Transition: The Superhero Genre

Superhero films as a genre

A genre can be defined as "particular conventions, like plot, setting, character, and theme, which through imitation and repetition become a familiar and meaningful narrative system" (Is "Superhero" a Movie Genre?|| NerdSync, 2017). However, because of how genres can overlap, it can be seen that the superhero genre can also involve tropes from other genres, such as those seen in westerns, science fiction, and action (Gaine, 2011:111).

Conventions of the superhero genre can be seen to mainly revolve around the character of the superhero, since it is this character after which the genre is named  (Is "Superhero" a Movie Genre?|| NerdSync, 2017). Tropes which regularly appear in superhero films can show these characters dealing with tragedy, developing new and mysterious powers, facing antagonists whose character arcs mirror that of the hero, and battles (Gaine, 2011:111).

Nonetheless, not all movies which are classed within the superhero genre follow all of these tropes exactly, which can be seen by how genres cross (Is "Superhero" a Movie Genre?|| NerdSync, 2017).

Tropes

Superpowers & types of superheroes

Fig. 1 IMDb: Wonder Woman (2017)

One of the main tropes of the superhero genre is that of the central hero developing powers, with the ordinary people who make up the supporting cast as secondary considerations to the story (bystanders or love interests for example), since the superhero is the only one who can drive the story, as their powers allow them to create change (Berlatsky, 2019).
However, due to their powers, superheroes are often separated from the rest of society (Burke, 2015:96). Even those characters who are classed as superheroes despite lacking any superpowers still have some sort of different ability or quality which separates them from the other characters (Gaine, 2011:113-4). The attribute which makes this character a superhero just has to mean they are the only character who is able conquer the antagonist or threat to the world of the story (Burke, 2015:102).
These powers can come from a super-natural source, such as Captain Marvel's being the result of the explosion of an alien spaceship whose power source gives her powers, or through training of powers which were already evident, such as those of Wonder Woman, whose powers come from the Gods, but were improved through training (Di Placido, 2019) - (see fig. 1).
Thus, it can be seen that there are different types of superheroes - those who are "divine beings", in that they are considered like a god in comparison to the rest of society, their stories considered like that of a myth (Wonder Woman); those who, despite having superpowers, still consider themselves to be human (Captain Marvel); and those whose separating attribute is just that they are more skilled than other characters, and thus lead (Frye 1957, cited in Rollins, 2013:88).
Overall, regardless of what type of hero they are, all superheroes share similar conventions - their power separates them from others, they care about justice more than the law, and their heroic identity juxtaposes the boringness of their everyday life (Reynolds 1992, cited in Gaine, 2013:111).

Identity - double life through costume/superpowers

Fig. 2 IMDb: Avengers Assemble (2012)

To create conflict in superhero movies, the hero will often have two identities - one where they are a superhero and one where they are an ordinary person - meaning they live a double life, with conflict caused when/if these worlds are forced to collide (Gaine, 2011:123).
The superhero identity can be characterised by the hero's costume and their "codename" (Superman, Captain America etc.) which portrays the character's mission or characterises part of their origin (Is "Superhero" a Movie Genre?|| NerdSync, 2017). For example, Ant Man's costume, which resembles an ant, both serves to fit his hero name, as well as match his powers to control ants and shrink to the size of an ant.
However, it has been argued that since heroes put on their costumes before using their powers, this costume is what makes them their superhero version, acting as a way to differentiate them from their ordinary identity (Gaine, 2011:123). Nonetheless, a headquarters, such as that of Batman, can constitute a place where the protagonist can be both their superhero self and their ordinary self at once, since Batman doesn't always wear his costume within his headquarters, yet he still works within this space to catch criminals, which is his mission as a superhero (Gaine, 2011:123).
Yet, the superhero's costume and identity can be taken further since their identity can represent a current global problem. For example, after World War II, Captain America was created to reaffirm American values, such as patriotism and empowerment, shown through his name and costume (Berlatsky, 2019) - (see fig. 2).

Morals - the battle between good & evil

It has been argued that by reflecting issues facing society in this way, superhero films give viewers some "escapism" since they know that the superhero will always triumph over the antagonist, and thus the "value system" they have learnt, that good always wins over evil, has the chance to be true (Rollin, 2013:85).
For this reason, superhero films always involve a conflict between the protagonist and an antagonist, both of whom can be easily differentiated by their appearances (Di Placido, 2019) - such as can be seen by Batman and the Joker (see fig. 3).

Fig. 3 IMDb: The Dark Knight (2008)

Viewers are able to relate to heroes since they embody this "value system", in that they are good, thus act how viewers believe they should act, but they can also be "handsome, athletic, intelligent, and rich— all the things we would like to be” (Rollin, 2013:86). In contrast, the antagonist is placed as directly opposing this, in that they work against the value system by promoting evil (Rollin, 2013:92).
Because of this need for the antagonist to directly oppose the protagonist to create conflict, and thus promote evil, crime can be needed for the hero to be able to discover their mission and serve a purpose (Gaine, 2011:117). Therefore, since criminals are more common in cities, many superhero movies revolve around the hero protecting a city - such as Batman and Gotham City, and The Avengers main location being New York (Bukatman, 2013:170-1).
Nonetheless, in consequence of this crime, some superheroes can be driven by revenge, created from tragedy sometimes against people they care about (such as their parents or love interest), or from injustice they have witnessed within the city (Burke, 2015:100/117).
This clash between good and evil can often lead to the climax of the film, where the superhero(es) face off against the antagonist(s) - (see fig. 4).

Fig. 4 YouTube: Avengers: Infinity War - All Death Scenes | Ending & After Credit (2018)

Sometimes these climaxes can involve the hero having to make a choice motivated by an action of the villain, in which they can either save their love interest or some of the cities civilians who are in danger due to the villain's plot (Burke, 2015:112).

Heightened reality - the "comic book aesthetic"

Fig. 5 YouTube: Spider-Man Into The Spiderverse 'What's Up Danger Song' Movie Clip (2018) HD (2018)

Because of these battles, it has been argued that superhero films can have a "heightened reality" - but not only during these action sequences (Burke, 2015:104). This sense of heightened reality can occur as a consequence of the style of the film, which follows a "comic book aesthetic", functioning to highlight that it is part of the genre of the superhero movie (Burke, 2015:116).
This can be seen through the genre's use of special effects, which can include features to make the film's style reflect that of a comic book, such as speech bubbles, panels, or speed lines, and thus diminish its realism (Burke, 2015:97/103) - (see fig. 5).
Nonetheless, superhero movies can also reference other movies within the genre, by imitating their style, or by having characters speak about them (Burke, 2015:112).
In general, the most important thing about the style of a superhero movie is that it have a "coherent look", whether this means that it decides to stick to the "comic book aesthetic" typical to the genre, or create its own style which works to subvert convention (Burke, 2015:116).


Thus, it can be seen that the tropes of superhero films are typically:

• A hero separated from society by some kind of powers or ability/quality which can make them "superior" to the other characters in that this attribute allows them to conquer the threat/antagonist to the story world (can also make this character a outsider)
• A protagonist who lives a double life due to their dual identities of ordinary person and as superhero - the superhero identity can be denoted by a costume/codename
• Dealing with issues which reflect society, such as crime, but in a way which shows that good always triumphs over evil, shown by how the superhero defeats the villain
• Hero vs. villain - each one with opposing morals in a good vs. evil stance
• Cities as locations, since this is where there is more potential for conflict - more criminals to defeat and more innocent citizens to be saved
• Battles between good and evil - 'showdowns' at the climax of movies - which can sometimes mean the hero has to choose between who they love and innocent citizens caught up in the villain's plot
• A "comic book aesthetic", which involves special effects and the use of comic book graphics such as speech bubbles, panels etc., which give the film a "heightened reality"- it can be argued that this heightening of reality is to match the heightening of what is expected from an ordinary person, conveyed by the character of the superhero and their abilities which set them apart from the rest of society

Influence on our film

Screenwriting

The trope of superhero movies which sees characters living double lives influenced me when thinking about how Cathryn would keep her job as an investment banker, and still draw as a graphic novelist. Thus, this encouraged me think of the drawing almost as her 'superpower', while investment banking is her day job, meaning she has to juggle the two as a superhero does their two identities. This gives the potential for conflict if the two ever intersect, especially given how I decided to make Cathryn's boss the film's villain.

Looking at the way superhero films handle differences in morals helped me to differentiate Cathryn and her boss so they could be seen as the hero and the villain. Thus, I decided to do this in appearance - as is done with Batman and the Joker - but also in personality.

Thus, Cathryn seems to think it is right to help everyone, shown by her giving paperwork back to her colleagues and trying to help the victim of the crime, and her boss, Donna, seems more selfish in that she thinks everyone is there to assist her.

However, despite this differentiation, I also wanted to give them common traits, since another trope of the superhero genre is that the arc of the villain match that of the hero so that the audience can relate to them both, heightening the conflict. Thus, Donna and Cathryn are more alike than they realise - they are both workaholics, and both afraid of failing at their jobs.

However, it has been argued that although some superheroes do not have superpowers, they can still be classed as superheroes since they have some kind of "extraordinary nature" which separates them from their colleagues/the other characters in the story (Gaine, 2011:113-4). For this reason, I decided to set Cathryn apart from her colleagues by having her lead (Frye 1957, cited in Rollins, 2013:88), shown by the scene when she supervises the transformation of the office.

Nonetheless, this "extraordinary nature" can also be in contrast to the normality of the character's everyday life (Reynolds, cited in Gaine, 2011:113). Therefore, having Cathryn find her job boring and predictable was able to create a contrast with how drawing makes her happy, and allows her to be able to cope with the world. For this reason, drawing could be considered her 'superpower', foreshadowing the fact that this is what she will use to fulfil her intention of giving the world a superhero.

This intention is motivated by the inciting incident of the crime. This was inspired by the trope of superhero movies being set in cities, since this is where criminals are and thus why heroes are needed. The difference between Cathryn and the muggers also creates a conflict of morals, however, to heighten the conflict, I decided to have Cathryn realise that they are similar to her, despite this opposition.

However, this conflict leads her to wonder what could have happened if she had acted and not frozen. Therefore, since Cathryn is an ordinary hero, I decided to introduce the character of Monica - Cathryn's mother's best friend and a cop - since this allowed for the possibility for her to train Cathryn. This was inspired by the characters of Yon Rogg and Dr. Lawson from Captain Marvel, since they act as the trainer and the mentor. By combining these two types of characters I found that this was able to give Cathryn someone who could help her in several ways, including helping her get over the crime.

Nonetheless, to make Cathryn's drawing relatable to her normal life, I decided to make the character Cathryn draws a female scientist, her only superpower being knowledge - much like Cathryn is an ordinary person but her superpower is her drawing. This was mainly influenced by the way science is seen as "magic" within superhero movies, and can thus be seen as the character, Avalon's, superpower - in a similar way to how Iron Man is considered a superhero because of how science allows him to engineer out of the ordinary objects, such as his suit (Reynolds, 2013:106).

I was also inspired by Iron Man and The Avengers movies since they use references to convey what they want to say without the character directly stating it. Thus, I tried to do this by having my own characters reference The Wizard of Oz, in a similar way to how Iron Man references SpongeBob SquarePants in Avengers: Infinity War (AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR "Get Lost Squidward!" Movie Clip (2018) Marvel HD, 2018).

Directing

My directing style was inspired by superhero movies during this unit, since we used the "comic book aesthetic" to show Cathryn's transition from investment banker to getting more lost in her drawings, foreshadowing her potentially becoming a graphic novelist - thus heightening reality to show how this skill differentiates her as a character.

For example, our editor and I were inspired by Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse to include panel graphics to show all of the clients Cathryn met during the jump cuts to further emphasise the repetitive nature of her job.

However, we were also inspired by a comic based SNL sketch, and the speech bubble graphics, comic book backgrounds and sketch effects they used to differentiate the heroic aspects of the character from their other identity - see fig. 6.

Fig. 6 YouTube: The Impossible Hulk - SNL (2019)

We were also influenced by the Marvel opening sequence to add a transition of comic book panels flicking, since this fit with the genre, and could highlight how much drawing Cathryn does as she gets more and more lost.

Overall, we found that the best way to keep this style consistent was to only add effects where they were needed to show the character getting more and more lost in the drawings. Thus, despite using some at the beginning of the montage to foreshadow this change, we mainly restricted them to the end. We also tried to keep the colours consistent, mainly using red, yellow, orange and black, similar to the colour grade we used at the end of the montage.

The colour grade we decided to use toward the end of the montage was also inspired by superhero films, mainly Wonder Woman (see fig. 9) and Avengers: Infinity War (see fig. 7 & 8) and how they use red and orange to signify the heat of battle.

Fig. 7 IMDb: Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Fig. 8 IMDb: Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Fig. 9 IMDb: Wonder Woman (2017)

For this reason, we decided to use colour grading to have the montage progressively become more and more orange, until this built to the height of conflict, turning into red, but then becoming more washed out as it turned back to orange. This allowed us to show the danger Cathryn ends up in of losing her job as she angers her boss, as well as her exhaustion as the colour washes out with the orange at the end of the montage.

Nonetheless, due to the aim that this sequence show the conflict the character was going through, I decided to have the last shot show the culmination of the conflict by highlighting Cathryn's exhaustion through a close-up of her eyes.

This was inspired by Wonder Woman and how the director, Patty Jenkins, uses close-ups during battle to highlight power and conflict, as well as the character's determination to do what is right (see fig. 10).

Fig. 10 YouTube: Wonder Woman (2017) - Saving Veld Scene (7/10) | Movieclips (2018)

Overall, the inspiration to use a montage to show Cathryn's transition came from Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse and how the montage used in this film shows the character changing from their ordinary self into Spiderman, using similar shots to highlight this change (see fig. 11 & 12).

Fig. 11 Spider-Man Into The Spiderverse 'What's Up Danger Song' Movie Clip (2018) HD (2018)

Fig. 12 Spider-Man Into The Spiderverse 'What's Up Danger Song' Movie Clip (2018) HD (2018)

This influenced me to also use similar shots to emphasise Cathryn changing, starting from her drawing at her desk slowly, as if just for fun, and ending with her sketching quickly, highlighting how important it has become/is becoming to her - we also highlighted this by having the colours change from blue to red.

However, to show the transitions between locations during the montage, we were influenced by the use of whip pans to achieve the same purpose in Ant Man since we found that these could make the transitions smoother and not disrupt the pace of the montage with cuts.

List of Illustrations

Figure 1. Wonder Woman (2017) [IMDb webpage] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0451279/?ref_=ttmi_tt (Accessed on 10 May 2019).

Figure 2. Avengers Assemble (2012) [IMDb webpage] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848228/?ref_=ttmi_tt (Accessed on 10 May 2019).

Figure 3. The Dark Knight (2008) [IMDb webpage] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/?ref_=tt_rec_tt (Accessed on 10 May 2019).

Figure 4. Avengers: Infinity War - All Death Scenes | Ending & After Credit (2018) [YouTube webpage] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cl29Gvy-44 (Accessed on 10 May 2019).

Figure 5. Spider-Man Into The Spiderverse 'What's Up Danger Song' Movie Clip (2018) HD (2018)  [YouTube webpage] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-euUGPQZoHw&list=PLc9QYgv46S0PGGPtQTJAXNWYRHDbjh5pd&index=19&t=0s (Accessed on 10 May 2019).

Figure 6. The Impossible Hulk - SNL (2019) [YouTube webpage] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HMX-EkYUA0 (Accessed on 15 May 2019).

Figure 7. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) [IMDb webpage] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4154756/?ref_=ttmi_tt (Accessed on 15 May 2019).

Figure 8. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) [IMDb webpage] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4154756/?ref_=ttmi_tt (Accessed on 15 May 2019).

Figure 9. Wonder Woman (2017) [IMDb webpage] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0451279/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1 (Accessed on 15 May 2019).

Figure 10. Wonder Woman (2017) - Saving Veld Scene (7/10) | Movieclips (2018) [YouTube webpage] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2k_kuU84ro&list=PLc9QYgv46S0PGGPtQTJAXNWYRHDbjh5pd&index=33&t=0s (Accessed on 15 May 2019).

Figure 11. Spider-Man Into The Spiderverse 'What's Up Danger Song' Movie Clip (2018) HD (2018)  [YouTube webpage] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-euUGPQZoHw&list=PLc9QYgv46S0PGGPtQTJAXNWYRHDbjh5pd&index=19&t=0s (Accessed on 15 May 2019).

Figure 12. Spider-Man Into The Spiderverse 'What's Up Danger Song' Movie Clip (2018) HD (2018)  [YouTube webpage] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-euUGPQZoHw&list=PLc9QYgv46S0PGGPtQTJAXNWYRHDbjh5pd&index=19&t=0s (Accessed on 15 May 2019).

References

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR "Get Lost Squidward!" Movie Clip (2018) Marvel HD (2018) [user-generated content online] Creat. JoBlo Superheroes 12 July 18. At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1EVDlFjEKo&list=PLc9QYgv46S0PGGPtQTJAXNWYRHDbjh5pd&index=30&t=0s  (Accessed on 12 May 2019)

Berlatsky, N. (2019) 'In 2018, superhero stories doubled down on maintaining the status quo' In: The Verge. [online] At: https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/7/18168909/2018-superhero-movies-marvel-dc-black-panther-infinity-war-aquaman (Accessed on 10 May 2019).

Bukatman, S. (2013) 'A Song of the Urban Superhero' In: Hatfield, C. (ed.) & Heer, J. (ed.) and Worcester, K. (ed.) The Superhero Reader. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. pp. 170-198.

Burke, L. (2015) The Comic Book Film Adaptation: Exploring Modern Hollywood's Leading Genre. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.

Di Placido, D. (2019) 'Why Superhero Fatigue Is A Myth' In: Forbes. [online] At: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2019/01/20/why-superhero-fatigue-is-a-myth/#43a9a7f3747c (Accessed on 10 May 2019).

Gaine, V. (2011) 'Genre and Super-Heroism: Batman in the New Millennium' In: Gray, R. (ed.) & Kaklamanidou, B (ed.) The 21st Century Superhero: Essays on Gender, Genre and Globalization in Film. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 111-128.

Is "Superhero" a Movie Genre?|| NerdSync (2017) [user-generated content online] Creat. NerdSync. 3 March 17 At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTn-LNsdrW0&list=PLc9QYgv46S0PGGPtQTJAXNWYRHDbjh5pd&index=2&t=0s (Accessed on 10 May 2019).

Reynolds, R. (2013) 'Masked Heroes' In: Hatfield, C. (ed.) & Heer, J. (ed.) and Worcester, K. (ed.) The Superhero Reader. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. pp. 99-115.

Rollin, R. (2013) 'The Epic Hero and Pop Culture' In: Hatfield, C. (ed.) & Heer, J. (ed.) and Worcester, K. (ed.) The Superhero Reader. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. pp. 84-98.