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DGA QUARTERLY 61 late. "Even though Kara tech- nically is an alien from outer space, it's her human-like qual- ities and emotions that speak to people watching the show," he says. "Sometimes Supergirl's like a Mike Nichols or Nora Ephron workplace comedy, where the camera work is fl uid and the look is glossy. But the very next scene might have evil aliens, so then we go handheld and it looks as dark and gritty as Spielberg 's War of the Worlds. Style-wise, it's fun to mix cam- era styles within an episode to play up this mix of comedy and horror and drama. Greg and I spoke early about wanting to create a world where the audi- ence doesn't know what show is going to show up this week, or even within the hour." Bringing Edge to Jessica Jones MARVEL'S JESSICA JONES debuted on Netflix last No- v e m b e r , b r e a k i n g f r e s h ground with Krysten Rit- ter's performance as a sar- castic Hell's Kitchen private eye haunted by traumatic abuse at the hands of evildoer Kilgrave (David Tennant). Charged with directing the show's fi rst two episodes, S.J. Clarkson immersed herself in the complete set of Alias comic books featuring Jes- sica Jones. "I don't really read graphic novels, so when I sat down with the comic I thought I'd give it a quick glance," Clark- son recalls. "Three days later, I'd literally read all the comics cover to cover." The allure? "I found it quite exciting that Jessica was this damaged, fl awed superhero on the fring- es. She wasn't out there to save the world and do good. She swore, she smoked, she drank, she was rude and sarcastic and I thought, 'Well, there's a girl after my own heart!'" S e r i e s c r e a t o r M e l i s s a R o s e n b e r g 's p i l o t s c r i p t specified a noir sensibility, which Clarkson translated into a subdued palette suited to Jones' personality. "A lot of the tone in the pilot comes from noir-style lighting," Clarkson says. "Jessica's such a steely character in terms of her strength and resilience but also in her emotional state. That led me to adopt a cool, slightly desaturated pal- ette of steely blues and grays. I avoided bright primary col- ors because I didn't feel Jes- sica would be into that." The British director drew on Touch of Evil and The T h i rd M a n t o i n f o r m h e r b r o o d i n g t a k e o n Je ss i c a Jones. She also cites Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood f or Love as a cinematic touch- stone in the craft of evoking on-screen alienation. "That film captured isolation and disconnection so beautifully," says Clarkson, who will re- visit the superhero realm for Netflix as a director and ex- ecutive producer on the up- coming The Defenders, which will include Ritter 's Jones character. "Jessica herself is isolated and disconnected, I didn't want to give her a hero- ic stance in the way I framed shots. I wanted Jessica to be more in the shadows, more on the sidelines, more sub- versive. All of that came from the character." And it's character, ulti- mately, that drives successful superhero television. Direc- tors need a deft touch in order to weave together character arcs, atmosphere, action and mythology from strands of comic book DNA. Above all, Supergirl director Winter, whose credits also include The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, advises filmmak- ers to imbue superheroes with the common touch. "With all these shows, we start from a place of being grounded," Winters says. "These are real people in extraordinary cir- cumstances, and the audience has to identify with them." ® S.J. Clarkson was drawn to Jessica Jones' "damaged, fl awed" qualities."