bike into the woods to avoid crashing into the Demogorgon. Then, he abandons his bike and rushes to his house, locking the doors and immediately trying to call his mom. But, the phone has no signal. His dog barks in the background. The Demogorgon stands outside the front door and snarls. Will keeps eyes fixed on the door, terrified. This example demonstrates crosscutting, because the camera cuts to the multiple actions happening at once. In this case, it's the dog barking, Demogorgon's approaching, and Will’s attempts to call for help. Eventually, the monster does break in, showing Will’s helplessness against it as he runs into a shed behind his house. 

Inside the shed, Will finds a rifle, loads it, and points it at the door. He trembles. However, the Demogorgon doesn’t enter from the door. It slowly emerges from behind Will, which is seen in the first clip. Then, the perspective changes. Point of view editing shows Will’s reaction to it from the Demogorgon’s eyes. This shows Will’s realization that the Demogorgon has “won;” that he can no longer run from this situation. The way the beast towers over him is also emphasized by this editing style, underscoring its overwhelming power.

The sequence ends in a way viewers wouldn’t expect. Instead of a bloodcurdling scream or the Demogorgon killing Will, both characters disappear from the shed. There is no intense action, which the previous scenes seemed to build up to. The shed is completely empty. The light flickers and the scene fades out, marking the introduction clip’s conclusion. This is done to "throw viewers off" and create a sense of intrigue. They likely suspected the scene to end with a "bang,” but the ending feels rather mysterious and unfinished. This is what encourages them to keep watching. They'll want to figure out what happened to Will, and how this monster entered the human world in the first place. This achieves the primary goal of a film or TV show’s introduction: to hook the audience.

Overall, the beginning of Stranger Things uses many elements of editing to make the watch experience frightening. This is done especially in the sequence's climax: with smash cuts, crosscutting, and point-of-view editing being used to create jarring effects and the element of surprise. This establishes the show’s genre as horror—specifically supernatural horror—and encourages the audience to keep watching. 

That’s it for now, everyone. But, this isn’t the last of Stranger Things you’ll hear from me! Keep up with my blog for future posts, potentially starring Stranger Things once more. Until then, I’ll see you soon!