Representation

The Kiss of the Vampire poster provides rich material for analyzing representations, particularly in the context of 1960s social and political changes.

Political & Social Context

The 1960s marked the beginning of women's sexual liberation and saw significant advancements in women's rights:

1. Introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1960
2. More women entering the paid workforce
3. Feminist campaigns for equal pay and an end to sexual harassment
4. Equal pay legislation passed in America in 1963

Highlight: The film poster encodes both older stereotypes of women as passive victims and more modern male fears of women challenging male dominance.

Construction of Representations

The poster's visual elements construct complex representations of gender:

1. Women's clothing: Pale dresses made of light materials, highlighting curves and revealing flesh.

2. Contrasting female representations:

   • Left woman: Stereotypical passive victim
   • Right woman: Non-stereotypically dominant, with aggressive gesture codes

3. Male vampire: Uncharacteristically fearful, with defensive gesture codes

Definition: Gesture codes - The way characters are posed or positioned in an image to convey meaning or emotion.

Hall's Representation

Stuart Hall's theory of representation can be applied to the poster's use of familiar horror iconography:

• Castle, bats, vampire's cape, and dripping blood form part of the "shared conceptual road map" that gives meaning to the poster's world.
• The audience is encouraged to actively decode this familiar generic iconography.

Gauntlett's Identity

David Gauntlett's ideas on media and identity suggest that the female vampire could serve as a role model for women struggling against male oppression or seeking equality.

Quote: "The female vampire could act as a role model for women who are struggling against male oppression or want to be seen as equals of men."

This representation is significant regardless of the film's actual narrative or the character's role within it, as it offers a powerful visual symbol of female strength and dominance in a traditionally male-dominated genre.

Product Context and Media Language

The Kiss of the Vampire was produced by Hammer Film Productions in 1963, intended as a sequel to their successful Dracula franchise. This period marked the beginning of the "swinging sixties" and saw significant cultural and political events unfold globally.

Cultural Context

The 1960s audience was well-versed in the codes and conventions of "monster movie" film posters. These typically included specific composition styles, font choices, and representations of monsters and their victims.

Highlight: The film's release coincided with the early stages of 'Beatlemania', the assassination of JFK, and the Soviet Union launching the first woman into space.

Codes and Conventions

The poster for Kiss of the Vampire employs several genre-specific elements:

1. The title font creates connotations linked to the vampire film genre, with its 'wooden' styling and blood-dripping 'fang' on the letter V.

2. The use of a 'painted' image is conventional for the period, but the color aspect (highlighted by the text "In Eastman Color") suggests a modern retelling of an old story.

3. The color palette reinforces the film's dark, scary conventions, with red highlights drawing attention to key horror elements like bats, the vampire, and blood.

4. The listing of stars follows the convention of placing more highly paid male actors first and in order of fame.

Example: Clifford Evans, listed first among the stars, had previously starred in Hammer's 1961 hit "Curse of the Werewolf".

Barthes' Semiotics

The poster can be analyzed using Roland Barthes' semiotic codes:

1. Hermeneutic Code: Suspense is created through enigmas surrounding the relationship between the male and female vampires and the fate of their victims.

2. Semantic Code: Images of bats are conventionally associated with vampirism and horror.

3. Symbolic Code: Horror, darkness, and fear are reinforced through signifiers like the moon and the male victim's 'submissive sacrifice' gesture.

Lévi-Strauss' Structuralism

Claude Lévi-Strauss's concept of binary oppositions can be applied to the contrasting representations of vampires and their victims, as well as the juxtaposition of "kiss" and "vampire" in the title.

Vocabulary: Binary oppositions - A structuralist theory that suggests meaning is created through the contrast between two opposing concepts.