Eleanor Wemyss

An analysis of sound and cinematography in the ‘Iron Man Vs. Thor’

sequence from The Avengers

Despite a relatively small oeuvre of work, Joss Whedon establishes a sense of verisimilitude

in his texts. Best known for his creation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003), a hit 90s

cult classic and the shows spin-off Angel (1999-2004), he is a respected writer and director

in the supernatural fan-base. His style of creating a lone hero who eventually assembles a

team has proven to be well loved by audiences seen in his 1995 hit Toy Story, grossing

£117,507,798 ($191,796,233) making him the ideal director for Marvel’s institution. So ideal

in fact that The Avengers grossed over $200million in its opening weekend. The scene in

which the fight between Iron Man and Thor occurs begins at 41:04 minutes and ends at

48:20 and shows the meeting of the two as one of the key moments of conflict and the

ideas about power play between the characters in the film. Within this scene,

cinematography and sound are key elements for gaining a positive reaction from the

audience. The Avengers (Joss Whedon, 2012) incorporates humour, action, and fantasy in a

way that keeps the well loved characters alive and the audience on the edge of their seats.

The first significant shot used is a medium close-up on Loki (Tom Hiddleston), tied in a chair,

showing the audience he is no longer in a position of power which contrasts to the previous

scene (his appearance at Stuttgart where he held power over the ‘mortals’). It is combined

with a two shot of Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) in the

background, showing the somewhat distance and troubled relationship between the

characters. A voice over of Fury telling them to “just get him here” foreshadows to the

audience that something is going to happen. Diegetic sounds of the computer and light hum

of the engines contributes to the sense of verisimilitude that Whedon has created.

A low angle shot is used on Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) when the lightning strikes above

her indicating to the fans that a new character is going to be introduced; Thor (Chris

Hemsworth). Non-diegetic music can be heard as

it builds up to the impact of Thor, a trombone

getting lower and faster making the audience’s

hearts race and creating excitement mixed with

trepidation. Thor lands heavily on the plane as

Thor on plane

Eleanor Wemyss

the non-diegetic soundtrack reaches a crescendo and is portrayed by a wide shot. With the

music accompanying the cinematography, it helps emphases the scale of him in comparison

to the larger plane and creating a dramatic effect, demonstrating to the spectator that

Thor’s entire being emanates with power and strength. Captain America and Iron Man

spring into action within the plane, with a handheld shot showing the effect of the pathetic

fallacy. The music builds up with the epic grandeur of the action/adventure genre as it

played to signify conflict therefore foreshadowing future skirmishes with the characters Iron

Man and Thor. As the sound becomes almost silent other than Thor and Loki’s dialogue, it

signifies to the spectator that the dialogue is key in this scene, portraying the seriousness of

the conflict, which is only diffused with Loki’s teasing. An establishing shot is used to show

the location, the mood and exaggerates the low key lighting. This contributes to the

darkness of Loki’s character and references to the previous film Thor (2011, Kenneth

Branagh) where the characters of Thor and Loki had a brotherly relationship which was

destroyed at the end of the film.

The music picks up again with drum beats accompanying the previous instruments to create

a tense atmosphere as Loki’s rage at Thor increases. As the characters pace, the camera

uses a series of two shots and reverse shots on whoever is speaking, so the audience can

always see the emotional conflict on the characters face. Thor and Loki are locked in a close-

up two shot as the hostility builds but before Thor hits him with Mjölnir (the hammer), he is

tackled by Iron Man and carried off out of the scene, leaving Loki by himself (shown through

a mid shot). The faint roar of Iron Man’s thrust capacitors is joined with the impact of the

collision. The previous dialogue from Loki; ‘I’m listening”, gives the audience a sense of

shadenfreude to Thor’s situation.

Whedon contrasts from the tense atmosphere on the mountain to the broken serenity of

the forest, to change the superiority of the characters; from Thor being dominant over Loki

to Iron Man being dominant over Thor, this has created a smooth transition for the

spectator. Whedon keeps it interesting by juxtaposing the characters as they are from

opposite ends of the power spectrum, giving the audience an insight on another conflict

within this scene, modern technology versus ancient power of the gods.

Eleanor Wemyss

Both weapons used by each opponent has distinctive selective sound, e.g. Iron Man’s

repulsors and Mjölnir. This helps the audience track the action as the pace increases.

Contrapuntal sound is used when the camera moves to a medium shot of Thor throwing

Mjölnir and the audience gets the last line from Iron Man “Tourists”, using Iron man’s sense

of humour, it allows the audience to engage more into the narrative and evokes laughter. As

Mjölnir hits Iron Man, the suit is propelled back with a tracking shot and non-diegetic music

is mixed with diegetic of the trees smashing as Iron Man breaks through them. It cuts to a

close up shot of Tony inside the suit and the screens he uses to assess the damage, giving

the audience an inside view to how Iron Man operates. The fight includes many diegetic

sounds from Iron Man’s suit and Mjölnir, but as the fight intensifys, non-diegetic music then

accompanies the diegetic sound, making the fight seem all the more dramatic. The camera

crosscuts to Loki atop the mountain, watching the fight with a smirk, telling the audience he

wants this to happen and it is his plan, making the audience weary of the future. This scene

is visually pleasing as the long shot used by Whedon, shows the whole scene and the

inclusion of the brightness of the lightning against the dark background; creating the

signature power the god of thunder should have. This allows the audience to see that the

serenity of the forest is harshly interrupted by the battle for power between these

characters. The lightning sound is intensified as it sparks against the suit. It creates dents

and scratches showing to the audience it has made an impact and it may already be the end

of the fight, but they are happily surprised when it turns out to have charged the suit, giving

Tony the upperhand he needed. It cuts again to his point of view inside the suit as the voice-

over of JARVIS tells him; “power at 400% capacity” as the camera cuts to a tracking shot of

Thor as he flies through the air due to Tony’s

repulsor attack. Whedon uses an extreme

close-up on both characters combined with

a quick drum beat, as they launch

themselves into the air at each other, but

the sound effect of Iron Man’s engines are

the loudest as he carries off Thor through

the sky again. The asynchronous sound of the music shows the audience the climax of the

scene as the fight has reached its highest point. A high angle shot is used as Thor and Iron

Man are shooting straight up towards the screen showing the audience that both of the

Loki looks on

Eleanor Wemyss

characters are in an inferior position, signifiying the danger as the fight becomes more

ruthless. But as they seem to get closer, they suddenly change direction shown through the

tracking shot. The sound is built to non-diegetic theme music that builds the tension, power

and epicness to the text. The characters resort to punching each other, but a low angle shot

of their stance as they grab each other suggests to the audience that they are evenly

matched and puts them in a position of equal power. Low and high angles shots are used as

hits are thrown to show the change in the power and dominance each impact creates.

However, the scene ultimately ends with Captain America intervening and putting them all

in their place through the use of a high angle shot of his voice of reason.

Joss Whedon creates a believeable world to the audience, aided by the actors,

cinematography and sound. This gives the audience a newfound adrenaline rush as they too

believe they can become like the heroes, strong and powerful, and they have a positive

viewing experience. The use of well known actors and characters makes the audience enjoy

it more as they have an insight to how the characters react to things and their own personal

histoiries. Overall, the scene is powerful and sets up the rest of the film into the insight of

the characters lives, and the outcome of the war for the tesseract. “If we can’t protect the

Earth, you can be damn sure we’ll avenge

it.”

(Words: 1,531)

Voice of reason