An in depth summary of the A-Level EDUQAS Media Topic of 'Kiss of The Vampire', written by 2 A* achieving A-Level media students. This document provides a basis of information you can build on to get an A/A* grade at A-Level. As well as this, this document provides some more in depth information a...
Kiss Of The Vampire (1963): Political and social contexts:
- 1960s are often seen as the start of women’s sexual liberation, aided by the events such as the
introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1960
Language + representation:
- Aids epidemic- 1980s
- Capitalised serif font of title creates connotations linked to vampire film genre with its
‘wooden’ styling which can relate to graves or stakes - ‘The Lost Boys’ (1897)- old vampires traded in for younger, teenage vampires- represented the
- Codes and Conventions/ instances of repetition for vampire/horror films (Genre)- promiscuity (with sexual liberation came the rise of sex but also aids) of society at the time.
blood, dark neutral colours, male protagonist/villain- prey on the innocent. - More women than ever were entering the paid workforce and sixties feminists were campaigning
- Binary opposition between ‘kiss’ and ‘Vampire’ (Structuralism- Levi Strauss) for equal pay, an end to sexual harassment and more equality between men and women in wider
- Blood dripping from the letter ‘V’ which looks like a fang society
- ‘Painted’ main image is highly conventional of films of that period and links to Dracula - In America, equal pay legislation was passed in 1963
which suggests this is a modern telling of an older story - ‘Older’ stereotypes of women as passive victims of men and more modern ‘male fears’ of women
- Grey, black and brown colour palette reinforces films dark and scary conventions
challenging male dominance could both be seen to be encoded in this film poster
- Red draws attention to the attacking bats, the vampire and blood which are visual
signifiers/iconography of the genre
- Male dressed in black and red- he is dangerous, the typical villain- binary opposition to
the females in white/ light coloured dresses.
- Stars listed with most famous (man) first- only one female actor Cultural context:
- Suspense is created through enigma surrounding the connoted relationship between - The 1960s audience for this advert could be assumed to be familiar with
male and female vampires (emphasised by ‘kiss’ in title) and the fate of their 2 victims the codes and conventions of ‘monster movie’ film posters
- Barthes’ symbolic codes of horror, darkness and fear are more widely enforced
through signifiers such as the moon and the male victim’s submissive sacrifice - Codes and conventions would include its comparisons, fonts and
- Pale dresses made of light materials and the dress codes serve to reinforce their representations of ‘the monster’ and its (usually female) victims
femininity by highlighting the curves of their bodies and revealing the flesh of their
upper chest
- Gesture code of L woman is that of the stereotypical passive victim of the ‘monster’,
his power highlighted by the fact he’s holding her with one arm and she is lowered
(sexual??)
Industry facts (good to know but not required):
- R woman: baring her teeth and with her arm raised almost fist-like as she’s being - Produced by Hammer film productions and distributed by J Arthur Rank
bitten by the bat, her gesture codes are more aggressive and her male victim appears and Universal
submissive. She is represented in a non-stereotypically dominant way. Role model for
women facing oppression (Gauntlett- Identity theory) - KOTV was intended to be the second sequel to 1958s Dracula, although
- Vampire seems uncharacteristically fearful in his gesture codes with his arm thrown the film’s script actually makes no reference to Stoker’s character. This is
across his body in a defensive gesture, protecting himself from the female vampire
- Binary opposition of romance and horror perhaps to distance itself from unfavourable comparisons to the superior
- Representation: The images of a castle, bats and the vampire’s cape and dripping Christopher Lee who starred in the original film
blood form part of the ‘shared conceptual road map’ that give meaning to the ‘world’ of
the poster. Audience is actively encouraged to decode this familiar generic - In addition to Dracula, Hammer had, by 1963, success with the other
iconography ‘monster movie’ franchises such as The Mummy and Frankenstein.
- Van Zoonen: By assuming this ‘Co-antagonist’ role, the female vampire is contributing
to social change by representing women in non-traditional roles through the passive
Distributors Universal also saw early success with films in this genre
female victim goes against this. VZ stated that gender is constructed through - 1963 saw the early stages of Beatlemania and the so-called ‘swinging
discourse, and that its meaning varies according to cultural and historical context - in sixties’, the assassination of JFK and the Soviet Union launching the first
light of this, the KOTV poster tries to vary the representation/meaning of females in
contemporary - more empowered. But still sexualised- placed as a ‘spectacle’ in the woman into space
media for patriarchal society.
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