The power of Spiderman is displayed constantly in the comics, this is a necessity. There needs to be action in a periodical comic. "The Origins Of Spiderman" are not dealt with much, apart from the first issue or when a new artist joins Marvel. It is however alluded to often, it is a central theme and there are frequent references to Uncle Ben and frequent moral dilemmas that Spiderman is placed into. Peter Parker is a caring and troubled young man. He thinks before he acts, he worries, he contemplates and that then produces the action, that information is given to the reader via the soliloquies in thought bubbles.
As with all comic book heroes there has to be a villain, Spiderman has plenty. What is ironic is that he is portrayed as a villain by the public, that is until he has to save them from the real villain. Among Spiderman’s villains is the demon Green Goblin. The Green Goblin tries different strategies to disarm any one who stands in the way of his plans. He tires temptation, lies, flattery - ideas that are neither creative nor new. To demoralize Spiderman’s fighting spirit, he even tries to touch the people that Spiderman loves the most - Mary Jane the woman who he loves more than she will ever know, and his elderly aunt May, who brought him up instead of his mother. The Green Goblin made it personal and went to amazing lengths to find out about Spiderman. The Green Goblin is a pernicious enemy and likes to toy with his enemies and see them struggle in pain and fear of their very lives in which they are so proud of. Stan Lee also said that he thinks that Spiderman is a misunderstood hero, one who people can relate easily to and know what he is going through. He gets things wrong which in turn takes away people who he loves and desires. The Green Goblin represents Great Power without Great Responsibility.
When Spiderman was released in the United States and the United Kingdom it went straight to number one in the box office. Peter Parker starts off telling you the story of his life in a soliloquy. Its a very dull, sullen tone in which Peter starts to soliloquise Which adds to his image as school geek, boring and a genuine loser. The first difference that I noticed was that unlike the comics there was no opening action shot of a villain or Spiderman. You see Peter as a geeky, young, very naive, typical clumsy kid and he is the epitome of everything uncool. Peter also tells of his responsibilities and concerns, I the opening shot. He is played by the person less likely to ever become a superhero, Tobey Maguire, who suits the role down to the ground. The film starts off at a school trip to the museum of science where he is bitten by a genetically enhanced super spider. So far the movie is similar to the comics except there is no action and no amazing costume which we know everyone is waiting to see. With every superhero there is a love interest, in Peter's case it’s his next door neighbour, whom Peter has been infatuated with since they were about six years old, (Mary Jane Watson played by the stunning Kirsten Dunst). Peter is disliked by everyone except his best friend Harry and Mary Jane who has a soft spot for him. Asking Sam Raimi to direct was an interesting idea. Sam Raimi is best known for the Evil Dead films and normally directs films of that genre so having him direct Spiderman may have come as a shock to some people but he did an amazing job of both films and I'm sure that he will do the same or even better with the third installment of Spiderman. Sam Raimi was specifically chosen for his excellence in film. His directing ability is amazing. He has own ideas and views and was famous for taking his camera everywhere, he has total control over his camera. Sam Raimi wanted to make Spiderman in the early 90’s but had to wait for technology to catch up. It was his camera angles, camera speed, special effects and humor that redefined filming techniques in the 1980’s. Sam Raimi does not try to transcend the material or give it a large scale operatic lushness. Peter realizes the change his spider bite has caused, he is as astonished as everyone else around him. He has to learn not to use his new power and abilities for his own advantage, on the other hand there is a very successful scientist whose excessive ambition opens a door for a demon to take over him. This is shown very clearly in the movie.
The first scene is the school science trip. Here Peter is bitten by the genetically enhanced super spider. There is a low angle shot of the spider hanging above Peter to make it look powerful, switching to the unknowing Peter who is preoccupied taking pictures of Mary Jane for the school paper. There is then a high angle shot making Peter look weak and helpless, as most predators like their prey. When Peter gets home to his room he starts to feel drowsy and faints. As he does this, the camera sways from side to side to make a better effect. As well as this it uses a tracking shot as he hits the floor and falls asleep looking as if he having nightmares. As he is sleeping it shows his DNA being replaced with some of the spiders DNA. There are a lot of special effects used here it is shown in a cartoon style drawing. He wakes up, this scene is light-hearted with gentle music and birds chirping. Peter stares at himself in the mirror and notices the obvious physical changes, he is more built up and his sight is excellent. This comes as a shock to Peter but it is one that he is pleased about, he is more energetic and full of life. This scene is not threatening at all it is symbolic of adolescence but in real life you don’t change over night (all though some of us wish we did). He is a faster runner than normal and is amazed by this. Harry's father Norman Osbourne is changing at the same time as Peter, Osbourne’s character is compared to Peters. The change runs parallel and there is a big difference in how this is shown. Osbourne’s change is horrific, it is a horror sequence with fits, smoke effects, dark lighting violence and close ups of pain and anger, the whole scene has an air of danger and evil. This is an extreme change in terms of endurance. Osbourne’s change shows how Great Power can be used Irresponsibly, driven to exceed by greed and power Osbourne does not consider the effects of what he is doing when he puts himself in the machine. Because of the way that Osbourne is, his alter ego the Green Goblin is the same or sometimes worse.
The next scene is filmed in the school canteen and the corridor, it shows the first signs of Peter's spider senses which are shown by a change in music and a close up of his face. In the corridor there are slow motion close up camera shots as, the camera follows everything that is happening in the corridor. Flash comes after Peter, the spider senses are shown again and he dodges the fist of an extremely angry Flash. To Peter's surprise his reflexes are amazing and dodges everything that Flash had. The crowd is also amazed and the only person who cares about Peter is trying to stop Flash ; but all good things must come to an end. When Peter hits Flash it is such a force that he goes flying back. The music changes and the theme of great responsibility is introduced. It is quite violent compared to the rest of the fight, it shows what can happen when great power is not kept under control. Mary Jane was not impressed by this and gives him a strange look and another character shouts "Jesus Parker you really are a freak!". The reactions of Mary Jane and the other character are ones of shock and prejudice. It shows that this is not going to be another heroic action movie and that he must act responsibly to gain respect.
Running away from the chaos of the school hall, Peter runs down an ally way. He notices his fingertips have tiny hairs on them which enable him to climb walls. There are tracking shots of him climbing the wall, and there is a close up his face which shows excitement. When you see Peter go up the wall he affects a creepy-crawly contortionism that suggests something not quite human. Once he gets to the top of the building he tries a number of different superhero slogans that he can remember to take charge of the webs as they fire wide of their target, this shows the eventual control and power over his body. I think that these scenes show the moral very well. They show that nothing comes with out responsibility and with great power you need responsibility.
The scene when Uncle Ben is trying to talk to Peter is set up as a typical adolescent argument. Peter doesn't want to listen to the good advice his Uncle is giving him "With Great Power comes Great Responsibility". Instead he is dismissive of it. Peter retaliates by saying "stop lecturing me your not my father" a hurtful comment and the last thing he says to his uncle . It is important plot for development. This is the first major point in defining the hero he is going to become. There are not many camera techniques used in this scene apart from one or two close ups of Uncle Bens face to show the sadness in his face because Peter wont listen to him. The non diagetic sound is the cars going past them whilst they are sat in the car. Diagetic is basically the dialogue.
The fight scene is where Peter uses his new found powers to make money there is no responsibility in that. At the end of the fight everyone is cheering him. For the first time everyone likes him. He likes the feeling. After the fight when he is collecting the prize money, the man wont give all of the money to Peter. Another man walks in and Peter sulks out. The man robs the cashier, the cashier runs after him shouting "stop him he's got my money" Peter lets the robber go and is sarcastic towards the cashier who would not give him the money this is another example of no responsibility and this is the biggest mistake that Peter will ever make in his life. It is because of his irresponsibility in this scene that he loses his Uncle Ben.
As Peter is walking to where his Uncle is going to pick him up, there is a crowd of people surrounding an old man. It is his Uncle Ben, who has been shot. Peter rushes to him and crouches down, there are a lot of point of view shots and close ups of Peter and his uncle because this scene is extremely emotional. You cant believe that this has happened. These scenes stay faithful to the comics, Raimi has not changed anything. He has handled these carefully so as not to stray from the moral of the comics. The fact that he started it with the agreement is a good technique because as soon as uncle Ben was dead I was thinking about the argument and the last thing he said to his uncle, which was a very insensitive comment coming from someone that you raised as a son and that you love dearly.
This is the third and final defining moment in becoming a hero. After hearing the location of where the murderer is heading, Peter goes after him. The music changes from a slow and sad tone to a big and loud one, like a heartbeat. The music is intense and drags you into the scene. Peter swings from building to building but he only uses one hand showing that he is scared and unsure of what is going to happen. Throughout the chase the use of the colours red, white and blue is very clever and symbolises the emergence of Spiderman as a superhero. Peter chases the killer to an old warehouse and a fight breaks out, the killer pulls out a gun but Peter disarms him. The low angle shot of the gun is powerful and dangerous with the light glistening over the top of it. Which must mean Peter is even more powerful to beat him. The killer pulls out a knife which is more of a close combat weapon, which suggests a personal matter. There is glass breaking and you can hear helicopters outside as well as sirens on the cars. The warehouse is darkly lit with a lot of shadows and unseen movement, this is to represent the dark mood and atmosphere of this crucial scene. This is personal, angry and violent and the lighting reflects this. The murderer begs for his life but Peter wants know what about his uncle why didn’t he give him a chance? He rips of his mask meaning that he wants him to see his face, making it seem like this is a very deep personal matter which it is. Peter pushes the man up against the wall where the light shines across his face, to Peter surprise it was the thief who he let go. This is intercut with close ups of Peters eyes and a horrific black and white flash back with echoes in the background. Black and white is used to give a documentary feel and the guilt that Peter feels is immense as he realizes what happened making himself believe that it was his fault that his Uncle died. The killer on the other hand is laughing and Peter snaps the gun out of his hand and twist his arm moving backwards out of fear the killer trips over a pipe, stumbles and falls out the window. There is a low angle shot of the Peter standing looking down to show how powerful Spiderman has become. The spotlights are a nod towards the comics but also shows him in silhouette, a dark and shadowy figure. Also used to highlight his eyes to show the emotion. I think that this scene is very depressing at first but it always is when someone that the main character loves is innocent and murdered or caught up on the action and accidentally killed, it draws you in with the music and you cant help but feel sorry for Peter and revengeful as well.
Now this is what everyone in the audience is going to be waiting for, to see Spiderman in his costume. The audience has been waiting for a while and everyone is on the edge of their seat hoping for a glimpse of him. Well in this scene we finally see Spiderman! This scene is very different it is bright, bold and has the feel of a comic book to it. In contrast it has comic book violence, quite a happy scene, with romance and a lot of excitement. This is Spiderman’s debut as a superhero, its his first time out in public and it is impressive. He defeats the bad guy and gets the girl. The audience has been waiting a total of 65 minutes to properly see Spiderman so it has to be effective.
Mary Jane and the singer Macy Gray wear red, white and blue make up, white symbolizing the purity and innocence of them in this scene, red symbolising passion and danger and blue for sadness, these are all Spiderman’s colours and America’s colours which is a very powerful nation. This scene is very happy and light compared to chasing uncle Bens killer. There is a newspaper with a picture of Spiderman on the front which shows fame and power because he is on the cover. Balloons are used to symbolise fun and laughter and are also used as safety nets for the Green Goblin and Spiderman to show the powerful effects of each others strengths. The black and white on the panda symbolises good and evil which relates back to the bible representing powerful forces. Most of the props contain green, black, red and orange to represent fire. They are powerful, bold, primary colours used in comic books. The low angle shot through Peter's camera lens can be interpreted as him spying and is jealous of Harry because of Mary Jane. A close up shot of Peters face and a change of music as Peters spider senses kick in, binoculars are used to show a grand entrance from far away for the Green Goblin. The lights on the building are pointing upwards towards the Green Goblin. The crowd cheer when they see the Green Goblin appear. This is dramatic irony because they are ignorant to the evil that is the Green Goblin whereas Spiderman and the audience do know that he is evil, merciless and a demented demon from hell or an ambitious scientist gone mad.
This scene is set in Manhattan, it is tall, grand, powerful and dangerous; it emphasises the American ideal image, because they are a patriotic culture. Peter's spider senses are special effects, when the audience hears that sound it creates excitement for them as they want to see him in the suit. Music for when the Green Goblin appears is low and threatening creating excitement and anticipation for the battle. Orchestral music which is powerful, heroic music kicks in every time Spiderman appears especially when he is running and opening his shirt to reveal the spider on his chest. This is portrayed in slow motion with close ups of the spider, it is also a cliché, copying the hero that was Superman (Christopher Reeve). It gives the audience a chance to see it in all its glory, the orchestral music is dramatic and uplifting. Every aspect of the battle has been enhanced by special effects to reinforce the power. Glasses are smashed to symbolically show the power of the Green Goblin, his glider is powerful, fast and dangerous. The gargoyle on the building is strong and powerful, originally intended to ward of evil spirits but it gets smashed which again reinforces the power of these two people. The bomb is an angry red colour with a green circle which symbolises danger and therefore it belongs to the Green Goblin. Flags are the same colours as Spiderman this is to represent him as a powerful individual and America an extremely powerful country. When Mary Jane is falling through the air, there is a high angle, tracking shot following her fall as if the girl of his dreams is slipping away from him. The music changes as MJ is rescued, it is romantic, heavenly and soft. At the end of the scene where he takes her to safety there is a close up of her face looking longingly as he swings away. Ironic because the roles have reversed and it is really Peter Parker underneath, who is usually in this position. This scene blows you away with its heart-stopping excitement and energy. And is a success for Spiderman! Great Power with Great Responsibility is shown clearly, Spiderman gets the girl, saves the day and defeats the bad guy. The moral is a success.
The scene conveys a variety of images and emotions; love, excitement, relief, sadness, intensity and anxiety. The audience are dragged into the action packed life of our hero Spiderman, a.k.a Peter Parker. The evil demon the Green Goblin gives our hero a sadistic predicament whilst he is stood on the top of the bridge, either save the woman he loves or a carriage full of innocent children screaming 'save us'. Being a hero Spiderman goes for both, but he dives for Mary Jane first. Although the public of Manhattan have been searching for Spiderman in hate they stick up for him by throwing objects at the Green Goblin saying 'You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us'. A sign of unity and kindness. Every movement of the camera you follow, because you want to know what happens, you don’t want to blink incase you miss a thing. This scene drags you in with the emotion, action, intensity and comedy. It becomes more of a personal matter between Spiderman and Green Goblin which is why Spiderman’s mask is torn to reveal parts of his face and the Green Goblin takes of his mask revealing that he is Norman Osbourne. This scene encapsulates the moral because Spiderman has the power and the responsibility to save both the children and Mary Jane. The Queensboro Bridge scene is intense and has you on the edge of your seat. This can be said as a moment of perfection because he proves that nothing is impossible all you have to do is put your heart, soul, body and mind to it. I think that Sam Raimi has done an excellent job in translating the comics to the big screen. He has the right actors, timing and knowledge. Sam Raimi said that he really wanted to make this film in the 90's but he had to wait for technology catch up, to be able to do so. I think that this is an amazing scene and the audience love and sympathise with Spiderman. Altogether making it an excellent film with loads of action and excitement for everyone. Sam Raimi has done an excellent job of translating this moral from comics to the big screen. This moral is crucial to anything Spiderman related, whether it is comics, cartoons, or films. Raimi had to tackle this moral and he has done so very effectively. It is the driving force of the film and his unique techniques have portrayed the moral in a successful way. One which never overshadows the action of the film. The camera angles in particular allow you to use your imagination, they go everywhere making it seem realistic. Mis En Scene adds a natural feel, by this I mean the clothes, make up etc. are all casual and natural nothing to fancy and unnecessary. Sound, the dialogue was understandable it was clear and not to highbrow and not to lowlife. Sound effects were amazing and often set your heart pounding when you heard them. All these techniques combined to portray this moral in a powerful and engaging way.
Jess Smith
