16305937
Description
Mind Map by Harry Barrett, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Harry Barrett
over 5 years ago
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Kiss of the Vampire
- Product Context
- Produced by Hammer
Film Productions and
distributed by J. Arthur
Rank and Universal
- By 1963, Hammer had success
with other 'monster movie'
franchises such as The
Mummy and Frankenstein and
- The distributer Universal
also saw early success
with films in this genre.
- Produced by Hammer
Film Productions and
distributed by J. Arthur
Rank and Universal
- Cultural context
- The 1960s audience for this advert could be
assumed to be familiar with the codes and
conventions of ‘monster movie’ film posters –
such as its composition, fonts and
representations of ‘the monster’ and its
(usually female) victims
- The 1960s audience for this advert could be
assumed to be familiar with the codes and
conventions of ‘monster movie’ film posters –
such as its composition, fonts and
representations of ‘the monster’ and its
(usually female) victims
- Codes and conventions
- The capitalised, serif font of the title creates
connotations linked to the vampire film genre
with its ‘wooden’ styling (referencing the vampire’s
coffin or the stake needed to kill him perhaps) and
the blood dripping from the letter V’s ‘fang’
- The use of a ‘painted’ main image is highly conventional of
films of the period and links to the poster for Christopher Lee’s
Dracula, but the fact that it’s in colour connotes that this is a
modern telling of an older story
- The gloomy grey, black and brown colour palette
reinforces the film’s dark, scary conventions
while the red highlight colour draws attention to
the bats, the vampire and the blood – all key
visual signifiers for the genre
- Conventionally, the stars are listed with the
more highly paid male actors first and in
order of fame, Clifford Evans having starred
in Hammer’s 1961 hit Curse of the Werewolf
- The capitalised, serif font of the title creates
connotations linked to the vampire film genre
with its ‘wooden’ styling (referencing the vampire’s
coffin or the stake needed to kill him perhaps) and
the blood dripping from the letter V’s ‘fang’
- Theorists
- Roland Barthes
- Semiotics
- Barthes’ Semantic Code could be
applied to images of the bats and
their conventional association with
vampirism and horror in general
- The Symbolic Codes (Barthes) of horror,
darkness and fear are more widely
reinforced through signifiers such as the
moon and the male victim’s ‘submissive
sacrifice’ gesture code
- Barthes’ Semantic Code could be
applied to images of the bats and
their conventional association with
vampirism and horror in general
- Enigma Code
- Suspense is created through the
enigmas surrounding the connoted
relationship between the male and
female vampires (emphasised by
the “kiss” of the title) and the fate of
their two victims
- Suspense is created through the
enigmas surrounding the connoted
relationship between the male and
female vampires (emphasised by
the “kiss” of the title) and the fate of
their two victims
- Semiotics
- Claude Lévi-Strauss
- Structuralism
- The idea that texts are constructed
through the use of binary
oppositions could be applied to the
opposing representations of the
vampires and their victims, and the
romantic connotations of “kiss”
opposed in the film’s title to the
stereotypical “vampire” monster.
- The idea that texts are constructed
through the use of binary
oppositions could be applied to the
opposing representations of the
vampires and their victims, and the
romantic connotations of “kiss”
opposed in the film’s title to the
stereotypical “vampire” monster.
- Structuralism
- Stuart Hall
- Representation
- The images of a castle, bats, the vampire’s cape and dripping
blood form part of the “shared conceptual road map” that give
meaning to the “world” of the poster. The audience is actively
encouraged to decode this familiar generic iconography
- The images of a castle, bats, the vampire’s cape and dripping
blood form part of the “shared conceptual road map” that give
meaning to the “world” of the poster. The audience is actively
encouraged to decode this familiar generic iconography
- Representation
- Liesbet Van
Zoonen
- Feminism
- By assuming this ‘co-antagonist’ role, the female
vampire is perhaps contributing to social change
by representing women in nontraditional roles
(Van Zoonen, 1989) though the passive female
victim does reinforce these
- By assuming this ‘co-antagonist’ role, the female
vampire is perhaps contributing to social change
by representing women in nontraditional roles
(Van Zoonen, 1989) though the passive female
victim does reinforce these
- Feminism
- David
Gauntlett
- Identity
- The female vampire acts as a role model for
women struggling against male oppression
or desperate to be seen as the equals of men,
whatever the narrative or environment
- The female vampire acts as a role model for
women struggling against male oppression
or desperate to be seen as the equals of men,
whatever the narrative or environment
- Identity
- Roland Barthes
- Social context
- The 1960s is often seen as the start
of women’s sexual liberation, aided
by events such as the introduction
of the contraceptive pill in 1960
- There were more women than
ever were entering the paid
workforce and sixties feminists
were campaigning for equal pay,
an end to sexual harassment and
more equality between men and
women in wider society
- In America, equal pay
legislation was passed in 1963
- ‘Older’ stereotypes of women as passive
victims of men and more modern ‘male
fears’ of women challenging male
dominance could both be seen to be
encoded in this film poster
- The 1960s is often seen as the start
of women’s sexual liberation, aided
by events such as the introduction
of the contraceptive pill in 1960
- Representation
- Both women wear pale dresses made of light
materials and these dress codes serve to reinforce
their femininity by highlighting the curves of their
bodies and revealing the flesh of their upper chests
and arms
- The gesture code of the woman on the left
is that of the stereotypical passive victim of
the ‘monster’, his power highlighted by the
fact that he’s holding her by just one arm
- Baring her teeth and with her arm raised almost fist-like
as she’s being bitten by the bat, the second woman’s
gesture codes are more aggressive than the man's
- The submissive pose of her male ‘victim’
(including being on his knees with his
head back and throat exposed) represent
her in a nonstereotypically dominant way
- The submissive pose of her male ‘victim’
(including being on his knees with his
head back and throat exposed) represent
her in a nonstereotypically dominant way
- Both women wear pale dresses made of light
materials and these dress codes serve to reinforce
their femininity by highlighting the curves of their
bodies and revealing the flesh of their upper chests
and arms
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