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How can a superwoman show off her powers?

24 Apr 2016 01:06 #47434 by canarysong
How can a superwoman show off her powers? was created by canarysong
One of the problems with superheroine videos is that the content can become repetitive. Throatlift - tick. Invulnerability - tick. Handcrush - tick.

So I've been giving some thought to what else superheroines can do to show off their mighty powers. Here are some ideas.

ARMWRESTLING - normally associated with beefy, macho guys - so the sight of a beautiful, slim superwoman effortlessly defeating her male opponent in an armwrestle works really well, I think, and is underused by video producers. JonX had a couple of great armwrestle scenes in his videos several years ago.

LOCKING HANDS - This is a variant on the hand crush. The heroine and her opponent lock hands and she uses her power to force him down onto his knees.

ONE MIGHTY FINGER - The heroine knocks her opponent across the room with a flick of her finger. Or she holds him down with juat one finger.

IMMOBILISATION - Admittedly, this could also apply to a heroine without superpowers but who is an expert at martial arts (like Black Canary). The heroine uses her expert skills to immobilise her opponent by touching a particular pressure point - leaving him frozen and completely helpless.

And last but not least SPEECH! Wbat lets some videos down is that they are carried out in near silence. I love to hear some teasing or taunting from the heroine who enjoys showing off her powers and ridiculing her opponent's feeble attempts to defeat her.

Other suggestions are welcome. And if any genre video producers want to take some of these ideas on board, I'd be delighted!
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24 Apr 2016 04:26 #47435 by Sarge395
Replied by Sarge395 on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?
Mind control, superbreath, hovering over opponent, telekinesis.

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24 Apr 2016 04:29 #47436 by AuGoose
Replied by AuGoose on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?
Uber-girl is thrown/knocked towards wall, hits with puff of dust, next shot shown stepping out of person-shaped vertical crater. Its not overly hard to smash a person-shaped crater in most building materials, you just need somebody that can actually build a set/hang drywall.

Jessica Jones gave us a few shots of ripping doorknobs of doors, which is fairly burly.

That casual handoff is also good - she passes something that seems trivial in her hands to another person who is promptly dragged to the ground by it. Rocks, Crumpled mass of metal, a bicycle rolled up into a little ball, stuff like that.

It's also a good display of power when you can be gentle. Holding someone against a wall or floor with a single outstretched palm.

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24 Apr 2016 09:02 #47437 by naimer
Replied by naimer on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?
Superstrength - Realy slooow and effortlessly bending some steel :) Crushing, twisting and squeezing things. Bending steel around his hands or neck :) Love when woman do such things with any effort, with a cute smile, just to embarass her male opponent :)
Armwrestling is great too! Defeating a huge guy with one hand with easy, even when the guy need to use both hands. Showing some realy hard grip too :)

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24 Apr 2016 14:24 #47440 by castor
Replied by castor on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?
A movie i really do like for scenes is Superman Returns, the otherwise not really great attempt to revist the character.

There they do good things not just with showing strength, but showing its absense. My faovrite is towards the end a scene where hes flying high above a storm while carying a giant boat, with one hand and rescuing Lois Lane with the other. The second he fully grabs her he just drops the boat and you see it fall back and break apart as it hits the water.

Theres another where hes trying to grab a rapidly falling plane..and makes the mistake of trying to grab it by the wings-which just break off. You can be the strongest person in the world, but you don't have the propper leverage your screwed.

Which is something to remember about Strength in a story-it often works best when its not so much the challenge to have it but to use if effecitvely.

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24 Apr 2016 15:11 #47441 by inactive
Replied by inactive on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?
Showing off invulnerability is always good - not just having a guy punch her in the stomach and it does nothing to her, but he punches her in the stomach and ruins his hand, as if he tried to punch solid steel as hard as he could.

Or attacks her in what should be a more vulnerable spot - face, breasts, eyes, and the result is the same. Back to Superman Returns - tough to do on a lower budget, but the bulletproof eyeball (or lips would be good for a superwoman) showing the bullet smashing itself to bits in slow motion against what her steely flesh.

I often go back to this video for reference:


Around 1:10 you see some rounds hitting very hard surfaces and they disintegrate in something like a combination of melting and shattering. I imagine that against the forehead or cleavage of a superwoman.

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24 Apr 2016 21:19 #47451 by Raa
I'm not a big writer or anything. I'm lucky if I write story once every couple years. For the last year I had a scene going in my head that would fall into this line of thought.

Basic idea is a guy pulls a knife on a lady. He goes to use the knife on her, but only cuts her clothing. Under her shirt is her powergirl type shirt. Grabbing the knife from his hand and giving him a look of you stupid ass fool. Takes the knife across her tongue making it super dull. After a little while of playing with her prey, she takes the knife down her cleavage. Afterwards the knife is super sharp. At which point she places the blade of the knife between her breasts. She tells him if he can remove the knife his free to go and she is his slave for a year. Surprisingly he can't remove it, NOT! After he gives up, using a lite touch she bends the blade into a side ways 8 around her breasts.

Just an idea I had in my head for sometime.

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24 Apr 2016 21:38 #47452 by naimer
Replied by naimer on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?

Raa wrote: I'm not a big writer or anything. I'm lucky if I write story once every couple years. For the last year I had a scene going in my head that would fall into this line of thought.

Basic idea is a guy pulls a knife on a lady. He goes to use the knife on her, but only cuts her clothing. Under her shirt is her powergirl type shirt. Grabbing the knife from his hand and giving him a look of you stupid ass fool. Takes the knife across her tongue making it super dull. After a little while of playing with her prey, she takes the knife down her cleavage. Afterwards the knife is super sharp. At which point she places the blade of the knife between her breasts. She tells him if he can remove the knife his free to go and she is his slave for a year. Surprisingly he can't remove it, NOT! After he gives up, using a lite touch she bends the blade into a side ways 8 around her breasts.

Just an idea I had in my head for sometime.


That is a VERY good idea! :) Keep going on :)

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Bar bending around breast would be awesome too!
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24 Apr 2016 22:58 #47453 by inactive
Replied by inactive on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?
The Kiss of Death

Can be combined with a lift if the superwoman is taller than the victim.

The superwoman kisses the victim and draws the air from his lungs with her superbreath. As he struggles to free himself from her vice-like grip, he asphyxiates and eventually goes still, arms and legs slumped. She breaks the kiss and his head lolls to one side.

- GeekSeven

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24 Apr 2016 23:25 #47454 by Raa
I was also thinking about a kiss, but not from a taller superwoman. I was thinking she would be higher than him/her by flying.
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24 Apr 2016 23:54 #47455 by inactive
Replied by inactive on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?

Raa wrote: I was also thinking about a kiss, but not from a taller superwoman. I was thinking she would be higher than him/her by flying.


Increases the FX budget, but ten times more awesome.

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25 Apr 2016 00:04 #47456 by fats
Subtlety is the order of the day, just the casual use of powers can do more than the big show off things, for example, the idea of changing a light bulb without the use of a ladder, heating up popcorn without a microwave or hob. getting to a meeting before you even thought she has left 2 hours after you did, these are the best ways to show off.

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25 Apr 2016 00:09 #47457 by Raa

geekseven wrote:

Raa wrote: I was also thinking about a kiss, but not from a taller superwoman. I was thinking she would be higher than him/her by flying.


Increases the FX budget, but ten times more awesome.


Not sure about increase the FX budget. A step ladder and different angles from the camera is not a major increase in cost.

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25 Apr 2016 00:20 #47458 by castor
Replied by castor on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?

fats wrote: Subtlety is the order of the day, just the casual use of powers can do more than the big show off things, for example, the idea of changing a light bulb without the use of a ladder, heating up popcorn without a microwave or hob. getting to a meeting before you even thought she has left 2 hours after you did, these are the best ways to show off.

Fats


I do think this a suprisingly under used idea in fiction. Always thought it would be a neat idea to have a super movie with no obvious effects for as long as possilble-ideally the first act. Just her going about her life, odd things happening, werid things...but no specific things to see until theres some time in the film. its a good way of building suspense and intrest. Supergirls pilot kinda did this for about a minute but you can push this further i think well. Some of those ideas could work. Film is a supsiringly good media that if you break the basic laws(ie let say shes goes to the kitchen to get food and comes out with it cooked a second latter) you can create intresting effects.

Really thereotically you could do an entire movie like this but i am not sure that would...ehh.

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25 Apr 2016 01:20 #47459 by argonaut
Replied by argonaut on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?
It would be fun to see a supergirl take down a bunch of toughs Three Stooges style -- with eye-pokes, nose-twists, headlocks and knuckle-rubs. One of the guys could try to clobber her from behind with a crowbar, only to have it bend against her noggin ...

Super-breath: We see the girl inhale slowly, back arched, then lean forward suddenly and exhale. The reverse shot shows her opponent pinned against the wall by the force of her breath. (An off-camera leaf-blower could create the effect.) Or we see the room in disarray, chairs overturned, papers drifting to the floor.

Guy struggles to lift a heavy suitcase or foot-locker. Girl gently pushes him aside, lifts the object with one finger.

One-finger push-ups: I'm not sure how convincing this might look, but maybe the director could film the girl standing close to a wall, pushing herself back and forth with one finger, then rotate the screen ninety degrees?

Girl appears to be tearing a thick phone book in half while a guy watches. Cut back and forth between the tearing of the book and the guy's reactions.

Tug-of-war: Girl holding one end of a rope in one hand while a guy strains against the other end.

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25 Apr 2016 01:42 #47460 by TwiceOnThursdays
Replied by TwiceOnThursdays on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?

castor wrote:

fats wrote: Subtlety is the order of the day, just the casual use of powers can do more than the big show off things, for example, the idea of changing a light bulb without the use of a ladder, heating up popcorn without a microwave or hob. getting to a meeting before you even thought she has left 2 hours after you did, these are the best ways to show off.

Fats


I do think this a suprisingly under used idea in fiction. Always thought it would be a neat idea to have a super movie with no obvious effects for as long as possilble-ideally the first act. Just her going about her life, odd things happening, werid things...but no specific things to see until theres some time in the film. its a good way of building suspense and intrest. Supergirls pilot kinda did this for about a minute but you can push this further i think well. Some of those ideas could work. Film is a supsiringly good media that if you break the basic laws(ie let say shes goes to the kitchen to get food and comes out with it cooked a second latter) you can create intresting effects.

Really thereotically you could do an entire movie like this but i am not sure that would...ehh.


Not an ubergirl film, but there's a delightful film on Netflix Streaming staring Henry Rollin's called "He Never Died ". I think the best way to watch it is to just watch it. They start out and you get a bit here, a bit there, and slowly start to figure out what is going on (and what he is, not to mention who he is). It's mostly character driven, and I really enjoyed it.

If someone did an ubergirl film like that, i'd be amazing.

I think you could do a fantastic job with little things, and not directly letting on what is happening.

- she doesn't bother changing lights, and often forgets to turn them on.
- no oven mitts, pliers or wrenches in her house.
- she might not need to eat, so doesn't have food in the house.
- forgets to alter the temperature in the house (often too cold/hot)
- sometimes forgets and wears clothing inappropriate for the weather (Wears a heavy coat too long, keeps wearing light clothing when it gets cold).
- tells a friend to get something innocuous checked out, it turns out to be something serious that needs treatment
- gets roped into playing strip poker. She doesn't loose.
- misses a bus, an instant later she's at the next stop, waiting calmly.
- people come in to find that some heavy item has been moved to a better place. No one had the right equipment to move it. No one knows how it was moved.

Slowly build up the sense that something isn't right until she's found out by someone.
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28 Apr 2016 19:30 #47486 by canarysong
Replied by canarysong on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?
Glad my post has attracted so much interest! I hope video producers are taking note.

One poster referred to mind control. Yes, that's a good power. I always enjoyed the scenes where Lynda Carter used her magic lasso to make people obey her.

Here's another suggestion. The villain finally realises trying to defeat the heroine is futile, so he runs to the door. The heroine uses her super speed to block his path. He runs to another door and she intercepts him again. Then she casually stretches her arm across the door frame. Of course, he can't move it no matter how hard he tries.

Any more ideas?

JOHN

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29 Apr 2016 01:57 #47488 by Sarge395
Replied by Sarge395 on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?
You say 'villain' I say prey. ha

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29 Apr 2016 02:01 #47489 by inactive
Replied by inactive on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?

canarysong wrote: Glad my post has attracted so much interest! I hope video producers are taking note.

One poster referred to mind control. Yes, that's a good power. I always enjoyed the scenes where Lynda Carter used her magic lasso to make people obey her.

Here's another suggestion. The villain finally realises trying to defeat the heroine is futile, so he runs to the door. The heroine uses her super speed to block his path. He runs to another door and she intercepts him again. Then she casually stretches her arm across the door frame. Of course, he can't move it no matter how hard he tries.

Any more ideas?

JOHN


She can also use her super-breath to keep him from getting where he wants to go. He can't make any progress as she keeps him trapped in his own personal wind tunnel until, fatigued, he can no longer stand his ground and tumbles through the air like a leaf in the wind.

Or she tosses him into the air and keeps him suspended on a column of super-breath, swirling in the unholy vortex streaming from between her luscious, invulnerable lips.

- GeekSeven

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29 Apr 2016 03:08 - 29 Apr 2016 03:10 #47491 by MisterK
Replied by MisterK on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?
So here are some things I did in my book (Ms. Infinity):

Super strength: Yes, after a while, it can be repetitive...that is unless there is a new challenge. So we have her stopping an asteroid early on, among other things. But then she has to face a villain of her own kind, and it isn't so easy. Later on she has to face a whole army of people not that much weaker than she, and together they are a huge challenge. She needs to come up with a plan and do something that will surprise them.

Super speed: Here you see degrees of it at a time. First she crosses the city in a second or two. Then she flies halfway around the world in like a minute. Then later, there's a race against time--across an entire solar system.

Transformation: Her transformation from Bonnie Boring to Ms. Infinity is a magical one (she's a shapeshifter) which has a vague tip of the hat to both Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel. But we discover later that she can change into other things too. Her boyfriend gets a bit of a surprise when she's fighting the villain.

Super breath: Used in a couple of offbeat ways, essentially funky ways of moving big things in space.

Invisibility: Used a couple of times--more by her mother than anything. What's more interesting though are the many ways that powers are used quietly, also by her mother. It's sort of an Easter Egg hunt--Where is Betty Boring hiding in the story?

Creating/transofming objects: There are a few comic uses of it, but by far the largest example is her spaceship, Starship Infinity, her long-term project. It's given a gradual introduction, and it's...well it's kind of a tall tale.

Manipulation of space/time: A few things. There are several weird, semi-explainable things that she does. Basically she is able to move through far more than three dimensions. She also does a time manipulation that has interesting consequences.

Yes she is very powerful. There were many challenges making this work.
Last edit: 29 Apr 2016 03:10 by MisterK.

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29 Apr 2016 04:48 #47493 by Raa
Just thought of an idea. The boyfriend accidentally finds a bullet in her hair from when she stopped the robber earlier in the day. The bullet is misshaped by her hair. Now she has some explaining to do.

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29 Apr 2016 13:20 #47494 by paul
New Superhero Shampoo.

For those times when saving the world (or saving the kitty cat in a tree) and the unexpected happens. Volcano ashes, bullet fragments, bird dropping get into your hair. Use the new an improved Energize! Shampoo.

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29 Apr 2016 16:22 #47497 by jdrock24
Replied by jdrock24 on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?

canarysong wrote: One of the problems with superheroine videos is that the content can become repetitive. Throatlift - tick. Invulnerability - tick. Handcrush - tick.

So I've been giving some thought to what else superheroines can do to show off their mighty powers. Here are some ideas.

ARMWRESTLING - normally associated with beefy, macho guys - so the sight of a beautiful, slim superwoman effortlessly defeating her male opponent in an armwrestle works really well, I think, and is underused by video producers. JonX had a couple of great armwrestle scenes in his videos several years ago.

LOCKING HANDS - This is a variant on the hand crush. The heroine and her opponent lock hands and she uses her power to force him down onto his knees.

ONE MIGHTY FINGER - The heroine knocks her opponent across the room with a flick of her finger. Or she holds him down with juat one finger.

IMMOBILISATION - Admittedly, this could also apply to a heroine without superpowers but who is an expert at martial arts (like Black Canary). The heroine uses her expert skills to immobilise her opponent by touching a particular pressure point - leaving him frozen and completely helpless.

And last but not least SPEECH! Wbat lets some videos down is that they are carried out in near silence. I love to hear some teasing or taunting from the heroine who enjoys showing off her powers and ridiculing her opponent's feeble attempts to defeat her.

Other suggestions are welcome. And if any genre video producers want to take some of these ideas on board, I'd be delighted!


Can't believe I missed this topic the last few times I visited this forum. Your suggestions are almost exactly what I am looking for. I especially like the taunting you mention.

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29 Apr 2016 16:43 #47498 by castor
Replied by castor on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?
One thing that is perhaps underlooked, but important in any kinda live action setting-performance.

Benoist is generarally awesome in supergirl in this regard-you get a sence every momment she uses her powers what those powers means to her-whether it suprised joyious awe when the bank robbers hit herin the pilot(which is probabbly my favorite momment in the show), to intimidation of villians to ocasional embarasment or lashing out with it,, to being kinda struggling effort in the finale-all of these are effective momments which involve no real special effects-its her eyes its her expression that sell it all and that can be understated.

Honestly its 50% or more of the entire deal.

In non mainstream stuff that something thats kinda rare- a lot of videos create a heroine who is non plussed by it all when she does something amazing makes it look like the easiest thing in the world, or sometimes to other characters like shes a badass-but thats kinda boring. To have a character suprised by how strong they are, or even frightened by it is a real emotion. To have a character struggle to lift something or wobble it creates an impression-which is equally valid to making it light as a feather. Even if its like an alien character who has no idea that this is strange -that in of itself is an emotional response. What ever you do, ultimeatly its more about how it effects the character.


And that perhaps is the best way to show it off.

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29 Apr 2016 18:22 #47499 by shadar
Replied by shadar on topic How can a superwoman show off her powers?

castor wrote: One thing that is perhaps underlooked, but important in any kinda live action setting-performance.

Benoist is generarally awesome in supergirl in this regard-you get a sence every momment she uses her powers what those powers means to her-whether it suprised joyious awe when the bank robbers hit herin the pilot(which is probabbly my favorite momment in the show), to intimidation of villians to ocasional embarasment or lashing out with it,, to being kinda struggling effort in the finale-all of these are effective momments which involve no real special effects-its her eyes its her expression that sell it all and that can be understated.

Honestly its 50% or more of the entire deal.

In non mainstream stuff that something thats kinda rare- a lot of videos create a heroine who is non plussed by it all when she does something amazing makes it look like the easiest thing in the world, or sometimes to other characters like shes a badass-but thats kinda boring. To have a character suprised by how strong they are, or even frightened by it is a real emotion. To have a character struggle to lift something or wobble it creates an impression-which is equally valid to making it light as a feather. Even if its like an alien character who has no idea that this is strange -that in of itself is an emotional response. What ever you do, ultimeatly its more about how it effects the character.


And that perhaps is the best way to show it off.


Castor's comment hit home with me. I enjoy superheroines the most when they are amazed and delighted by their abilities, which presumes they haven't been using them since birth. Not as something to use to hurt people, but to protect them against threats that only they have the power to stop. Especially when coupled to a lack of experience and some clear heroic behavior (which for sake of argument, means risking their lives to help others -- no risk, no heroics in my book).

Also a sense of joy and amazement in those powers, accompanied by the need to convincingly hide them some of the time. The whole complex mixture of human reactions and their own concerns over abuse of their abilities as well.

Also, a lot of people have what I call the "god gene" (or should I say, in this context, the "goddess gene") where they react with something more than merely awe when meeting someone who can legitimately claim to have "godlike powers". Not to mention being as stunningly attractive woman. Especially if that's coupled with strong intelligence and a innate sense of empathy and concern for others.

That's one of the things that mostly works with Benoist and her show. I may criticize many aspects of the writing and production/directing, but they came pretty close to nailing some of the essential traits of Supergirl that I like.

That said, evil ubergirls are a different sub-genre that can also be interesting, but mostly when the author depicts the differences in their attitude with that of a real superheroine.

The one thing that always leaves me cold is when an ubergirl causes pain and suffering for no reason other than fan service to the reader.

Shadar

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