1. Superhero Genre

2.  After analysing and evaluating a number of
superhero movies I have come up with a
number of factors that contribute to a
successful superhero movie. These are that the
film is action paced so there is always an
element of surprise and captures the viewers
imagination. The film has to have an innocent
individual who is the main character and can
represent the people who have low self esteem. A film that shows
A common aspect is that the film has an these factors well
attractive female who becomes partners with is Spider-Man.
the hero. A MUST is that these films have; is a
villain who is intimidating and who has
different beliefs then the hero.

3. From www.boxofficemojo.com I have selected 5 superhero films that
were deemed as successful. The films I have picked are The Dark
Knight, The Incredibles , Spiderman1, Ironman and Hancock. I have
chosen these films as there's a variety of reasons why they are
successful.

4. The Dark Knight was made the
number 1 superhero due to 3 main
factors. The actors that play the
main roles such as Christian Bale
and Morgan Freeman. The fact that
the previous film was a succession
and the new film was a carry on
and started with the same
storyline. And finally the
anticipation behind the character
“joker”.

5. The Dark Knight was produced by Warner Bros so they had a large
budget. This means that they could afford to get high paid actors in.
having major Hollywood stars like Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Gary
Oldman, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart will attract the public as they
know that ther performance will be of a high quality.
As I stated, Warner bros produced the film
and also distributed it. So due to their large
budget they are able to market the film
successfully i.e. Trailers, campaigns. Also
they can pay more for special effects and
specialist equipment.

6. The storyline of The Dark Knight is partially based on the previous film
“Batman Begins”. As the previous film was a blockbuster hit and a
revelation in the Batman franchise, there was much hype and anticipation
for the new film. This attracted people to go and see the film even more.
A major part of the film was that in this movie the villain was “the joker”
played by heath ledger. Warner bros took the role of the joker to a more
serious level and made his image more intimidating. After the film was
Created and marketed the actor Heath Ledger
passed away. This also encouraged people to
go and see the film as it was his last film.

7. The incredibles was such a major hit as it
was so different to the other typical
superhero films. I say this as it was aimed
not at teenagers or adults but it was aimed
at the younger generation (as portrayed by
the animation). There was never a film like
this before for the younger generation so
this bought a new audience into the
superhero genre. Young children always like
to imagine themselves as a superhero so
nearly every child would want to go and see
this family superhero movie.

8. Most superhero films are based on a singular character who is a
vigilante and probably only one person would know about their identity.
However in this superhero movie there's a family of superheroes so
instead of 1 or 2 main good characters, straight away there's 5 which
the families can relate to.

9. Pixar is the main major animation
company for films and it was set
up by Steve Jobs after he had a
break from his role at Apple.
This is the first time that one of
Pixars films highly concentrates on a human family. They have captured the
stereotyped personalities of everyday people such as active young boy
“dash”, the moody private teenager “violet” and the caring mother who is in
charge of the household “elastagirl”. In previous films, pixar have put the
human roles in the background (Toy Story, Nemo, Walle, ratatouille). So the
fact that its their first time going for a more human role and they have got
the personalities correct would reflect and relate onto the public audience.

10. Spiderman 3
Spiderman 3 is seen as the most successful movie out of the whole
franchise. The film was already going to be popular before the actual
release as Spiderman was one of the original Marvel superheroes so
there was always an anticipation by the audience about how good the
performances and script would be. The film didn’t follow on from the
previous movie such as Batman Begins to The Dark Knight. So the
audience didn’t know what was going to happen as there were new
villains and characters.
As every poster that was revealed, it showed
two key aspects. The original red side to the
mysterious darker side so you could
psychologically tell that this was going to be
more of a serious movie and this caught the
audiences eye.

11. Spiderman 3
Compared to other superhero films; this film has a twist
where the actual superhero becomes a villain. The fact
that Spiderman becomes his own enemy catches the
audiences eye and interreges them as it hasn’t been
done before.
Going on to the villains; the previous two films included
only one villain, whereas this film features spiderman
as a villain, The Green Goblins Son, Sandman and
Venom. The fact that threes 4 villains means that the
audience will know that its going to be an action packed
film. Spiderman as a villain adds a new twist, Green
Goblins son will mean that the film includes revenge in
which all superhero films is a common and popular
aspect. Sand man relates to people who would do
anything for their loved ones and Venom lets us see
what spiderman would act like and look like if he has
the actual main villain.

12. Hancock
Hancock was successful because it didn’t
apply to the typical stereotyped superhero
factors such as a costume with a cape and
mask. The main character doesn’t act like the
hero. The character is played by Will smith who
is seen as a major “person” in the celebrity
industry as he's been in several big movies
such as I Am Legend, I Robot and Men In
Black. As he is also in the TV and music
business he’s extremely popular and so
audiences will be attracted to this film. The fact
that the character images and reflects the
average guy and isn’t based on any comic
book makes it standout from the rest.

13. Upcoming Releases
In the next couple of years there are a dozen new superhero
movies coming out. The audience for these films varies and they
all have different aspects that individualize them. Teenage mutant
ninja turtles is based on an animation and has a cartoon feel to it.
The previous movies have been comical and either been in an
animation form or as a puppet costume form. This gives a child
like feel to it so the target audience would be the younger
population.
The Avengers is due to be released in summer 2012 and
combines several superheroes together in one movie. With this in
mind its easy to tell the films going to be action packed. This will
attract the male population and the younger people. The fact that
there's a variation of classic superheroes will appeal to the older
generation as they grew up with the avengers comics and TV
programmes.

14. Articles
There are several key reasons why the article believes that these films will
do well and they are that one film is the end of a trilogy, another
combines more then one superhero in the film and the other is a remake
of a classic superhero with a new cast and director.

15. Article – Dark Knight Rises
The key fact to the succession of this film is that it is the last in the
franchise by this cast and director. The fist film batman Begins was popular
but didn’t amaze the public. The second “the dark knight” took hundreds of
millions of dollars gross profit due to the anticipation of the joker. The fact
that its the last of the trilogy means that the production team have most
likely done all they can to make this the film of the summer. The public
want to see what’s new to the film and what the final movie has to offer.
Another reason is due to the villains Although the joker isn’t part of the film
there’s the return of Ra's al Ghul who was a key character in the first film.
there’s also bane and cat-woman starring in the film. So with so many key
characters is inevitable that the film will be action packed and this will
attract the male population. The featuring of cat-woman will attract the
female market as cat-woman is considered an icon in the superhero genre.

16. Article – The Avengers
The avengers is the most anticipated film this summer according to the
article. The reasons why this film will be successful is down to the
characters/actors and the idea of the film and the release date.
Out of all these three films The Avengers is the one to be released first
(at the start of summer) so the production and distribution team have a
big advantage as there arent any other rival films out at this particular
time.
The idea about The Avengers is that there’s several marvel superheroes
that have come together in a movie. So firstly if you don’t like Captain
America, it doesn’t matter because there’s several other main characters
so the audience is spoilt for choice. The fact that all the characters made
blockbuster films suggests that this films going to be filled with action
and intense scenes. Scarlett Johansson stars as Black Widow who is a key
character, this will attract the female audience and also the male
audience as she is seen as an attractive person.

17. Article – The Amazing
Spiderman
Compared to the other two films in the article, this new spiderman film is
seemed to be less successful. The fact that the first two movies in the
franchise were a big success but the 3rd was lacking that spark means that
there’s concern weather the new director and cast can come back up-to the
original standard. As the release date is close to the release of the Dark
knight, there might be a lack of people going to see the film as they would
want to see the last batman in the franchise.
However having a new cast and production team could benefit them comic
superhero as we know the previous spiderman film wasnt such a hit, but
the new crew might bring something new to the table so audiences will
want to see whats there is to offer.

18. PRIMARY RESEARCH TASK 1

19. Primary Research Task 1
I have now sat with a group of 4 people and analysed what the
public like about the superhero genre, the storylines and the
characters.
In doing this I will be able to evaluate what contributes to the
succession of a superhero film.

20. Superhero Genre
After the group research, I have analysed my data and took the five
average reasponss and they are:
Likes
1) Action Packed
2) Relates to all audiences
3) The hero always starts off as an innocent individual
4) different powers
5) Captures the viewers imagination
Dislikes
1) Always American based
2) villain never wins
3)Gets predictable at times
4) N/A
5) N/A

21. Story Lines
Likes
1) Slowly gives clues about what’s going to happen next
2)Storylines are always different
3) always are action packed
4) can become mysterious (E.g. Batman the dark knight)
Dislikes
1) can become predictable.
2) Themes are always repeated
3) Typical that the main female always ends up in danger
4) N/A
5) N/A

22. Characters
LIKES
1) Always an attractive female
2) characters have believable human personalities.
3) villains are becoming more dark and mysterious
4) Major actors are used
Dislikes
1) Theme of hero being an unpopular student
2) lack of sidekicks in recent years
3) Typical Costume
4) N/A
5) N/A

23. Primary Research 2
After having a deep discussion with two fellow people it is clear to me what
makes a successful superhero and what doesn’t. The superhero genre will
always capture the audiences eye as there filled with action and allow the
viewer to visualize what it would be like to have different abilities and the
films are always imaginative. The Characters can relate to the audience E.g.
Spiderman was a regular student, Kick-Ass was also a student and The
Incredibles had a normal family side to them. As there’s a variation of
superheroes, the audience can relate to at least one of them and this gets
them interested. The characters powers are what the audience are interested
in. A superhero that can fly and shoot lasers is more interesting then a
superhero that can change voices for example. A downside to the characters
are that the costumes get abit too “cheesy”. (captain american with USA
colours, Spiderman with a web print) .

24. Primary Research 2
And finally the main let down in the superhero genre is the story lines. The
storylines are becoming abit too predictable in recentyears and mirror off
each other. Such as the villians are now just trying to take over an area/ the
world. there’s nothing new to superheroes that captures the viewer even
more. The only film to of had a twist is Spiderman 3 where Spiderman
actually becomes hes own enemy through greed. This is the only piece of
creative story that has been introduced in the last decade.