timed essay question 4

 

Multiple narrative strands are the key convention of long form television dramas. Discuss how far you agree with this statement in relation to the set episode of the long form television drama you have studied.

Stranger Things episode one sets up the multiple narrative strands in the long-form television series, and has multiple narratives that are at different points in their narrative structure to keep the interest for their primary audience. 

All forms of shows and movies tend to follow the classic Hollywood narrative structure which includes an equilibrium, disruption, recognition, resolution and the new equilibrium. This narrative structure was made for stories to be told effectively in film and tv, so audiences wouldn't get confused about what part of the story is happening at a certain time. This structure is used slightly different in long-form television dramas, such as Stranger Things as they need to use this narrative structure across multiple episodes, so that each episode wont be repetitive, and the audience won't loose interest in the show. 

On one hand I agree with the statement as, the way that Stranger Things uses this style of narrative structure is by making the main narrative of the series about a big disruption or the resolution to the plot, in the first episode of Stranger Things, the three main narrative strands in the show are Will's disappearance, Eleven's escape form the government lab as well as the alien's escape too. However these narrative strands only reach the recognition stage of the classic narrative structure, so that the rest of the series will be focused on the resolution and new equilibrium. As well as, these main narrative strands the audience are also introduced to smaller narratives which helps the audience to understand the characters and their lives. These smaller narrative strands include, the main group of boys being bullied at school, Hopper's backstory about the death of his daughter, and Nancy and Steve's relationship. All of these smaller narrative strands help the audience to understand why the characters act a certain and also suggests to the audience how they would handle certain situations. 

However, I disagree, because even though narrative is a strong part of what makes a good long -form television drama, like Stranger Things, there are also other key conventions to long-form television dramas, for example genre. In Stranger Things there is a mixture between to types of genre including Horror and Sci-Fi, these link to the genre theory as there are some aspects of these genres that are used in Stranger Things, for example the story line of the Alien escaping and also Elevens powers, link well into both of these genres by what you would stereotypically see in that genre. Another factor that is also important to long-form television dramas is the intertextuality used in Stranger Things, for example in the first episode there are constant references to the time the show is set which was in the 80's, and this is seen in the props, costumes and setting. This is important for long-form television dramas to be successful, as the more authentic the show looks to the time the bigger audience they will achieve. This links to the use and gratifications theory, as the audience members are able to watch Stranger Things and see nostalgic things from their childhood, and this is able to open the show up to a wider audience as people may watch it to relate to their identity. 

Overall, I agree to a certain extent as, I agree that the narrative strands in a long-form television drama are very important in setting up an effective story to interest different audiences. However, I believe that the other conventions including genre are just as important as it is also a strong piece of setting up the storyline for a long-form television drama such as Stranger Things, and also helps to create more interest for the audience watching the show.