ASY1 Media Studies C1SA Kiss of the Vampire: language and representation
- 1. Component 1 Section A Advertising & Marketing Media Language & Representation Case Study 3: Kiss Of The Vampire
- 2. What type (genre) of media product is this? How can you tell? What are the codes (and genre conventions) that are present? Which decade is this media product from? Which clues suggest the decade to you? Kiss of The Vampire: Language
- 3. Kiss of The Vampire Product Context, Produced by Hammer Film Productions and distributed by J. Arthur Rank and Universal, Kiss of the Vampire was intended to be the second sequel to 1958’s Dracula, although the film’s script actually makes no reference to Stoker’s character. This is perhaps to distance itself from unfavourable comparisons to the superior Christopher Lee who starred in the original film. In addition to Dracula, Hammer had, by 1963, success with other ‘monster movie’ franchises such as The Mummy and Frankenstein. Distributers Universal also saw early success with films in this genre.
- 4. Kiss of The Vampire: Historical Context The film was released in 1963. What other significant cultural and social developments were happening at this time?
- 5. Kiss of The Vampire: Historical Context - 1963 The early stages of ‘Beatlemania’ and The ‘swinging sixties’, the assassination of JFK and the Soviet Union launching the first woman into space. The (contraceptive) pill (1960)
- 6. Kiss of The Vampire 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. Consider the following posters. Identify and note down the genre conventions of horror film posters at this time.
- 12. Defining Genre Write down what you understand by the term genre on a post it note and stick to the board at the front. How do you think genre benefits media industries (producers) and audiences?
- 13. How do audiences benefit from genre? • Enjoy the familiarity of genre texts, we like to know what to expect. • We know certain texts will fulfill different gratifications, expectations & evoke different response. • BUT variety is needed or we will become bored. • Can exploit a winning formula & minimise taking risks • Helps institutions budget & plan • Can find out what audiences currently enjoy & offer something similar. How do producers benefit from genre?
- 14. Professor Stephen Neale & Genre Theory Credited with the following ideas: • Genres may be dominated by repetition, but are also marked by difference, variation, and change • Genres change, develop, and vary, as they borrow from and overlap with one another • Genres exist within specific economic, institutional and industrial contexts.
- 15. Kiss of The Vampire Genre? What are the genre codes and conventions for this media text?
- 16. Kiss of The Vampire: Textual Analysis How has the text been constructed to create meaning? Remember – use denotation/connotation. Apply the following terms: Visual Codes (colour, gesture, costume, design and layout, iconography, etc) Technical Codes (Camera - framing, angle, image editing & composition). Verbal Codes (Lexis, mode of address, rhetorical devices, typography, etc.) Narrative: Barthes’ Codes (Hermeneutic, proairetic, semantic, symbolic, cultural), Characters – archetypes, protagonist/antagonist, audience positioning Representation: Stereotypes – reinforced/challenged, simple/complex
- 17. Kiss of The Vampire: Semiotic Analysis 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.’
- 18. Kiss of The Vampire: Semiotic Analysis 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 (anchored by the text “In Eastman Color”) connotes that this is a modern telling of an older story.
- 19. Kiss of The Vampire: Semiotic Analysis The gloomy grey, black and brown colour palette reinforces the film’s dark, scary conventions while the red highlight colour draws attention to the attacking bats, the vampire and the blood – all key visual signifiers for the genre.
- 20. Kiss of The Vampire: Semiotic Analysis 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.
- 21. Kiss of The Vampire: Semiotic Analysis 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 (Barthes’ Hermeneutic Code).
- 22. Kiss of The Vampire: Semiotic Analysis Barthes’ Semantic Code could be applied to images of the bats and their conventional association with vampirism and horror in general.
- 23. Kiss of The Vampire: Semiotic Analysis The Symbolic Codes (Barthes) of horror, darkness and fear are more widely reinforced through signifiers such as the moon and the male gesture code.
- 24. Kiss of The Vampire: Representation
- 25. Kiss of The Vampire: Representation: Social and Cultural Context The 1960s is often seen as a period of societal change including the start of women’s sexual liberation, aided by events such as the introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1960.
- 26. Kiss of The Vampire: Representation: Social and Cultural Context 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.
- 27. Kiss of The Vampire: Representation: Social and Cultural Context ‘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.
- 28. Kiss of The Vampire: Representation What parts of the ‘world’ (i.e. groups of people, places, ideas, etc) are portrayed? Are these representations stereotypical? Do they go against stereotype in any way? How is media language used to construct these representations? What values and beliefs (ideologies) are present within the representation? What factors do you think have impacted upon this representation?
- 29. Kiss of The Vampire: Representation 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. Stereotypical: 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.
- 30. Kiss of The Vampire: Representation Non-stereotypical: Baring her teeth and with her arm almost fist-like as she’s being bitten by the bat, the second woman’s gesture codes are more aggressive, and the submissive pose of her male ‘victim’ (including being on his knees with his head back and throat exposed) represent her in a non-stereotypically dominant way.
- 31. Kiss of The Vampire: Representation What values and beliefs (ideologies) are present within the representation? What factors do you think have impacted upon this representation?
- 32. Kiss of The Vampire: Applying Theory Stuart Hall & Representation Credited with the following ideas: Representation is the production of meaning through language, with language defined in its broadest sense as a system of signs The relationship between concepts and signs is governed by codes Stereotyping, as a form of representation, reduces people to a few simple characteristics or traits Stereotyping tends to occur where there are inequalities of power, as subordinate or excluded groups are constructed as different or ‘other’ (e.g. through ethnocentrism) How might you apply these ideas? How are signs and codes used to produce meaning? What codes form part of a ‘shared conceptual road map”? Are the representations stereotypical? Does the use of stereotypes reflect the power held by groups in society?
- 33. Kiss of The Vampire: Applying Theory Stuart Hall & Representation Credited with the following ideas: Representation is the production of meaning through language, with language defined in its broadest sense as a system of signs The relationship between concepts and signs is governed by codes Stereotyping, as a form of representation, reduces people to a few simple characteristics or traits Stereotyping tends to occur where there are inequalities of power, as subordinate or excluded groups are constructed as different or ‘other’ (e.g. through ethnocentrism) How might you apply these ideas? 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. Stereotypes of sexualised, female victims are familiar to audience but also challenged by stronger, countertypical representations, reflecting the rising power of women in society at this time.
- 34. Kiss of The Vampire: Applying Theory David Gauntlett & Identity Credited with the following ideas: The media provide us with ‘tools’ or resources that we use to construct our identities In the past the media tended to convey singular, straightforward messages about ideal types of males & female identities The media today offer audiences a more diverse range of stars, icons and characters from whom we may pick and mix different ideas How might you apply these ideas to this text? Are there examples of ‘role models’ within the text audiences could base their identities on? Are these identities straightforward and singular or diverse and complex?
- 35. Kiss of The Vampire: Applying Theory David Gauntlett & Identity Credited with the following ideas: The media provide us with ‘tools’ or resources that we use to construct our identities In the past the media tended to convey singular, straightforward messages about ideal types of males & female identities The media today offer audiences a more diverse range of stars, icons and characters from whom we may pick and mix different ideas How might you apply these ideas to this text? The female vampire could be seen to act 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.
- 36. Kiss of The Vampire: Applying Theory Stephen Neale & Genre Credited with the following ideas: • Genres may be dominated by repetition, but are also marked by difference, variation, and change • Genres change, develop, and vary, as they borrow from and overlap with one another • Genres exist within specific economic, institutional and industrial contexts. How might you apply these ideas to this text? What are the generic repetitions which are used across the posters (images, text, character roles, themes etc)? What does Kiss of the Vampire offer to audiences which is new?
- 37. Kiss of The Vampire: Applying Theory Stephen Neale & Genre Credited with the following ideas: • Genres may be dominated by repetition, but are also marked by difference, variation, and change • Genres change, develop, and vary, as they borrow from and overlap with one another • Genres exist within specific economic, institutional and industrial contexts. How might you apply these ideas to this text? Neale argues that audience pleasures are derived from generic repetition and difference. This film poster repeats much of the symbolism associated with Hammer and Universal horror films and the wider ‘monster’ and vampire genres, but adds difference through the connoted power of the female protagonist and the implied romantic narrative.
- 38. Professor Stephen Neale & Genre Theory Credited with the following ideas: • Genres may be dominated by repetition, but are also marked by difference, variation, and change • Genres change, develop, and vary, as they borrow from and overlap with one another • Genres exist within specific economic, institutional and industrial contexts. How might you apply these ideas to this text? What are the generic repetitions which are used across the posters (images, text, character roles, themes etc)? What does Kiss of the Vampire offer to audiences which is new?
- 39. Professor Stephen Neale & Genre Theory How might you apply these ideas to this text? What are the generic repetitions which are used across the posters (images, text, character roles, themes etc)? Familiar horror genre conventions: iconography (bats, castle, blood), vampires, What does Kiss of the Vampire offer to audiences which is new (variation/difference)? Varied representations of gender – women both as victim and threat, men both as vampire and victim – reflective of changing gender roles in society