Kiss of the Vampire Flashcards
Capitalised serif font
Connotations of vampire genre via typography resembling wooden stake
Blood dripping from letter V resembles fang, linking to violence and gore os common genre conventions
Painted main image
Common convention of posters in 1960’s
Grey, black and brown colour palette
Reinforces dark, scary themes and gothic setting, conventions of genre
Red colour
Symbolic of blood, key visual signifier for genre
Semiotics- Roland Barthes
Enigma codes surrounding relationship between male and female vampires
Semantic codes of bats and their association with the vampire genre
Victims submissive gesture code via body language
Signifier of moon is symbolic code of darkness and fear, convention of horror genre
Structuralism- Levi-Strauss
Opposing representations of vampires and victims as well as gender
Romantic connotations of ‘kiss’ in opposition to vampire genre
Stereotypical representation of women
Pale white dresses serve to reinforce femininity and sexualise them
Gesture code of woman on the left is stereotypical of a passive ‘damsel’
Countertypical representation of women
Gesture codes of raised fists and bared teeth connote aggression
Non-stereotypically dominant
Representation of men
Gesture codes such as are thrown across body in defence represent men in uncharacteristically vulnerable way
Stuart Hall- Representation theory
Audience is actively encouraged to denote familiar iconography such as moon and bats
Female body is sexualised, due to inequality of power in the film industry
David Gauntlett- Identity theory
Female vampire acts as a role model to audiences struggling against male oppression
Van Zoonen- Feminist theory
By assuming a ‘co-antagonist’ role the female vampire is contributing to social change by representing women in non-traditional rules
However passive female victim reinforces some stereotypes
