Kiss of the Vampire

Question 1

Which production company produced KoTV?

Answer 1

Hammer films

Question 2

What is KoTV a sequel to?

Answer 2

Dracula in 1958

Question 3

When was KoTV released?

Answer 3

1963

Question 4

What are some historical contexts of the 1960s that could link to KoTV?

Answer 4

Doctor Who, Marvel Comics, Women’s Liberation movement and contraceptive pill on the NHS (1961)

Question 5

Name 3 comparative study texts that link to KoTV, and say when they were released:

Answer 5

The curse of Frankenstein (1957)
Dracula (1958)
The Mummy (1959)

Question 6

How can Claude Levi Strauss’ structuralism theory (binary oppositions) be linked to KoTV?

Answer 6

Binary oppositions = romantic connotations of ‘kiss’ opposed to stereotypical ‘vampire’

Question 7

In terms of the codes and conventions what don’t is used on the KoTV advertisement and what impact does this have?

Answer 7

Serif - capitalised, wooden = vampire genre connotations of coffin and stake

Question 8

What does the colour palette of the KoTV advert imply?

Answer 8

Greys, blacks and browns reinforce the films dark and scary conventions. Red draws attention to attacking bats and vampire link to blood.

Question 9

How can Roland Barthes hermeneutic code theory link to the KoTV advertisement?

Answer 9

Suspense is created through enigmas to with relationships between females and male vampires.
- kiss in the title and the fate of the victims

Question 10

What is an example of semantic codes in the KoTV advertisement?

Answer 10

Conventional association of bats with vampirism and horror

Question 11

How are symbolic codes of horror, darkness and fear reinforrced in this advert?

Answer 11

The moon as a common signifier for the genre and gesture codes of the victims.

Question 12

What are the stereotypes of the advert?

Answer 12

Older ideas that women are passive victims of men

Question 13

What is interesting about the gesture codes in this advert

Answer 13

Both men and women are shown as dominant individuals

Question 14

What does iconography mean?

Answer 14

Iconography is the use of images and symbols to portray a subject, movement or ideal. It can also be the use of certain symbols that convey specific genres such as religious iconography, iconography in art, and iconography in film and television

Question 15

What are the dress codes in the advert?

Answer 15

Women’s pale dresses of light materials highlights curves of bodies and reveal flesh (chest) = vulnerability and sexualisation

Question 16

How can Stuart Halls theory of representation be linked to this advert?

Answer 16

Generic iconography of horror is expected to be decoded by the audience, such as the images of the castle, bats etc

Question 17

How could David Gauntlett’s theory of identity be linked to the KoTV advert?

Answer 17

In the past media has been very upfront about their opinions of what constructs a male and females identity, but the media today offer and show more diverse range of stars and characters and change how we construct our new identities and how we may pick and mix new ideas in order to do this. Within the KoTV advertisement, it puts the dominance onto both the male and female vampires rather than just the male, showing that he is stronger than the females placed where they are placed.

Question 18

Name 3 key aims of the Women’s liberation in the 1960s?

Answer 18

For some the goals or aims of the women’s liberation movement were as simple as:

• let women have freedom
• let women have equal opportunity
• let women and control over their lives

Question 19

What can the male victims gesture code be described as?

Answer 19

The symbolic codes or horror, darkness and fear are more widely reinforced through signifiers such as the moon and the male victim’s ‘submissive sacrifice’ gesture code.

Question 20

How does the gesture code of the female victim emphasise male power?

Answer 20

The gesture code of the woman of the left is that of the stereotypical passive victim of the ‘monster’, his power highlighted by the fact that he is holding her just by one arm.

Question 21

How are the female vampires gesture codes unconventional?

Answer 21

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 codes are more aggressive, and the submissive pose of her male ‘victim’ represents her in a non-stereotypical dominant way (unconventional)

Question 22

How is the female vampire represented in 3 words

Answer 22

• Villainous
• Dominant
• Powerful

Question 23

How do the males gesture codes represent him as uncharacteristically fearful?

Answer 23

The vampire himself seems uncharacteristically fearful in his gesture codes as with his arm thrown across his body in a defensive gesture, perhaps protecting himself from the female vampire.