CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF SUPERHERO FILMS

GCSE – Film Studies

In this session, we will…

Consider CODES AND CONVENTIONS of superhero films

Look at the trailer for The Avengers Analyse a scene from The Avengers If we get time, look at the closing scenes

from The Avengers

Exam – Paper 1

Exploring Film – Superhero Movies 1.5 hours 4 questions Clip from Film (analysis) – 2 questions Print Resources (creative task) – 2

questions Total 50 marks (10,10,10,20)

What are CODES &CONVENTIONS?

The detailed rules of the genre (type

of film). Things we come to expect

Codes and Conventions make it easier to understand the film and easier to make it

Question 2 – Conventions Asks you to identify one convention from

the sequence You have to relate this to another

Superhero film Explain why the convention is used in

other films

Avengers Trailer

Avengers Final Scene

superhero montage

CODES AND CONVENTIONS

Setting Themes Characters Props Narrative & Plot Style

Conventions

Question Answer

Which character types typically feature in the superhero genre?

Hero Villain Princess

What is the typical setting of a superhero film?

Often a major American city. Lots of crime. Hero will have secret hideout/HQ

How do we separate the themes in superhero movies?

Public / Private

Setting

Often American city

Place where crime happens

Big locations where things can go wrong!

Secret base or HQ

Themes

Public – things that affect everyone

Private – things that affect the main characters only

CharactersMust be heroic

Or a villain

Or a damsel

Or a victim/general public

Hero’s are often recognisable as normal people

Hero’s are also something people aspire to be – are cool

Hero’s always want to do good, fight for truth and justice (and the American way?)

CONVENTIONSWhat term do we use to describe a significant object that the plot revolves around?

MacGuffin

What props would we typically expect to see in a Superhero film?

Gadgets (Iron Man’s suit, Batman’s utility belt), Iconic Superhero weapon (Thor’s Hammer, Captain America’s shield)

What is the typical narrative of a superhero film?

Good vs Evil, Todorov (equilibrium, disequilibrium, equilibrium)

Props

Significant items that we expect

Macguffin = a significant object around which the plot revolves

Narrative & Plot At its simplest;

Good V Evil Often a

franchise (series of films)

Often starts with heroes origin story

Often High Concept (simple plot, big SFX and budget)

Style Includes

micro elements to build up a specific ‘look’ or ‘feel’

This may link to original comics, or stay throughout franchise

Marvel’s Avengers

Question 2 – Example

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP7qoEcHEd4 (The Avengers)

Identify one typical convention of the Superhero film used in this clip

Describe how this convention is used in another Superhero film

Explain why this convention is used in superhero films that you have studied