1. Callum Wallace
R7 Me & My Movies
My chosen genre is the Action/ Superhero genre. The 3 films I have chosen for this
genre are what I believe are the best of the genre so far. These are, Captain
America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy and the Dark Knight.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a 2014 Marvel film and is directed by
Anthony and Joe Russo. The synopsis of the film is Steve Rogers is coming to grips
with living in modern America after being frozen in ice for 50 years. A new threat
against S.H.I.E.L.D. arises called "The Winter Soldier". While the origins of the Winter
Soldier are unknown, the threat against S.H.I.E.L.D. from the Hydra organization is.
Especially after it compromises Nick Fury and Agent Romanoff, leaving them betrayed
and left for dead, and their S.H.I.E.L.D. status revoked, marking them as traitors to
the organization. Now racing against time with very little resources available at his
disposal, Captain America launches an investigation into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s origins and that
has him returning to the very Army base where he once underwent basic training
nearly 100 years ago. What he and Romanoff discover there leads to a very startling
development with S.H.I.E.L.D., a top secret project called "Operation Insight", and the
launch of the next generation of Helicarrier.
Guardians of the Galaxy is a 2014 Marvel film and is directed by James Gunn. The
synopsis of the film is in 1988, on Earth, the boy Peter Quill is abducted by a
spacecraft after losing his mother. In 2014, Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star Lord, is a ravager
searching a valuable orb on the surface of the dead planet Morag. When Peter finds
the orb, he is hunted down by the Kree warship The Dark Aster of the powerful
Ronan the Accuser but he flees. Peter also double crosses his partner Yondu Udonta
that puts a reward on him. Peter Quill arrives on the Xandar city Nova Empire and
is chased by Ronan's warrior Gamora and by the bounty hunters Rocket and The
Groot. They are arrested by the police officer Corpsman Dey and his men and sent
to the prison The Kyln, where they befriend the strong Drax. Soon they learn that
Gamora wants to betray Ronan and sell the orb to a dealer for a huge amount
while Drax wants to kill Ronan, who killed his wife and daughter. They plot a plan to
escape from The Kyln to sell the orb and split the money. But soon they also learn
that the orb keeps the infinity stone that gives immeasurable destructive power to
the owner. They self-proclaim themselves Guardians of the Galaxy and decide to
deliver the orb to the leader of Nova Prime to keep it safe from Ronan. But they
are hunted down by Ronan and Nebula, they want to destroy Nebula using the orb.
Also Yondu and the Ravagers are chasing after the Guardians to try and claim the
orb to sell and make money.
2. The Dark Knight is a 2008 DC film and is directed by Christopher Nolan. The synopsis
of the film is Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of
Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to
dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The
partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of
chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of
Gotham as The Joker.
My decision into picking the action/superhero genre was through the many things
that attract me into the films related to this genre. For example, audience
engagement is extremely important, particularly within Marvel films, (Captain America
and Guardians of The Galaxy). Moreover, this is indicated within Captain America,
where a name drop is issued hinting at characters who are going to be revealed
within later films, and these subtle revealments allow the audience to prefigure what
is to come in later films within this genre, which I find extremely appealing and
entertaining. With my chosen genre being action, action sequences are obviously a
huge selling point to me and the target audience, as they are innovative and often
hyperbolic. As a result, these sequences are regularly outstanding to watch, with
these being the scenes that are often the most memorable, with the special effects
being a very high standard. Furthermore, the Superhero films would arguably not be
the same without the characters that are cast and created through each film, each
with their own storyline and background, which allow a huge fan following for each
character. Thus, the characters within my chosen three films, engage the audience
and myself with the plot, as you follow each character as they progress through the
narrative.
Furthermore, another engaging aspect of the plot of many superhero and action films
in the use of intertextuality. For example within Marvel’s Iron Man 2, Tony Stark is
sat within a room, whilst a scene from Marvel’s Hulk is being showcased on a TV in
the corner. Therefore, the company an director’s use intertextuality to create links
between each film, and to appeal to fans of Marvel, allowing them to spot these
forms of intertextuality as the watch each new release. In addition, this does make
me want to watch this genre of film further, as I am alert to the idea that many
references to other films may be represented within the film, allowing me to identify
these for myself, which makes me and many other audience members more engaged
and involved with the film.
In terms of Star Theory, I do not feel as though my chosen genre of film fully
agrees with the theory. This is due to many actors within Superhero films being
unknown originally, and then developing stardom as their career progresses, thus
many people will have seen Superhero films without knowing the lead, or other
characters. Therefore, their main attraction to watching the film is unlikely to be the
3. stars who are within the film, and more likely to be due to the plot. Although, I do
believe this is the case within main other film genres, such as traditional action films,
where the audience will have been aware of the lead protagonist before viewing.
When analysing the three trailers from my chosen genre, I studied Lacey’s
Repertoire of Elements and identified codes and conventions that were common
amongst my chosen genre. My first trailer was that of Captain America
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCTv6i3589A), where the location plays a huge
part of the narrative of the film. Originally, the film starts within a WWII setting,
with soldiers needing to be enrolled to meet the demand of soldiers that the arm
needed. Within this, the iconography was explored, with the recognisable war
uniform being showcased as the background information for the new Superhero that
is about to be made. Through this, the audience can understand his characters
personality and background, with the war being a indicated through the mise en
scene of war tanks, training stations and bombs exploding, allowing the audience to
understand why his progression into a physically stronger man is needed. The use of
technical and audio codes are also extremely important within my chosen genre,
which this trailer also explores. In particular, as the plot increases paise, the editing
becomes fast paced, fitting with the new evolved character “Captain America”
becoming advanced. Therefore, the editing works alongside the narrative, to portray
to the audience when the film becomes more engaging and therefore allowing their
excitement and anticipation to increase. In addition, the character created within the
trailer becomes extremely likeable, with him originally being an average male,
wanting to be involved with helping people but is physical strength and appearance
not allowing him to do this.
My second trailer I focused on was Guardians of the Galaxy
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d96cjJhvlMA) where character is extremely
important to identify as a key selling point the producers indicated. Within the
trailer, each character in “The Guardians of the Galaxy” is introduced individually,
with background information being given about each character. As a result, the
audience is immediately aware of each character, and thus this appears to be the
main focus of the trailer, as it establishes the new characters and film immediately.
Humour is also explored as a result, with this Superhero film arguably being less
serious than the rest, as the producers make each character humours, particularly
with two of the characters not being human, and appearing to be unfitting to what
the plot needs from them. Perhaps these are used as they were the most likeable
characters, due to their interesting nature and contrasting appearance towards
previous Marvel characters. In addition, diegetic sound is extremely important in
selling the light hearted narrative of the film, with the a light hearted and upbeat
song being played over the action scenes that are showcased. Immediately, this
4. portrays the superhero genre, through the action sequences, yet the ambiguity and
unique cast is represented through the quirky soundtrack within the background.
When looking at The Dark Knight trailer
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d96cjJhvlMA) a more sinister and dark approach
was created. This was often through the characters created, such as the iconic “The
Joker”, being represented as eerier and extremely dark throughout, as the trailer
portrays an obvious divide between who is a hero,and who is a villain. Furthermore,
the technical codes, such as lighting is extremely dark and mysteries within most
scenes,portraying a sense of danger and anticipation between which side will win the
battle. Yet, despite the evil characters being portrayed so darkly, the message of the
trailer does not leave you disliking his character, as he appears psychotic yet highly
interesting, engaging the audience which makes them want to view it increasingly
more. This is noticeable within the narrative, as the trailer purposely showcases the
humorous aspects of The Joker’s character first, with his sinister motives being
introduced after, thus the audience have already established him as a likeable villain.
With all DC films being within imaginative cities, “Gotham” is showcased as a more
dark New York, with big buildings and busy streets becoming the setting for this film.
As a result, the iconography is not necessarily recognisable, but the audience can
immediately understand the big scale of the movie, and how the massive city fits
with the genre of the move; big buildings results in a big battle and often huge
losses, making the audience wish to see the movie to understand what the battle
will result in.
When finding out about new films, most of my information comes from online,
particularly on Youtube, IMDB and twitter. Youtube allows new trailers and teaser
trailers to be released, with a huge amount of audience members using this form of
social networking to see these forms of releases as soon as they are published. It
also alerts you to films that are in common with the ones you are initially
interested, thus film trailers are recommended to people perhaps outside of the
target audience, allowing the target audience to grow as the trailer builds
anticipation further. IMDB allows a vast amount of information to be released about
upcoming films, including synopsis, casting and release dates, which many people use
regularly to keep updated on their favourite genre of films and the new releases.
With it being online, the information is easily updated, and is a reliable source, thus
the increase of using this website has grown massively. Furthemore, twitter is used
by many big companies, such as “Marvel”,which allows them to give brief
information and teasing hints at new films that are going to be released to their
followers, which adds to the anticipation and excitement, as the information is
coming straight from the company, allowing the audience to feel the information is
more personal and engaging than any other form.
5. Stuart Hall’s theory suggests that we view and react to a film differently, based on
ourgender, age, ethnicity etc. Within the superhero genre, the producers will have
researched the target audience, mainly being young males, to see how they could
target this demographic in the most effective way. Furthermore, with action
sequences stereotypically appealing to a male audience more, we can see why these
were used so frequently within the trailers I have chosen, and within the films
themselves. In addition, humour relating to current events, and often young and
attractive actors playing the characters, appeals to a younger viewing audience,
perhaps linking to star theory in the way a young audience member may see the
film due to a young and attractive female/male playing the role. In terms of
circumstance of exhibition, the producers really targeted the Marvel and DC films to
be a huge hit within the cinema. As a result, they were huge box office successes,
with many people going to view them as soon as they were released. Within the
cinema environment, everything is published to a higher quality, and the excitement
is heightened, which affects the way the audience would have viewed the film.
Therefore, the producers targeted their films in order to appeal to their specific
target audience, as they are aware of different marketing methods appealing to
different demographics.
In terms of Active Spectatorship, the superhero/action genre supports this theory
hugely. With thousands of viewers watching the film, it is evident that many groups
within the audience are willingly accepting what they are being shown, and do not
question it, simply viewing the film as a means of entertainment and not thinking
about it after it has finished. However, fandoms and dedicated viewers question what
they have seen afterwards, with debates and forums being made online. Within
these, audience members debate what the meaning behind the films were and what
these will result in within the next release, as they question if what is obviously
seen, is the only meaning. The marketing before the film is also explored, with most
superhero films satsfying the audience with the expectations of the film from the
marketing being met.
My chosen genre has a huge fandom and following, with the convention “Comic‐con”
becoming extremely popular to attend. Here, Marvel and DC will showcase their new
trailers, for the first time for upcoming films, making this a huge selling point to
attend. In addition, merchandise is available, with collectible items being sold, which
many fans collect and buy to build their collections. Both Marvel and DC also have
their own twitter pages, @marvel and @DC, and Facebook pages, which include fans
comments and tweets amongst the pages. As a result, they are able to get involved
with discussions and ideas of what will be seen amongst upcoming films, and give
their ideas and expectations. This allows a community of fans to create fan pages,
where forums are created with dedicated fans posting new news and updates on
releases of the genre. Therefore, each of these appeal to the fans, as they are able
6. to see how the companies are interested in the fans, and therefore the relationship
is established as important, allowing the target audience to become involved in the
films and genre further.
Within my chosen genres, these marketing techniques did exceed my expectations,
with the films being highly successful and huge films released within the year of
their release. For example, “The Guardians of the Galaxy” was marketed to be a
twist on the typical superhero film, with unique character types and humour being
the main focus, which was perhaps a risk for Marvel to take. However, the film was
a huge success and did meet people’s expectations of what the film would be like,
allowing the audience to see the marketing techniques as successful.
