Saturday, February 19, 2011

Week Six - From Film to Franchise

        The majority of this week's lecture focused on television adaptation. As our group is looking to adapt our graphic novel to the film medium, we had to work through the lecture material and translate it's content to the film medium. What we hit on was the potential for audience participation in the creation and continuation of a franchise as well as the aftermarket potential of a franchise.
         Our screening this week was the pilot episode of Heroes, a television show that spawned a vast, interactive marketing campaign called Heroes 360 Experience. This campaign invited audience members to search through clues dropped on the show and on the series' website in order to find additional content and insight into the ongoing plots of the show. A few examples of these websites, which are at the time of this posting still available, are www.primatechpaper.com , www.activatingevolution.org , and www.votepetrelli.com .
        By including the audience in a mystery “game” that gave them extra content, Heroes achieved two things. First, the built massive hype around the show. Rather than having TV ads that give vague plot summary and attempt to build suspense in a thirty second time span, the audience were given something to delve into, explore, and invest in. An interested participant could easily spend an hour searching for hidden clues or learning the minute details of a character. Second, the audience members who found the hidden clues and websites were made to feel like they were amongst the elite. They had access to information that nobody else did. This built a strong sense of brand loyalty and helped to sustain the show through four seasons.
This type of marketing campaign is exactly what we are looking at for our own project. As described by Jeff Parker in The Temple of Atlas, a viral marketing campaign was used to market the comics by distributing codes and information through the comic book vendors that the readers could then use to find “hidden” information about the team members and the ongoing plot of the graphic novel.
         While thinking about the audience, we also started to consider the aftermarket of our franchise. In order to gain insight, we examined the aftermarket campaign of Watchmen. The first, and admittedly most obvious, area that we examined were home versions of the film. What we found is that Watchmen has had several iterations on the DVD and BluRay market. At present, Watchmen is available on DVD and BluRay in a standard, special edition, director's cut and ultimate edition. As well, there have been several related projects sold under the Watchmen franchise. These include Watchmen: The Motion Comic and Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter, both of which are available on DVD and BluRay. This is a very large number of products that were spawned, in essence, from one source.

These are just SOME of the Watchmen DVD collection

         We believe that our project has the potential to spawn as many, if not more, products. By using a standard to special edition to director's cut strategy, we can release more and more content over time and thus resell the original product as many times as possible. As well, by including related projects, such as the origin stories of each character or a two-for-one deal with the upcoming Avenger's movie, packaged with a third disc covering the “What if?” storyline, we can deliver content that is exclusive to a specific iteration of our film in the aftermarket.
         A second area that we explored was the video game market, a massive market amongst our key demographic. In translating a film to a video game, we discussed two possibilities. We could either mimic the story of the film, giving the audience control over something familiar, or we could build up a new storyline and give the audience a completely new experience. Using Watchmen again as an example, we can see the success of a video game adaptation. The video game Watchmen: The End is Nigh was an immediate seller, despite conflicting reviews amongst critics. As well, the video game was sold packaged with the BluRay edition of Watchmen's special edition and director's cut.

The PS3 version of Watchmen: The End is Night, with the film bundled in.

         The audience is obviously a key point in film, and all other forms of entertainment media. By including them in our adaptation process, there is much to be gained. Whether it be directly, as we've seen done in Heroes and Batman, or through the options provided to them, as we've seen with Watchmen, the audience has the final word on the success or failure of a franchise.

Parker, Jeff. Agents of Atlas. New York: Marvel, 2009. Print.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Week Five - I've Got a Better Idea! What if...

        The focus of this week's lectures and discussion was the idea of the Generic Cycle. In particular, looking at Wandtke's article Upon a Time Once Again, we saw an emphasis on the revisionist tendencies of the superhero genre. In looking for examples of revision, we saw immediately why the emphasis is the focus of superhero storytellers. The very act of creating a superhero is a form of revision.
        For examples, we looked at our graphic novel. While one could easily point out that the return of heroes established in the mid 20th century is a revision, we looked at the specific characters and applied Wandtke's ideas to them. What we found was that three different types of revisionism exist in Agents; the revision of origin, the revision of ending, and the revision of identity.
        By revision of origin, we mean that the character has been, or in our case could be, re-created without interrupting the canon. For the revision of origin, we looked at Ken Hale (Gorilla Man). In his origin story, he is cursed into becoming a gorilla by killing the previous Gorilla Man. As well, Ken states several times during the graphic novel that were someone to kill him, they too would take on his curse. This is an immensely powerful tool for revisionists as the character of Gorilla Man, be it Ken Hale or otherwise, could potentially go on forever. This trait also opens up the possibility of several different versions of Gorilla Man. Should, for example, a villainous character kill Ken Hale, the next Gorilla Man could potentially be a villain rather than a hero. This is an idea that could be played with in the further story of Agents, after the events of our film.

I know that Batman and Robin are DC, but I couldn't resist Robin in a dress. What if Batman killed Ken...

        By revision of ending, we mean that a character is brought to a point where the canon claims that they are dead and then a further storyline revives them or explains how they actually managed to avoid death. This type of revision is seen in Namora's involvement in our graphic novel. In her own canon previous to Agents, she was pronounced dead and it was intended for her to stay that way. However, Jeff Parker saw fit to bring her back from the dead by insisting that she was never really dead in the first place, but only appeared to be due to a telepathic field. To a minor extent, Jimmy Woo also fits into this category. However, we are hesitant to consider Woo a full revision as the circumstances of his “death” are presented as part of the self contained canon of the graphic novel in which is rebirth occurs.
         Finally, by revision of identity, we mean that a character is revealed to be someone completely other to who they are said to be. This type of revision is seen most strikingly in the character Venus. It is assumed through the graphic novel that she is in fact the Greco-Roman Goddess Venus. However, she is revealed by Namora to be a siren who forgot her own identity and picked up upon the myth of Venus. This type of revision is effective as a way to change the past of a hero. With Venus, we see a complete disregard for the included origin story.
       While it is fairly evident that revision is an essential part of the superhero genre, it is impossible for revision to exist without established conventions. This paradox was also a major point of discussion for our group. To this point, we came to the conclusion that revision exists as a convention of the superhero genre. This is seen in the film Kick-ass and the graphic novel Watchmen. In both cases, it is the presence of the conventions of the superhero genre within the diegesis that lead normal people to become superheroes. While Hollis Mason gets his inspiration to become the first Night Owl from the pulp comics of his day, Dave Lizewski gets his inspiration to become Kickass from graphic novels like Watchmen. This constant cycle of inspiration is an example of using the established conventions of previous superhero stories in a revisionist way.

       
Dave gathers inspiration at the comic book store.

Kick-ass. Dir. Matthew Vaughn. Perf. Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz and Nicolas Cage. Marv Films, 2010.

Moore, Alan, and Dave Gibbons. Watchmen. New York: DC Comics, 1987. Print.

Parker, Jeff. Agents of Atlas. New York: Marvel, 2009. Print.

Wandtke. "Once Upon a Time Once Again." Wandtke. Once Upon a Time Once Again.pdf. Web. 12 Feb. 2011.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Week Four - The Problem of Being a Superhero

        In this week's reading, The Definition of a Superhero by Peter Coogan, we were faced with a list of characteristics describing a superhero. Coogan argues that the central markers of the superhero are “mission, powers, identity and generic distinction” (Coogan 90). When we then applied this paradigm to the characters in Agents of Atlas, we found that perhaps Coogan's definition may need further refinement. In particular, we compared Coogan's paradigm to the character of Jimmy Woo, though we did examine the remainder of the team as well. We then examined alternative definitions of a superhero and concluded that the Agents are simply a different breed of hero to those Coogan describes. Without further ado, let us examine and criticize Coogan's paradigm.

A generic superhero.

        The first marker that Coogan gives is the mission of the superhero. While each member of the Agents has their own reason for joining up with Jimmy Woo, the mission itself is to find and bring down the Atlas Foundation. Coogan says that “the superhero's mission is pro-social and selfless” (77), which would seem to be a common thread for certain amongst the superhero genre. As a matter of fact, we can see the application of this principle in the Agents original mission. Storming a heavily guarded fortress in order to save the President of the United States is, indeed, pro-social and selfless. In pursuing the Atlas Foundation, however, we see a side to Jimmy Woo that is consumed with the need for revenge and a thirst to prove himself. In this sense, Woo's mission is not so much about stopping crime, but rather catching the criminal. We see this attitude reflected in Dick Tracy. While Tracy is indeed attempting to rid the city of crime, he is doing so by relentlessly pursuing one man: Big Boy Caprice. Tracy's mission, therefore, is not in fact to uphold pro-social and selfless ideals, but rather to selfishly pursue one man, his nemesis. While both Caprice and “Yellow Claw” are criminals in their respective plots, the hero characters associated with them see them as nemesis first and foremost. The idea of defeating one's nemesis becomes the mission of both Jimmy Woo and Dick Tracy.

Jimmy's need to capture "Yellow Claw" exceeds even his love for Suwan.

        Coogan's second marker is the presence of powers. He cites Judge Leaned Hand in suggesting that superpowers are “extraordinary abilities, advanced technology, or highly developed physical, mental, or mystical skills” (Coogan 77). Once again, we can look at the Agents to find these characteristics. Venus certainly does have extraordinary abilities, the ability to control men through song for one. Marvel Boy has access to highly advanced technology, his spaceship among other things. And characters like Jimmy, M-11 and Namora seem to exemplify the highly developed physical, mental and mystical skills suggested. So far, this marker seems to be holding up. However, we are missing one key character in our comparison. Ken “Gorilla Man” Hale, is, quite simply, unexceptional. Aside from having the mystical imposed upon him, he is no smarter than the average human nor any stronger than the average gorilla. He is an example of the everyman in gorilla form. This again relates back to Dick Tracy. The titular character, like Ken, has no exceptional abilities. He is the everyman in a world that begs for the exceptional. What Jeff Parker may have been doing in writing Agents of Atlas is in fact suggesting this very thing. While Ken Hale is not a superhero in terms of powers, the group collectively contains all types of powers, and thus his association gives him powers. Likewise, Tracy is considered powerful only by his need to stop the city's crime. Both Ken and Tracy are called to action, rather than given the responsibility.

Ken is just like one of us!

        Coogan's third marker, and the final one we will be discussing, is identity. Coogan suggests that “the identity element comprises the codename and costume, with the secret identity being a customary counterpart to the codename” (78). Here again the Agents seem to fall out of the category of superhero. Several of our team have code-names, but prefer to be called by their proper names. Ken Hale is known as Gorilla Man, but is rarely called that name. The same pattern is seen in “Marvel Boy” Bob Grayson. Then there are characters who simply have no codename. Jimmy Woo, M-11, Namora and Venus all go by their “real” names. I use real in parentheses simply to cover the fact that M-11 and Venus have back stories that concern the truth behind their identities, which is an entirely different matter. Once again we can look to Dick Tracy and see the same pattern. The closest thing that we have in Dick Tracy to a hidden identity is “The Man With No Face,” and even that character is not a superhero.
        By way of a conclusion, we can say that the idea of a superhero is still a concept that is being shaped and molded into different forms. We are willing to assert whole heartedly that each member of the Agents is in fact a superhero, though the generic markers suggested by Coogan may say otherwise. While mission, powers and identity so play a key role in most superhero narratives, it is folly to suggest that they are central to the entire genre.

Coogan, Peter. "The Definition of a Superhero." Coogan. Definition of a Supehero.pdf. Web. 02 Feb. 2011.

Dick Tracy. Dir. Warren Beatty. Perf. Warren Beatty, Madonna, Al Pacino. Touchstone Pictures, 1990.

Parker, Jeff. Agents of Atlas. New York: Marvel, 2009. Print.