kiss of the vampire

Question 1

what film company produced kotv?

Answer 1

hammer films

Question 2

what was happening in 1963?

Answer 2

early stages of ‘beatlemania’, assassination of jfk, soviet union launching first woman into space

Question 3

what is the cultural context?

Answer 3

the audience can be assumed to be familiar with the codes and conventions of monster movie posters, including its composition, fonts, and representations of the monster and its (usually female) victims.

Question 4

what are some intertextual references?

Answer 4

the evil of frankenstein (1964), blood from the mummys tomb (1971)

Question 5

what can be said about the font of the title?

Answer 5

capitalised, serif font, creates connotations linked to the genre with its wooden styling as a reference to the vampires stake or coffin, and blood dripping from the v’s ‘fangs’

Question 6

what can be said about the ‘painted’ main image

Answer 6

conventional of the time period and links to the poster for chris lee’s dracula. the fact that it is in colour connotes that it is a modern telling of an older story.

Question 7

what an be said about the colour pallette?

Answer 7

the gloomy grey, black and brown reinforces the dark and scary conventions while the red highlight draws attention to the attacking bats, the vampire and the blood - all visual signifiers for the genre.

Question 8

how are the stars listed?

Answer 8

conventionally, 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

Question 9

how is suspense created?

Answer 9

through the enigmas surrounding the connoted relationship between the male and female vampires (‘kiss’) and the fate of their two victims.

Question 10

how can barthes’ semantic code be applied?

Answer 10

the images of the bats and their conventional association with vampires and horror in general

Question 11

how are symbolic codes further enforced (barthes)?

Answer 11

codes of darkness and fear are more widely reinforced through signifiers such as the moon and male victim’s submissive sacrifice gesture code

Question 12

how can levi-strauss’ structuralism theory be applied (binary oppositions)?

Answer 12

binary oppositions could be applied to the opposing representations of the vampires and their victims, and the romantic connotations of ‘kiss’ opposed in the films title to the stereotypical ‘vampire’ monster

Question 13

what are the political and social contexts?

Answer 13

1960s - start of womens sexual liberation, aided by events such as introduction of contraceptive pill in 1960. more women entering paid workforce, feminists campaigning for equal pay, an end to sexual harassment, and more equality between men and women.

Question 14

what can be said about stereotypes of women?

Answer 14

older stereotypes of women ad passive victims of men and more modern male fears of women challenging male dominance an both be seen.

Question 15

what can be said about the dress codes in the poster?

Answer 15

both women wear pale dresses made of light material which reinforce their femininity by highlighting the curves of their bodies and revealing their chests and arms - sexualisation

Question 16

what can be said about the gesture code of the woman on the left?

Answer 16

a stereotypical passive victim of the monster , his power highlighted by the fact that he is holding her by just one arm

Question 17

how do gesture codes present the second woman?

Answer 17

the second woman is baring her teeth with her arm raised as if she is being attacked by the bats, and the submissive pose of her male victim represent her in a non stereotypically feminine way.

Question 17

how do gesture codes present the main vampire?

Answer 17

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

Question 18

what can be said about hall’s theory of representation?

Answer 18

the images of a castle, bats, dripping blood and cape form part of the shared cultural road map that give meaning to the world of the poster. the audience is actively encouraged to decode the familiar generic iconography.

Question 19

what can be said about gauntlett’s theory of identity?

Answer 19

the female vampire acts as a role model got women struggling against male oppression or desperate to be seen as the equals of men, whatever the narrative or environment.

Question 20

what can be said about van zoonen’s feminist theory?

Answer 20

the female vampire is perhaps contributing to social change by representing women in non traditional roles, although the female victim does not enforce this.