Mise-en-scene: Stranger Things analysis

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In the beginning of the video clip, we see a character that is wearing a white lab coat, suggesting that he is a laboratory worker. His movements were frantic, and his expression was full of fear, which implies that he was running away from something that utterly terrified him. The flashing white laboratory lights and loud alarm, set an ominous atmosphere for rest of the clip, as well as foreshadow the disappearance of a young boy at the end of the clip, when we see more flashing lights near his friend's home. In the middle of the clip, we see four young boys wearing jeans, joggers, flannels and bright t-shirts, playing board games. This suggests that the boys are young pre-teens living in the 1980s. We are also see other clues that are able to show us what year they live in, such as wired telephones, and old televisions. The board game that these boys play foreshadows the fantastical and creatures that will later become dangers to them. During the evening, once the boys leave to their separate homes, the atmosphere is severely ominous due to the flashing light and foggy air. One of the boys side tracks and rides his bike into a 'RESTRICTED AREA' that just so happens to be the same laboratory that the horrified lab worker was seen in at the beginning. This is where the boy spots a tall, creepy figure in the fog, and falls down the side of the road, into the sinister woods beside the 'RESTRICTED AREA'. When the boy runs, leaving his bike behind, the stop of movement of one of the wheels foreshadows the boy's disappearance at the end of the clip. At his home, he finds his dog barking frantically and nobody else there, so for protection, he grabs a rifle from his family shed. However, he never shoots with it, seeing something that absolutely terrified him (probably the figure up close), and disappears. The rifle is also not seen after this. The clip ends with an extremely bright lightbulb, hanging in the place where he boy and rifle disappeared, making lights a huge influence in showing the dangers of what will happen in the series.