Analysis of Cinematography and Themes in "Avengers: Endgame"

Avengers: Endgame is a 2019 superhero and science fiction movie based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. The film was produced by Marvel Studios and directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. The movie is a sequel of other films produced by Marvel Studios: It is the sequel to The Avengers in 2012, Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015, and Avengers: Infinity War in 2018. The production of the film involved the use of various techniques, including computer-generated imagery (CGI) technology for visual appeal (Aguilera, Gerardo, and Johansson). In the films, the surviving members of the Avengers team attempt to reverse the damage caused by Thanos from the previous movie, Avengers: Infinity War. The characters in the plot of the film are loosely based on the Marvel comic books created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, with the characters also derived from the same creators (Thompson 22). The general idea behind the story in the film is heroism and reestablishment of the earth from the devastation of the previous attack.

Point of View, Visual and Auditory Aesthetics

The film is narrated from a third-person point of view where the action in the films is presented ideally from the observers' perspectives. All the action of the film involves incidents where the observers are allowed to follow the actions and dialogue with minimal interferences of the narrator. An example of such is the various conversations between the characters, which are shown over-the-shoulder shot or a mid-shot of two actors (Aguilera, Gerardo, and Johansson). This technique is trendy in most films where the directors only include the action and not the feeling and thought process of the characters. In this case, the audience can watch the movie from a third-person perspective where they are left with the choice.

The production of the films used both traditional filming and CGI technology for visual aesthetics. CGI, which is most commonly used to refer to 3D computer graphics, is the use of computer graphics to either create or to contribute to images in the art (Aguilera, Gerardo, and Johansson). This technology is often used in the film industry and was used for the creation of various characters and scenes in Avengers: Endgame. The images of some characters, for example, Thanos, Rocket, Nebular, Groot, Hulk, among others, were entirely created using CGI while others such as Ironman, Ant-man, Spiderman, Black Panther and other involved the alternation of real-life footage and CGI. The actor and stuntmen wore Motion capture suits, a wearable device that records the body movements of the wearer to enhance the flow of the computer-generated images. Apart from the characters, other images that were generated using CGI technology include the scenes, spaceships, and the armies (Aguilera, Gerardo, and Johansson). Most of the scenes where shot using a green screen as the background from which computer-generated graphics were generated during production.

The primary audio aesthetics used for this film is the soundtrack that was composed by Alan Silvestri. The soundtrack album for the film featured a score composed by Silvestri and was released by Hollywood Records. An example of the track in the Album was used for the climactic scene in which reinforcements arrived for the Avengers towards the end of the movie during the final battle with Thanos’ army. In addition, the score included the use of “thunderous percussion and powerful brass” for the action sequences. Other songs that were used in the film include; It's Been a Long, Long Time by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn and Come and Get Your Love by Redbone.

Plot

This film takes place 23 days after Thanos used the Infinity Gauntlet to destroy half of the earth’s population. Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel) rescue’s Tony Stark and Nebula, who are trapped inside a ship in space and bring them back to the earth to reunite with other Avengers, including Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner Thor, Natasha Romanoff, and James Rhodes, and Rocket. The Avengers then locate the Thanos in a desolate planet where they found he already destroy the infinity stones. Enraged, Thor beheads Thanos, and the team returns to earth without a solution.

Five years, Scott Lang escapes from the quantum realm, where he reveals to Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff that he was trapped for five hours only. Using the concept of the quantum realm, the team theorizes that they could travel back in team and request Tony Stark to help them build a particular accelerator, Stark refuses because he has a wife and daughter to take care for but reconsiders his decisions after reflecting back at the death of Peter Parker (Spiderman), played by Tom Holland. With the help of Bruce Burner, Tony Stark build a time machine which enables the remaining member of the avengers to travel to various times in the past to retrieve the infinity stone. They are able to collect all the stones, but Thanos learns about their success, capturing Nebula, who was sent to 2014 and then switched her with Nebular from the past to invade the Avenger compound.

Meanwhile, the avengers reunited in the present but without Natasha Romanoff, who was sacrificed by Clint Barton to obtain the Soul Stone. Tony Stark builds an Infinity Gauntlet fitting all the six infinity stones, which Burner, who is more resistant to gamma radiations, snaps to restore the earth. However, Thanos arrives with his army and invades the Avenger’s compound in search of the Infinity Gauntlet. Stark, Thor, and Roger unsuccessfully fight off Thanos but are reinforced by the restored Avengers, Ravagers, and Guardians of the Galaxy, the armies of Wakanda and Asgard, and Stephen Strange with other sorcerers. Carol Danvers also arrives in time to destroy Thanos’ ship, but she is unable to overpower him, and he gets hold of the Gauntlet. In a twist of events, Tony Stark steals the gauntlet snaps the finger to disintegrate Thanos together with his army. This act causes Stark to sustain severe injuries as a result of the gamma radiations which kills him.

Characters

The characters in this film are based on the superheroes that appear in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Some of the main characters in the movie include Tony Stark (Iron Man) played by Robert Downey, Jr.; Steve Rodgers (Captain America) played by Chris Evans; Thor played by Chris Hemsworth; Bruce Banner (The Hulk) played by Mark Ruffalo; Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) played by Scarlett Johansson among many others. These characters, among others from the Avengers team, which has the responsibility of protecting the planet from extraterrestrial attacks. The Villain character in the movie is Thanos, who is played by Josh Brolin, is responsible for destroying half of the population of the entire earth in his quest to become a god.

Ideas and Themes

The movie is a superhero film that is centered on the theme of heroism, where the avengers undertake the task of restoring order to planet earth after Thanos had caused fifty percent of the earth’s population to vanish. The Avengers are the final hope that the planet has for restoring, and they join forces to destroy the person who was responsible for destroying the earth. The Avengers successfully fight off and destroying Thanos’ army. The army vanishes after Tony Stark snaps his finger while wearing an Infinity Gauntlet that they had cast. Although Tony Stark managed to destroy Thanos and his entire army, he was exposed to gamma radiations which killed him. His sacrifice for the restoration of the planet is another example of a heroic act (Thompson 22).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the composed theme in Avengers: Endgame idea is heroism and reestablishment of the earth from the devastation of the previous attack. The film is a superhero and science fiction movie based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. The actions in the movie take place from a third-person point of view. The production of the film involved both traditional filming and the use of CGI technology for the visuals, while the audio consists of a score composed by Silvestri. The main idea conceived from the move is heroism, which involved a team of superheroes on the mission to restores the earth after half of the planet's population is destroyed by a titan god named Thanos.