Spiderman (2002) - Superhero Genre Conventions

Spiderman (2002) includes many different types of genre conventions that relate to the superhero genre, and inform the audience of what genre the film is;

    Firstly, the film contains over-the-top, stylized costumes. Spiderman wears a sleek, red and blue tight suit with a logo of a spider on the front, while the Green Goblin wears a bright green set of armor with a menacing, green goblin helmet, with yellow eyes, and an open mouth. The costume is an important part of the superhero genre as it both shows what the character represents, but also conceals the characters actual identity. With these costumes, it is also easier to identify who is the hero and who is the villain; Spiderman is sleek with a blue and red costume, while the Green Goblin wear green military armor and looks threatening.
    Another convention it uses is secret identities. Peter Parker keeps his identity secret, for fear of someone close to him getting hurt, and when the Green Goblin, who is Norman Osbourne, picks up on a clue and realizes that Peter Parker is Spiderman, he attacks and terrorizes Aunt May, which greatly affects Peter and makes him realize that being a superhero could cause collateral damage.
    Also included in Spiderman is the convention of super powers. Peter Parker is bitten on a science filed trip by a radioactive, genetically-modified super spider, which alters Peter's DNA to make him be able to have super strength, be able to climb up walls, and be able to fire webs out of his wrists. Norman Osbourne uses a special performance enhancing chemical gas which gives him super strength, but at the cost of him losing his sanity.
    All of these genre conventions, aswell as others which are present in the film, clearly fit into the Superhero genre, and give the audience a clear idea of what genre the film is that they are about to watch.

Marvel and DC Comics

Marvel Studios

Marvel  Comics was founded in 1939, as Timely Comics, however Marvel Studios was founded in 1993, by Avi Arad. It is based in Burbank, California at Walt Disney Studios. Marvel Studios is also owned by the Disney corporation. Marvel Studios has produced many famous comic book film properties, including the Iron Man and Captain America films, but perhaps their most famous properties are the two Avengers movies; 'The Avengers' (Known as Avengers Assemble in Great Britain), and 'Avengers: Age Of Ultron'. 'The Avengers' made $1,519,557,910 internationally, and 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' made $1,405,035,767 internationally, for a combined international gross of $2,924,593,677. Since 2008, Marvel Studios has produced 12 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is a series of films which all take place within the same cinematic universe; meaning they all happen at roughly the same time in the same world. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has grossed over $9 billion internationally, making it the highest grossing film franchise of all time.


DC Comics

DC Comics was first established around late 1934, to early 1935, as National Allied Publications. It was founded by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. The film productions of DC Comics are produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Entertainment, which is itself owned by Time Warner. They are well known for their heroic comic-book characters such as Batman, and Green Lantern. The character of Batman has been portrayed in numerous different film and television adaptations; the most famous of which is the Christopher Nolan film series, known as The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005-2012) starring Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The Dark Knight character has also been portrayed by Adam West in the campy 60's television and film adaptations, and Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and George Clooney in the 90's Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher Batman film series. As well as DC Comics famous hero characters, the studio has also produced films based on works unrelated to that universe, such as Watchmen and V For Vendetta. DC Comics films are generally much darker than Marvel films, and contain less humor.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Non/Diegetic Sound

Diegetic Sound

Diegetic sound is sound made by a source which is visible on the screen. For example, the voices of characters, or sounds coming from objects on screen, such as a car engine, or a gunshot. An example of diegetic sound in the Star Wars trailer is the blasters. This sound is a sharp, energetic sound which attracts the viewers attention and immerses them in the science fiction setting.

Non-Diegetic Sound

Non-diegetic sound is sound made from a source which is not part of what is being filmed, and has been added on afterwards. An example of non-diegetic sound in the Star Wars trailer is the Star Wars theme song. The effect of this is that it tells the audience exactly what the trailer is for and accurately portrays the atmosphere of the trailer.