Genre Research Activity

Conventions of the Superhero Genre

    What is a superhero? A superhero is usually defined as a benevolent fictional character with superhuman powers. This genre of film has been extremely saturated within the past two decades, with companies like Marvel and Warner Brothers being the primary producers. Within this research blog, we will discuss genre conventions like content and production techniques, as well as institutional conventions like marketing. We will then discuss how these conventions are displayed within Spider-Man (2002) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and list a few other movies that represent the superhero genre.

Content:

    A common convention in the superhuman stereotype is plot armor. Plot armor is defined as the phenomenon in fiction whereby the main character is allowed to survive dangerous situations because they are needed for the plot to continue. Superheroes usually face seemingly impossible odds and really shouldn't survive them but in the end, the hero needs to win, so they survive things they shouldn't. They are usually put into dangerous situations because a superhero almost always fights evil with violence. Plot armor in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) is pretty common, and it is pivotal to keep beloved characters alive for sequels.

Ex. In the film Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) when Steve Rogers somehow survived a plane crash in frozen waters by being frozen in suspended animation until the modern day.

    Another common convention is the setting being in a large and dense city. This allows for the stakes to be much higher if a villain prevails. It also allows for a constantly dynamic and dense environment, perfect for action sequences. Most MCU movies are set in New York City. Batman is set in Gotham City, a fictional city based off of NYC. Whenever the villains are planning to do something, the city as a whole is usually in great danger. When the hero eventually wins, they are in turn saving many lives at once which makes their actions more heroic. If a superhero movie was set in rural North Dakota, it wouldn't be as interesting because the stakes wouldn't be as high.

Ex. In the film, The Avengers (2012) our heroes unite to defend New York City from an alien invasion.

    Another convention commonly used is superheroes choosing to be nonlethal. A hero is meant to protect the innocent, and superheroes typically take it another step further by choosing to be non-lethal. A hero can still be a hero and kill people, but only villains. For many heroes, however, the fact that a hero doesn't even kill their enemies enhances their morality. 

Production Techniques:

    A common production technique in superhero films would be a high budget. Most of these films are action-based and to create these intense moments, a lot of money needs to be poured into them. Superhero films like Man of Steel (2013), cost hundreds of millions of dollars, this one specifically being $225 million. These high budgets are usually supported because these types of movies make a lot of money.  Man of Steel made $670 million at the box office, which is about 3 times the amount it took to make it. The budget is usually poured into things like practical effects and especially set design and VFX, which we will soon talk about.

Ex. Tony Stark's ship in Avengers: Endgame (2019) is in space; these visuals most definitely cost a lot.

    VFX (Visual Effects), or CGI, is definitely used heavily within superhero movies. This is because a lot of what is happening on screen cannot be done using practical effects. Actors cannot just take off and fly in the sky for the camera, so VFX usually gets that done. Cataclysmic events are often portrayed within superhero movies, but those obviously cannot happen in real life, so VFX is added to make it look just like it actually happened without them having to do it in production. Superhero movies often contain scenes that simply cannot be achieved through production, so VFX makes everything much easier for these moments.

Ex. Nuclear bomb scene in The Wolverine (2013). Obviously, they did not actually detonate a nuke for this movie, it is just visual effects.

    Costuming is extremely important to superhero movies. The costume is what defines the superhero on screen. The use of color, as well as the texture and different elements of the outfit, are essential in portraying these heroes. Most heroes in movies nowadays are taken from their comic counterparts, so creating a costume that is comfortable for the actor/actress while also staying true to the comics is a difficult balance to maintain. The costume is the icon of the movie because the icon is the superhero portrayed. Without a good costume, the overall experience is cheapened.

Ex. The iconic outfit of Superman in Man of Steel (2013).

Marketing:

    Marketing is extremely important when it comes to movies, and there are specific marketing techniques within the superhero genre that are used to promote their movies. Typically, superhero movies are catered towards kids, teens, and young adults. Superheroes are great role models for a younger audience to look up to, and this audience typically tends to like simple excitement more than deep complex themes. This is why superhero movies are usually marketed as action-packed and intense. However, some superhero movies are catered specifically to adults. These usually contain more gore and raunchy moments than your typical superhero movie, and adult superhero movies typically become iconic when they are more mature. Examples of this would be Deadpool (2016) and Blade (1998).

Ex. An adult superhero film Deadpool (2016).

    Marvel and DC superhero movies usually take their characters straight from the comics. They usually contain the same plot moments and characters to stay true to the comics. This makes superhero films cater to comic book fans. If you love the characters from the comics, then why not go see them on the big screen? Superhero franchises that are especially successful and beloved are typically rebooted. This allows for our heroes to face off against a bigger variety of villains than last time but with new actors and better VFX. The biggest reason for these reboots, however, is for the money. Franchises like Spiderman and Batman have profited so much because the characters are so beloved that they will always make money.

Film Sample #1: Spider-Man (2002)

    Spider-Man is a perfect example of these conventions. Plot armor is seen within Spiderman when he literally gets point-blank exploded by one of Green Goblin's hand grenades in the final battle. There is absolutely no reason he should have survived that other than to make the hero victorious and set up sequels. This movie is set in New York City, and Green Goblin usually acts as a terrorist on the public during important events like the festival where he attacks Mary Jane. This further ups the stakes for our hero. Spiderman also takes a vow of non-lethality after the death of Uncle Ben's killer near the beginning of the movie. This is a defining moment for him and a main characteristic of Spiderman as a hero. The budget for Spider-Man was extremely high, especially for that time. The budget was $139 million, but that paid off big time with it earning $825 million at the box office. There is extensive CGI seen throughout the movie. Most of the VFX in this movie is seen when Spiderman is swinging around the city or the Green Goblin is wreaking havoc on his glider. Spiderman's costume is extremely iconic in this movie and was done so well that it is typically a favorite among Spiderman fans. It perfectly translated the costume from the comics onto the big screen. This movie was definitely catered toward comic book fans, and also a younger audience with a PG-13 rating.

Film Sample #2: The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

    The Dark Knight Rises is another perfect example of superhero conventions. In this movie, Batman has extreme plot armor, specifically when he gets his back broken by Bane and somehow ends up recovering from it and climbing out of a steep pit. Another demonstration of plot armor is when Batman literally survives a nuclear explosion near the end of the movie. The film is set in Gotham, an NYC-style city. This setting significantly ups the stakes when Bane reveals a nuclear device that will destroy the entire city, and Batman's mission is to fly it out of the city before it levels it. Batman ends up saving an entire city, which elevates his role as a superhero. Batman also has a no-kill oath within this movie, further demonstrating his good morals. This movie had a gigantic budget of $250 million, which paid off when it earned over $1 billion worldwide at the box office. VFX is used heavily in this movie, especially when he is flying the bat and when the nuke detonates in the distance. Batman's costume is one of the most iconic superhero costumes of all time, and it is perfectly done in this movie. Its design is taken from the comics but elevated to a more realistic version which fits the overall mood of this movie. This movie is action-oriented and definitely catered towards comic book fans as well as a younger audience with a rating of PG-13.

Other Superhero Films:

The Avengers (2012)

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Man of Steel (2013)

Black Panther (2018)

The Wolverine (2013)

    

Representation Patterns Analysis

     Django Unchained is one of my favorite movies of all time. The classic revenge story and rise of a hero will never get old, and that combined with it being a Western, as well as a Quentin Tarantino film all add up to create a masterpiece in cinema. Representation is a huge part of this movie because the whole plot is based on subverting stereotypes. Racism was extremely prominent in 1858 America, especially in the South. We see a lot of that within the plantation culture of rich white men. Slavery was also still a thing as this was two years before the civil war. In this post, we will discuss two major characters in the story who highly contrast each other and their representation throughout the film.

    Dr. King Schultz is one of the two protagonists, a German dentist who is also a bounty hunter. At the beginning of the film, he rescues and pays our main character Django, who is a slave, in exchange for help tracking down his former owners. They journey together and become partners, rejecting any anti-black laws there are at any establishment they visit. Schultz is a break from how most white men are depicted in the film because he opposes racism. He sees Django as a fellow human being and juxtaposes all of the white men who often always show hatred towards him because he isn't a slave.

A scene highlights this when Schultz and Django claim a bounty at a Tennessee plantation because they were legally obligated to do so, and the owner and his posse attempt to hunt them down. The reasoning behind this obviously has racist connotations, since they couldn't handle a black man being a bounty hunter, and they dressed up in KKK outfits to commit the crime. Schultz believes they are coming and protects Django by rigging their wagon with dynamite and hiding nearby. He even trusts him with a sniper rifle, further demonstrating his opposition to racism. The trap works and they come out victorious. The motif of him protesting slavery continues throughout up until the very end. In the climax of the film, he sacrifices himself when he doesn't need to at the end of the film to kill an evil plantation owner instead of shaking his hand, protesting slavery further. The representation of Schultz illustrates the duality of American views on slavery and racism at that time.

    Speaking of the evil slave owner, the next character I want to discuss is Calvin Candie. He owns a plantation called Candyland and takes pleasure in hosting "Mandingo fights", where slaves fight bare-knuckled with each other to the death. He always dresses up in the finest clothing, and his character represents the racism of rich white men in the South. He views his slaves simply as toys for the white man's amusement and always presents himself with a charismatic demeanor towards other rich white men. This demeanor is shown towards Schultz, who claims to want to buy one of his prized fighters as a distraction for Django to find his wife and rescue her. He tours him of his Mandingo operation whilst demeaning the fighters. Schultz offers to buy his wife alongside a fighter, for a decent amount of money. Once finding out about the plan that Schultz has to rescue Django's wife, he becomes filled with rage and threatens to murder her if he doesn't pay the full sum only for her.

His terrifying unstable reaction to somebody wanting to purchase a servant slave woman instead of his fighters highlights the pure hatred for African Americans he has. Once the deal is made, he demands a handshake and that is when Schultz kills him. These two characters contrast each other in every way they are represented; one guy is a relatively relaxed man and slavery opposer, while the other is an unstable hatred-filled man who doesn't even view slaves as people.

Sound Lesson and Project Reflection

     In the last two weeks, we moved on from editing to focusing solely on sound design. It was actually very interesting, and you never realize just how much sound contributes to a movie until you actually learn about it. We learned about several sound types: Synchronous sound, Asynchronous sound, Diagetic, Non-Diagetic, Sound motif, Sound perspective, Sound bridge, Voiceover, Addressing audience, Direct address, Narrating 'I', Epistolary voice, Score, Music, Sting, and Sound effects. That note taking session was long.... 

    Anyways, soon after that we started our next project: The Sound Project. This would have us produce a scene without any visuals, only relying on audio to tell a story. The first class was spent on brainstorming and creating a document outlining every sound effect used throughout the project. We were assigned random partners, and I got partnered up with someone who is actually very good at this type of thing. We immediately got to brainstorming, and by the end of class we had our outline. We were going to do a hotel check-in scene. 

    The next few classes were spent working on the project. We were going to edit it all on Adobe Premiere Pro. Since we didn't know how to make a group project that both of us could work on, my partner volunteered to edit the project as I sourced the audio files. The outline made this process a whole lot easier, since it served as a checklist throughout the project. This was extremely efficient, and we got about a third of it done during the first class. In between that first and second class, I also recorded a handful of my own authentic audios for the car sound effects featured in the project at the beginning, as well as some voice acting and some Foley for key sounds. By the end of the next class, we were just about done. All my partner needed to do was finish up the last few seconds and record some of her own Foley and then that was it. We finished a few days ahead of the due date, which made this my most stress-free project yet! We planned ahead exactly what we were going to do, and executed it perfectly.

    I think what we did well was planning and executing said plans. I also think we were very organized. I honestly don't think there is much to improve when it came to this project!