Stranger Things- intertextuality

 Intertextuality- The shaping of a text's meaning, by another text.

• Set in the 1980's, Stranger Thing's makes plently of intertextual references to a range of texts from this era, such as Stephen King novels and the fantasy game Dungeons and Dragons- the game being played in the opening scene. The drama makes reference to past films, Steven Spielburg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) for example, with the camera panning down from the sky emulating the opening of E.T. What connects these cultural texts are the genres of horror and science fiction. This connection or reference to genre in episode 1 of Stranger Things provides familiarity and a starting point for audience interest and engagement.
• The success of stranger things, in part, is due to the narrative pacing of its events. The Duffer Brother's made successful movies in Hollywood, but the biggest challenge for them with LFTVD was how to tell a cinematic story over eight hours rather than two. The Duffer Brothers understood the demands of traditional cable and of satisfyiing advertisers with continuous narrative hooks to retain their audience on a daily and weekly scheduled basis. Netflix allowed the Duffer Brothers flexibility to tell their story because of its method of streaming and distribution removed the pressures of cable TV. 
• The duffer brothers commented that the the production costs for stranger things were low, but the casting of two stars, Winona Ryder and Matthew Mordine added status to the show, which was received well by audiences.

The Guardian, 12 July 2016:

"Stranger Things is fun for almost all of the family, depending on your juvenile cohort's response to occasional gory scenes. The pace is (just about) fast enough to keep younger audiences hooked, and anyone old enough to remember 1983 for real is in for a richly enjoyable retro-feast whose cockle-warming abilities make up for (what is for us) a slightly predictable narrative"

• Episode 1 of Stranger Things allowed the drama to introduce character and setting within the era of 1980's America- stylising them with a sense of nostalgia for both older and younger audiences. For example, the opening sequence, of the disappearance of Will Byers and his encounter with the creature, toys with the idea of a mysterious creature that can consume humans. This plot also sets up a sense of genre- the use of a monster provides familiarity for the audience, referencing the scifi/horror genres. The playfulness with genre is evident in Stranger Thing's, as although it is like a teen movie (set around a group of children and a school community), it is also serious and scary, dealing with children's sensibilities.