Kiss of the Vampire poster
Us theatrical trailer
Explore the ways in which these adverts use representations to position audiences.
You should make reference to
- How groups are represented
- Intertextuality
- Genre conventions
- Viewpoints and ideologies
Underline
Explore the ways in which these adverts use representations to position audiencesYou should make reference to
- How groups are represented
- Intertextuality
- Genre conventions
- Viewpoints and ideologies
Knee Jerk reaction
There are similarities in how representations position audience through horror paradigms, however US focuses primarily on a black family, which is highly subversive/atypical
Plan
Binary oppositions
Stereotypical
MES
Feminist theory - bell hooks
Ethnicity
Hermeneutic codes
Symbolic codes Subversive symbolism of rabbit
Genre conventions/horror conventions
Judith butler gender performativity
Character archetypes
Intertextuality
Song! Remix
Referentiatial code: Jaws T shirt!
Stuart hall and representation
Low key lighting
Paul Gilroy
Introduction: DAC
D - Positioning is an essential technique for producers, as it allows the audience to be placed in a particular situation. One of the most effective ways to do this is through representation, the re-presentation of a group, issue or event.
C - In order to explore this idea, I shall be referring to the theatrical poster for the 1963 British Hammer horror Kiss Of The Vampire, and the 2019 theatrical trailer to the modern horror film US
A - There are similarities in how representations position audience through horror paradigms, however US focuses primarily on a black family, which is highly subversive/atypical
Paragraphs
Kiss of the Vampire
How groups are represented Viewpoints and ideologies
- Historical context: the first stereotypical vampires are from the 1800's. Classical horror films ere often period dramas, and this is backed up through the MES
- Gesture and performance of the women reinforces their role within the film, and conform to hegemonic norms and standards.
- Woman on left takes the role of the 'damsel in distress' archetype, positioning the audience in the role of a heterosexual man
- Van Zoonen - Male gaze: MES of the exposed skin, n combination with the stereotypical attractiveness of the women assumes a heterosexual male target audience, and reinforces ideas of patriarchy
- While the film is set in exotic eastern Europe, the actors are predominantly white and British, which reinforces patriotic viewpoints
Intertextuality Genre conventions
- MES of darkness, the night setting is connotative of the horror genre and is highly typical. Positions the audience as fans of the horror genre
- Iconography of the full hints at the supernatural elements of the film, positioning the audience through the use of hermeneutic codes
US
How groups are represented Viewpoints and ideologies
- Almost exclusively black cast would be unthinkable in 1963, purely because the film would be seen an being financially unviable
- Therefore for a horror film, a very atypical situation
- Father wears a Harvard, connotative of wisdom, intelligence, and middle class identity
- Subverts the stereotypical middle class family through the main character's ethnicity
- All black cast positions audience as a young, middle class black person, subverting the expectation the audiences are predominantly white
Intertextuality Genre conventions
- Ink stains function as a hermeneutic code, and are highly paradigmatic of the psychological horror genre, to target a specific audience
- O/S shot of walking along beach, MES lightening functions as a proairetic code, suggesting bad things are gong to happen
- ECU of woman's crying face is connotative of the horror film, and positions the target audience directly with the young, black protagonist
- Referential code to the Director's earlier film Get Out, allowing it toy target a pre-existing audience