Sci-fi is a genre known for its riveting effects, cutting edge technology and evolving ways to develop its plot. Stranger Things effectively uses a unique lighting technique to help create a distinqurtively suspenseful atmosphere and develop its central conflict. Lighting is a key component in every scene and shot of an episode. It can be representative of multiple things including life, death and everything in between. In the last scene of the episode, Mike, Dustin and Lucas go looking for Will Byers in the woods. What they find instead is a wandering and soaked Eleven. The scene is dark and blurry, the rain pounding down. The only light peeking through is an incredibly subtle hint of skylight and the flashlights of the three boys, that eventually focus …show more content…
The flashlights are used at the end of the scene to demonstrate this as the boys turn in several directions to find the source of a sound before finally focusing on the main target, Eleven, and highlighting her importance. The light and suspense techniques are in turn used to present central conflicts. Just as it was a key component in the boy’s discovery of Eleven it is also a key component in the disappearance of Will Byers. In the scene where Will is being stalked by the monster, he runs towards a shed in his backyard, where the conflict ultimately occurs. The backyard is dark in the shot besides one stream of light that comes from the shed, guiding the eyes of the watchers and Will towards the building. A situational irony is presented when the watchers see the monster behind Will, a dark patch and a representative of evil sneaking up on him. Even though the monster is not shown through light, in an opposite effect, the watcher knows it is there because of the dark. The final shot shows the only source of illumination in the room brighten and then dim, only to show that Will and whatever was after him have