Mise-en-scéne Stranger Things Analysis

        - Selected Aspects

Aspects of Mise-en-scéne (CLAMPS)

• Costume
• Lighting
• Actions/Actor
• Make-Up 
• Props
• Setting

Denotation - Costume:

At the beginning of the clip I could see: a man wearing a lab coat

Connotation - Costume:

A lab coat is usually associated with Science and/or experiments and so we are able to infer as the audience that his occupation is a Scientist. If we were to expand on this we could say that he is doing experiments due to the clothing he is wearing.

Denotation - Lighting:

In this clip I could see; flickering lights; flickering lights when the man was in the elevator; darkness as the elevator doors closed

Connotation - Lighting:

The flickering lights at the start create an eerie atmosphere which causes the audience to anticipate something to happen. This keeps the audience on their toes and will make them prepared for any jump scares or sudden actions that might be coming up. Additionally, it will keep them engaged and might make them think, 'I won't get scared', this kind of mindset allows you to pay attention to the little details that might be hints to jump scares and in turn allows the audience to thoroughly understand the episode. The use of the flickering lights when the man was in the elevator just added to the tension and made the audience to expect something to come out. This drives the attention away from above the man where the 'thing' actually is and causes both the audience and man to think that their safe when in reality he's in a whole lot more danger. The use of darkness after hearing the man scream and get lifted up makes the audience think that something horrible has happened to him and that a chapter has ended for him as you can also associate black with darkness.

Denotation - Actions:

In this clip I can see; a man with a lab coat running out of a room; a man with a lab coat continuously pressing elevator buttons; a growling sound; a man get lifted up and screaming;

Connotation - Actions:

The fact that this man is wearing a lab coat suggests that he could be a scientist and the location is his lab so he's most likely carrying out an experiment. However, the fact that he is running away in such fear while looking behind him could mean that one (?) of his experiments has gone terribly wrong and is possibly putting his very life at danger at this point. When he was continuously pressing the buttons of the elevator I think it allowed the audience to know that whatever/whoever it was that was chasing him, it was fast and the man had to get away desperately. The growling sound causes the audience to question and think, 'what is that?' which makes the shocking realisation that it's above even more impactful. The fact that he is a grown man and was lifted that easily suggests that whatever/whoever it is, is in fact quite strong which just makes it more dangerous. 

Denotation - Props:
In the clip I could see; bikes: the board game Dungeons and Dragons.

Connotation - Props:

I think that the use of bikes in the clip, shows that they are still quite young as having a bike is quite common at that age. Also the fact that they take them around with them a lot implies they are special to them. This leaves a greater effect on the audience because Will left his bike as he was running away from the monster. This further shows that the thing/person was very dangerous. The use of the board game Dungeons and Dragons shows the kind of things that the children enjoy and allows us, the audience to understand the characters more.

Denotation - Setting:

In the clip I could hear crickets chirping; I could see a man wearing a lab coat.

Connotation - Setting:

At the beginning, we can tell that the setting is either really calm or deserted, this is shown by the sound of crickets chirping which is usually quite faint. This implies that it is very quiet and maybe everyone who is supposed to be there has disappeared. The fact that there is a man wearing a lab coat makes the audience aware now that the setting is a lab, which could also mean that there are experiments going on. However, for a lab, it is quite strange to only see on person there and for it to be so quiet.