what coursed the recent surge in the popularirty of the super hero movie? This essay aims to discuss the recent surge in the popularity of the super hero movies.what was is it about the super hero genre that made this subcultured scene into the main stream,what was it about the genre that rushed people to the cinemas to see the heros battle it out with a force of evil all over the world. Its rise in popularity is evidence in the budgets of the production of the films and its spike of gross in the box office.this essay will give a brief introduction to what the comic book hero subculture was before the rise in popularity before the super hero genre became mainstream. This essay will discuss the study that may be a plausible answer to why the popularity of the super hero genre hit the hight. Study’s that suggest that people need a hero figure and Icon someone to lead them, study's that suggest cgi is the reason due to its realism and letting the viewer be hypnotised into believing that what there seeing is real and study's that suggest that viewers are revisiting their childhood by going to see there hero and see hims come to life. To help these theory the essay takes a brief look at what a hero is and what a hero is considered to be with in the modern day. And what makes a hero. We know the super hero movies has had a recent surge in popularity because No matter where you go or what ever the scene you will see it. It's the hottest toy in the toy shops. It's the font on the awareness posters on the train. It's the next big cinema hit. It's seen on the face of shirts and bags on the main stream high street stores. The comic book is in the hand of most educated people. Who ever you are you'll recognize the marvel logo, understand the anger in the hulk, recognize the bat man symbols. And most likely used the famous line " no I am your father " may the force be with you" at some point in your life time. The sci fi/ super hero scene have been on our screens for years. It was kick started by the batman and robin TV program that was aired in the 60s , it was now when people got there first look at there comic super heroes live in action. It wasn't too soon after that we saw the superman saga swoop to the big screen and wasn't too far away when we watched the caped crusader, the worlds greatest detective, the dark night, go head to head with the world recognizable joker.since then we've seen numerous super heroes come to cinemas such as blade trilogy, X-men, daredevil all successful. X-men had a huge following. It was not alway this way. The super hero genre was considered to be written for children and for people with little littoral skills. When the comic book was then created for adult entertainment it was considered to be a small subculture.”The adult super hero readership (sub-section of the adult comic readership as a whole) has come to identify itself as a small and very cohesive subculture”(Reynolds, 1992) The comics and its merchandise was not as easy to get as it is today. With in the small subculture there was comic book stores that was one of the few places to locate comic books and merchandise. This subculture was considered to at the time be what people out of this culture would call geeks nerds and wasnt accepted into the mainstream. “The word geek and nerd is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast or a person obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit, with a general pejorative meaning of a "peculiar person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual, unfashionable, or socially awkward” (Geek, 2016) We have seen the rise of the budget of marvel films. In the beginning marvels budget on there films was not has great as they are today for example, Howard the duck, blade,
and electra thous films had a budget between 40 and 50 million dollars. But today with the more recent films such as guardians of the galaxy and avengers that was a budget of 180 to 200 million and that some is the average budget for the marvel films now. Spider man on the other hand had a budget of 285 million dollars. The box office is been dominated by marvel films. Marvels the avengers grossed over 6 million dollars the avengers was the first super hero film to ever hit that high grossing figure at $623.357.910. you can see with the dates in the picture below that grossing for the marvel films are rising as they are produced. The average gross for each film is 200.00.00 million dollars. it dosnt stop there. The super hero has introduced its self into the oscers. The films directors and actors have received oscer nominations and marvel studios has received a academy award for best visual effects in 2015 with the guardians of the galaxy. The films merchandise has increased massively. Marvels merchandise gross in 2006 was 7.2 million dollars in 2013 the gross shot up almost 6 times as much as it was in 2006 at a breath taking figure at 40. 9 billion dollars. Before 2006 there was only limited places were you could get the Marvil merchandise such as on line marvel stores or comic book shops all over the world but now its in every store you walk in. this was not just aimed at children toys and clothing the merchandise became the face of the high street fashion. Comic book strips was seen on hand bags and shirts. It was not only on clothing and accessories but it was on stationery and text books. The super heros was now helping promote safety awareness on posters for arrive train travel. Super heros was promoting movie packages for sky and virgin media. Super heros was the cover of every mag. Because Technology of today is having a huge impact on everything. Not only is it changing the way we connect to each other, not only is it helping us travel across the world faster but it's helping movies look and seem more real. The special effects, the cgi is taking the film experience to a hole new level “I think it's safe to say that CGI animation has had a profound effect on all of the world's visual forms of entertainment, but it often doesn't get the appreciation it deserves — and it gets a lot of appreciation. People swoon over the gorgeous VFX of movies on a regular basis, but more laud the performances of the human actors” (Krell, 2014) “Technology has brought about huge changes in films, both in the way they’re made and in the way we watch them”(2016, 2000) Computer generated imagery (CGI) effects have dramatically improved the process of creating animated films. A once very time consuming and labor intensive method (e.g. traditional animation), and thanks to the advances of digital technology, such as CGI software programs, animation has recently become more efficient and costeffective to produce. This is truly the golden age for animation; after all, animated films are more realistic in nature--even a character’s facial expressions can be made to look real. (Orfano, 2009) The growing industry of digital animation and/or CGI isn’t only used with animated films, but also with live-action films. Considering special effects in live-action films, this technology may be used in multiple ways, such as in animated title sequences and graphics, visual effects (special effects rendered in post production), optical effects (e.g. greenscreens and bluescreens), and even mechanical effects such as rain or snow and prosthetics. (Orfano, 2009)
The CGI roof Spider-Man swinging across rooftops was a collaboration with real actors and real cityscapes to the point that the viewers would forget that during crucial scenes we were watching a computer-generated picture rather than a real person. cgi technology had reached a point where it could do what comic books had always been able to do, to be able to present a superhero story that is enhanced by fantastic images and the boundaries was now limitless for a super hero to anything on the big screen.the cgi allowed viewers to see there favorite super heros come to life, was now able to see them shoot cannon blasters from there chest and it seemed real.watching child hood comic book hero iron man fly away from jets on screen, again the viewer would almost forget that they are watching a computer generated image and see a real life super hero in action. special effects has finally stopped being a distraction and started being an high light of the film by making the unbelievable, the fantasy, the impossible now believable. Seeing is believing as they say. Not only has the on screen Superb costuming, accomplished actors, and skilled directors such as Bryan Singer and Sam Raimi all played a part in the rise of popularity of the super hero films because its not only the on screen effects that give the elution that super heros are real its also the down to the translation of it as a hole, the character has to be pertraid well. The costumes have to translate from the comic but also to fit into modern life now to made it more believable. there are also study's that show nostalgia in the films. Viewers watch the films to watch there childhood hero come to life. This rekindles the love for the hero for the older audience witch widens the audience and rises the popularity. It is also said that the rise in super hero popularity came after 911. this could be a relevant feature for this topic. Just after world war two captain america was created for the people of america because they needed a hero as the united states of america entered the world war. “America's entry into world war two gave the superheros a whole new set of enemies, and supplied a complete working rational and world veiw for a super- patriotic superhero sush as captine america. This so-called Golden age of comics and super heros.”(peitz, 2013) captiane america was used on posters in america in the duration of the americas input of the world war 2 posters used to help the moral for the troops and to help the people at home away from the war. It seamed that the people needed a hero. During world war 2 Winston Churchill was also considered the united kingdoms hero. Leading the united kingdoms army’s into the of world war 2 battles and after years of fightig Winston churchill left victorious. Winston Churchill was not only on posters but gave speech to keep mural high in the people of the uk. People of united kingdom saw him as a icon someone to lead them out of the war and into a stable life again. People saw the world war 2 ending part as Churchill’s success. Watching a hero defeat the enemy and saving the world from his evil grasp does sound like a super hero comic book story.”Winston Churchill was perfect example of a hero. His abilities outshine everybody else and his courage, wit, determination, perseverance and persistence were amazing. He faced mountains of obstacles in his life, yet he overcame them all. He successfully achieved in ninety years what others might need nine hundred years to achieve. He rewrote history with his leadership and talents” (L, Wan, and Kong, no date) study say that After 911 the people needed a hero after realizing there is now a bad side. They needed someone to follow and look up to. What is a hero? A hero is someone with a legacy something that will live on. Essentially some one more than a person. An idol, an icon a image a legend. “the hero in social life is thus essentially
more than a person; he is an ideal image, a legend, a symbol. The study of growing hero legend shows us that the fame of a hero is a collective product, being largely a number of popular imputations and interpretations”(klapp,1948) Watching the super hero films gave the comfort and reassurance that the power of a good side can over come the bad side. This would lead to having faith in someone in the real world who are fighting the group that was to blame for 9.11. like every other main stream genre it must come to an end sooner or later. But even when it does come to an end history tells us that big impacted genres leave an impression just like the hugely favored western film genre left its mark on the film industry, influencing actors and directors alike. Once the must see genre of film. could this just be another genre of film and soon will pass? Famous directors in the film industry such as steven Spielberg and other icons in the film industry believe that the super hero genre is a repeat pattern of the western genre and will die out like it also.“We were around when the Western died and there will be a time when the superhero movie goes the way of the Western,” said Spielberg. “It doesn’t mean there won’t be another occasion where the Western comes back and the superhero movie someday returns. Of course, right now the superhero movie is alive and thriving. I’m only saying that these cycles have a finite time in popular culture. There will come a day when the mythological stories are supplanted by some other genre that possibly some young filmmaker is just thinking about discovering for all of us.”(McMillan, 2015) The western was the most popular genre in the 20th century. Western films was a huge hit in the 1930s it became the highest attend genre ever, study's show that the western was a high success due to the clear evidence of a good side and a bad side. A hero and the villain. “My generation grew up watching western movies. So did those before us for two decades. Before them, generations of boys had read dime novels, a genre that extends back to the actual era of the cowboy. We learned through fiction the centrality of four principles: honor, private property, the integrity of the law, and the moral limits on revenge” (North, 2005) this backs up the study as stated before that people need a hero and this is why the super hero genre has had the recent surge in the popularity. the super hero genre rose from a subculture that was once considered to be a un literate one, comics with super heros headlines was considered to be created for children and people who couldn’t read well. statistics with in the gross of the box office have proven the rise of popularity of the super hero genre. The statistics in the gross of merchandise sales has proven the rise of popularity and with popularity come demand. study show that there are many plausible possibility why the super hero genre has had the recent surge in the popularity. Possibilities such as people need a icon or a figure like a hero to encourage and reassure them that there is a greater good and that results in the films being popular. Possibility that the technology of the film industry of today are that advance now, that viewers can see there super heros in action and see them to be realistic, linked to this theory, a nostalgic response for the viewer to be able to see there childhood super hero in action, seeing that rekindles something from there child hood. Or it may even be as simple for the super hero genre to being popular because people like the films because the acting and the story lines are entertaining and that the script is quirky and comical. All these, plausible to why the super hero genre has surged into the lime light and over taken the films industry and covered the face of the books in the book stores and littered the toy stores with his merchandise.
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