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Are you suffering unexpected nosebleeds whilst sat on the sofa, eagerly awaiting the new series of Stranger Things to drop on Netflix? To help you get through the final hours, here are Eleven facts in tribute to the show’s hero, you might not know.
As the 4th of July finally arrives, everyone will be jumping on Netflix for the third season of one of the most fanatically followed TV series of the moment.
Our friends at VideOdyssey (Liverpool’s unique VHS store and arcade), are hosting a party with a quiz and a live band called Scouser Things (who dress like characters from the show) – check out the trailer for the event on YouTube in the video box here and on the Facebook event page
Are you a huge fan and you can’t wait until tomorrow? Here’s for you some information you may not know about this series, just to kill the time while you’re preparing yourself for a nine episodes marathon.
1) The show was originally called “Montauk” and it took place in that town on Long Island in 1980. The location was changed because the producers realised, it would be difficult to shoot there in winter.
2) The show is inspired by the “Montauk project” a conspiracy theory that alleges there were a series of secret United States projects for the purpose of developing psychological welfare techniques and research including time travel. Conspiracy theorists surmise that people with powers like Eleven, might exist in real life.
3) The Upside-Down real name is “the Nether” and the shadow monster in season 2 was supposed to be called the “Mindflayer.”
4) Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven in the series, got booked by Stephen King who was impressed by her performance in the film “Intruders”. Her character is inspired by E.T, the Spielberg alien.
Although Eleven isn’t an alien, they were both given a name by the people who found them, they both dress up to disguise their true identity and they only use their powers at critical moments to get out of bad situations.
5) Besides E.T. there are a lot of 80 references on the show: the Upside Down takes inspiration from the 1979 science-fiction “Alien,” the character of Dustin is inspired by Chunk of “The Goonies,” the 1985 comedy.
Then there are some allusions to Firestarter, the 1984 film inspired by a Stephen King’s novel, Stand by me and Indiana Jones. Also, the soundtrack spreads a lot of 80s vibes with songs like “Should I stay or should I go?” by The Clash or “Every Breath You Take” by The Police.
6) The second season was watched by almost 8.8 million people in the first three days after its release. Apparently 361.00 people watched all nine episodes in the first 24 hours.
7) Gaten Marazzo, who plays Dustin came up with the idea for his character’s purr. Based on his Chewbacca impression, it’s proved popular with fans. Gaten is also good in improvisation, in a lot of scenes he doesn’t follow the script.
8) Dustin is mocked in the show for not having any front teeth and he explains his condition as “cleidocranial dysplasia.” Gaten Matarazzo, the actor, actually has this condition in real life and the show creators had to write this into his character background.
9) Michel Stein and Kyle Dickson are the composers of the soundtrack and have written over 13 hours of music for Stranger Things, they are also members of an Austin, Texas synth band called Survive.
10) The show was rejected more than 15 times by different production studios. One of the biggest complaints from prospective studios was the fact the Duffer brothers, Matt and Ross, wanted to create a horror show with a group of children as main characters. Anyway, Netflix loved the concept so much that they ordered a full season in 24 hours and the rest is history.
11) The Demogorgon isn’t completely CGI (Computer Graphic Interface). It combines CGI and very convincing practical effects. The Demogorgon itself is portrayed by a man named Mark Steger, a body-based performance artist, who wore a partially animatronic suits for many of the scenes.
The end result was so effective that the young twins who played Holly on the show were so terrified on Demogorgon that the production team had to calm them down by comparing the monster to something out of Monster’s Inc.
We hope you enjoyed reading these facts and perhaps we will find another 11 in the new season. Let us know what you think in the comments section below and also don’t forget the Stranger Things party at VideOdyssey on 4th July, with quiz and live band.
Tickets are £5 and include all the free play arcade machines and are available to buy here: