11.9.19 Kiss of the vampire poster analysis

Kiss of the vampire analysis

Representational issues

in this advert there are no black actors and this is because Britain had a minority of black actors so they would have been represented on this poster. They also were seen as lesser actors as segregation had not come to end in america and was still in the minds of the British society.

This poster represents women as being:

• Fashionable and very into their looks as both of the women shown are wearing classy clothes that accentuate their body.
• The woman on the left is wearing a shorter dress and this shows how women are there to be pleasing to men as they should always look pretty and wear provocative clothing.
• The woman on the left is in a loose position and she is being held by the man and this connotes how women are 'held up by men' and that they rely on men to be providers.
• The outfit of the man is red and red connotes how he is powerful which is a binary opposition to the woman's dress as they are wearing a light pink dress which connotes how she is pretty and not powerful like him.
• Contrastingly women are also shown as powerful as the woman on the right looks as if she just killed a man and this connotes how women are equals or even better than men as they can use their looks to lure men do their deaths.

Men are represented as:

• Being dominant and this is seen through the use of colour in this image as the man is red whilst the women are wearing a light pink dress each and red connotes power and dominance as it is a bold bright colour that women never really where in adverts of the time.
• The man is also wearing a classy suit connoting that he is better than the women as he can dress up smart and they just wear dresses and wait for the men to provide.
• Outnumbered by women as there are two women and only one alive man and this shows that there are more women to be desired by men and that they can choose who they want and women are helpless as to stop them.

Generic paradigms: list the genre conventions that inform the audience that this is indeed a horror text.

Some of the conventions used in this poster are:

The use of the colour red which symbolizes blood. the 'v' in vampire on the poster has red dripping off of it connoting how the vampire uses his fangs to suck the blood out of the woman. The bats are black and this gives a sense of mystery to the audience.

The heading is very  big with horror films as the producer wants to catch the eye of the people who see the poster as then they will pay to see the film.

Serif font was used to represent blood and vampires are known for drinking blood.

Kiss was a popular buzz word of the time because it was becoming less taboo to have physical displays of affection in public.

Target audience: 

the target audience for this film is white middle aged if not younger, white men and this is shown in the poster as there are scantily clad women wearing provocative clothing on the poster which would appeal to the men of the time as the women look pretty. This then appeals to the male gaze theory as the women are there to attract the men to see the film.

Context: 

Historically 1963 was said to be the start of the feminist movement ,however in this poster this is not seen as men are not shown be be the equals to women but are suggested to be better as they wear fancier clothes and are stronger than them.

The media was one of the biggest influences of the time as newspapers where an everyday resource for news around the world and in 1960's Britain every household would have its very own newspaper. this meant that when colour came to newspapers and print media, Britain was thrilled and the people would all enjoy the films posters outside cinemas. the Kiss of the vampire poster would have been very influential as it would be among the first of the colour films that the majority of Britain would have been able to see in the 1960's.

Semiotic and structuralist analysis: what hermeneutic, proairetic, symbolic and referential codes have been encoded by the producer? 

The binary oppositions encoded in this poster are:

• Men and Women
• Evil and Good
• Dark and Light
• Bold and Meek
• Utopian and Dystopian

The semiotics in this poster are as follows;

The bats are a symbol of the vampires as the folklore says that vampires can turn into bats and this means that the audience can easily see what the film could be about as well as the obvious title suggestion.

The woman on the right is vulnerable and has been attacked by the man who is suggested to be a vampire but the woman on the right is actually unconscious so she is the most vulnerable.

The setting is set in the night symbolizing an eerie scene.

HEGEMONY